Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a freelance journalist based in Mevasseret Zion, Israel.
Her published works, available on Amazon, include:
* All Quiet on the Midwestern Plains: A Tale of Deception, Betrayal, and Vindication
* The Balancing Game: A Child Between Two Worlds, A Society Approaching War
* Chasing Dreams and Flies: A Tragicomedy of Life in France
* The Diary of Anne Frank (Cliff Notes)
* Levi Koenig: A Contemporary King Lear
* Time out of Joint: The Fate of a Family
Shefer-Vanson also is a Hebrew to English translator, with those works on Amazon including:
* The Rainy Day Man by Amnon Jackont
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson GIVAT CHAYIM IHUD, Israel — The Theresienstadt Memorial Museum is situated in Israel’s verdant Jezreel Valley, in premises attached to this kibbutz. Once or twice a year I receive the museum newsletter, continuing the subscription taken out by my late father. For many years it appeared in stencil form on plain […]
Theresienstadt memory kept alive on Israeli kibbutz Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MILAN, Italy — To find oneself sitting in the majestic auditorium of La Scala here is thrilling enough in itself. To be attending a performance of Verdi’s opera Nabucco, which describes the biblical episode surrounding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the exile of the Jewish people to
Babylon exile, Shoah conflated in ‘Nabucco’ Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonDorothea Shefer-Vanson, The Balancing Game: A Child Between Two Worlds, A Society Approaching War, © 2013, ISBN 978-1-62212-846-4; 258 pages, available through Amazon, $16.50. By Donald H. Harrison Readers of San Diego Jewish World are familiar with author Dorothea Shefer-Vanson as a columnist based in the Jerusalem suburb of Mevasseret Zion. She writes about such
Novel explores an off-balance childhood Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Anyone who is at all familiar with the procedure customary in the various Houses of Representatives around the civilized world knows that these are governed by rules and regulations that are often very old, their roots lost in tradition. For instance, the Speaker of England’s parliament (the House of
Installation of new Knesset a sentimental occasion Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Three books I have read in the last few months, all of them well-researched and dealing in one way or another with art or artists and the Second World War, have given me many hours of interest and plenty to think about. The first, which I picked
How artists and art were saved from the Nazis Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-VansonBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –The results of Israel’s general election were not as depressing as expected, although not as good as might have been hoped. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is still firmly in the saddle, but the composition of his coalition government may be radically different from the outgoing one. At this stage,
Are young and rich Lapid and Bennet agents of change? Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A recital by world-famous pianist, Stephen Kovacevich (formerly Bishop) was an event not to be missed, especially since the programme contained Schubert’s divine posthumous Sonata, Deutsch no. 960. So we bought our tickets and eagerly awaited the appointed date. The evening’s programme was set to start with Beethoven’s Bagatelles, opus
Concert pianist needed to warm up — literally Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Hats off to the weather forecasters! Last week they said that a perfect storm was coming, and this week it did. Sunday was still fairly reasonable, chilly but not too bad. One could still get out and about here in the Jerusalem area with relative ease, and function
Storm filled the lake–and everything else Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — The Bible Lands Museum, situated opposite the Israel Museum, houses a broad range of archeological artefacts from all over the Ancient Near East. In accordance with the vision of its founder, the late Eli Borovsky, it refers to the various cultures of the Ancient Near East, each of which contributed
Bible Lands Museum program promotes friendships Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Science, Medicine, & EducationBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –As election time in Israel draws near (the date set is 22nd January 2013), the plethora of parties and personalities vying for the Israeli voter’s attention is becoming ever more frenetic. On the one side is the massive combined weight of two right-wing parties, led by Avigdor Lieberman and
No option may be the best choice in Israeli election Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — I heard about the book Start-Up Nation; the Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer a couple of years ago but didn’t take too much notice. After all, the fact that Israel is a hotbed of innovation, high-tech industry and networking is nothing new to
Belated praise for ‘Start Up Nation’ Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–Many people who read the front page of Haaretz one day last week while they were having their breakfast, including yours truly, suddenly felt sick to their stomach. In huge, black letters the main front-page headline read: ‘69% of Israelis Support Apartheid.’ The text of the article, which occupied
Debunking the Israeli apartheid myth Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –How we got onto the topic of education about the Holocaust I don’t quite know, but in a recent conversation with some friends I happened to say that I didn’t think it appropriate or beneficial for Israeli high-school students to go on school trips to Poland to visit concentration
Should Israeli kids skip concentration camp visits? Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –A Facebook message that appeared on my computer screen caused me so much shock and dismay that I committed a mortal Facebook sin: I told the person who had put the message up what I thought of him by using insulting language. I regret that reaction. I regret my
In defense of ‘Haaretz’ and ethical behavior Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East