Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

Dorothea Shefer-Vanson is a freelance journalist based in Mevasseret Zion, Israel.

Her published works, available on Amazon, include:

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* 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

* A Ruffled Calm

* 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
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The World War II bravery of remote French villages

The largely rural Vivarais-Lignon plateau enjoys a climate considered to be healthy during the summer months, resulting in the existence there of several hotels, children’s homes and convalescent centres for visiting tourists. In the winter, however, it was more or less cut off from the rest of the country by deep, long-lasting snow and its mountainous terrain. These conditions enabled the villagers to provide sanctuary for people – and especially children – seeking to evade capture and deportation to concentration camps. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International

Memories of a childhood sukkah

The Jewish custom of once a year building a little hut or sukkah in one’s garden or backyard supposedly harks back to the time many thousands of years ago when the Hebrews were wandering in the wilderness after having left Egypt and had to live in makeshift huts or tabernacles, more or less in the way the Bedouin Arabs live today. Like many aspects of the Jewish religion, practice and history are bound up together. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish Religion, Middle East

Its people and geography make Israel special

Like every country, Israel has its advantages and its disadvantages. One of the former is its climate, which is on the whole pleasant (at least in Jerusalem) with sunny days throughout the summer, often with cool evenings and nights. It also has a long coastline giving most of the population access to the sea with all its benefits.

Considering its small size, the country encompasses a particularly wide range ofinteresting geographical features, with hilly areas in the north, and even mountains on which one can ski in winter. (To read more, please click on the headline)

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

‘A Trace of Smoke’ set in pre-war Berlin

Excerpt: I chose this book by Rebecca Cantrell because it promised to describe what life was like in Berlin in the early 1930s. I was not disappointed. Apart from the somewhat lurid plot of the novel, the book contains a vivid account of the way Berliners lived and loved at that time, the rising political power and physical presence of the Nazi party and – in a particularly sensational way – the life of the homosexual community there. (To read more, please click on the headline)

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

A nostalgic, educational visit to London

Excerpt: This year’s visit started with a bang, the sun was shining and we had been invited to tour the House of Lords by a sitting member who had attended the LSE at the same time as I had, but had gone on to have a stellar career in the law, eventually being made a baroness. She had seen my articles about life in Israel in the AJR Journal and contacted me last year, when we visited her in Oxford. Because parliament had been ‘prorogued,’ i.e., suspended, by the Prime Minister, the place was deserted apart from a few security personnel. Nonetheless, we were taken around the opulent building, parts of which date back to the thirteenth century, while much of it was restored in the nineteenth century after a fire. We felt very privileged to be taken around by our friend, who also treated us to a lovely meal at the Wolesley restaurant. (Please click headline to read full story)

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Travel and Food

The Talmud has defined the Judaism of today

In tracing the origins and development of the Talmud over the millennia in which it has existed in one form or another (first oral, then written, and eventually printed), Harry Freedman, a historian and expert in Aramaic and Judaic studies, introduces us to the different environments and cultures in which the Talmud emerged and eventually flourished, as well as giving us insights into the various rabbis, interpreters, and scholars who helped to formulate and establish it.

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish History, Jewish Religion

Bardot Foundation fights kosher and halal slaughter

…In the main part of the paper of 9 August my attention was drawn to a full-page advertisement placed by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation and headed by the clarion call (in French): ’11th August 2019 – “Aid el-Kebir,” Day of Sorrow and Blood.’

What followed was a long and detailed diatribe against the fact that thousands of sheep were going to have their throats cut under appalling conditions….

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish Religion

Linguist learns of biological father’s secret past

What Language do I Dream in? by Elena Lappin;  HarperCollins, 2017, ISBN 9781554-684632. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — As a bilingual speaker of Hebrew and English as well as having some knowledge of French and German, I was intrigued by the title of this book. But the beginning is something of a surprise, as

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International

A modern history of the ancient Middle East

The Cities that Built the Bible by Robert R. Cargill, HarperOne, 2016 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — This overview of the history of the Ancient Near East as it relates to the events described in the Bible is written in a language that is accessible to any reader who is not an expert in archaeology

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Israeli volunteers help Palestinians with medical issues

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A chance remark made by one of my fellow-pupils in the weekly German-language class I attend in my neighborhood retirees’ club aroused my curiosity. Thus I learned about the activities of a group of Israelis who have made it their mission to assist Palestinians whose children require advanced

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

Bagging it all on a French vacation

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — Travel broadens the mind, they say. However, one of the less delightful aspects of travel is making sure you haven’t forgotten anything. I’m not talking only about essentials such as passport, documents, etc., but rather about the myriad other objects you have to have about your person to cover

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Travel and Food