Dorothea Shefer-Vanson – Page 19 – San Diego Jewish World

Linguist learns of biological father’s secret past

August 25, 2019

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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A modern history of the ancient Middle East

August 11, 2019

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

August 2, 2019

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

July 26, 2019

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

Feeling the ravages of time

July 13, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France –Although in my mind I’m still the eager, naïve 22 year old who came to Israel to work and study (and get away from the depressing climate and weedy men of the UK), I have to face the fact that time has not passed me by. I’m constantly getting messages

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East, Travel and Food

30- year- old Holocaust research still relevant today

July 5, 2019

The Journey Back From Hell: Conversations with Concentration Camp Survivors by Anton Gill, Grafton Books, 1988. By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Although published thirty years ago, this book is at least as relevant today as it was when it first appeared. As the survivors of concentration camps grow old and die it is

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

Arabs’ straight line to nothing

June 27, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — It pains me to write this, but there seems to be a straight line between the rejection of the UN Partition Plan by the Arab countries in 1947 and the Palestinian Authority’s current refusal to attend the Bahrain workshop arranged by the USA in an attempt to move

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, USA

Cell phones cause whingeing at concert venues

June 15, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — One of the Facebook groups I belong to is called ‘Brits Whingeing in Israel’ (motto: ‘Lose some, whinge some’), having split off from ‘Brits Laughing in Israel,’ which in turn split off from ‘Brits Living in Israel.’ The politics behind the various groups and sub-groups is not clear

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

Why Israelis must endure a new election

May 31, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Oh botheration. ‘Ere we go again, as the earwig said as it fell off the rim of the jar. The midnight hour struck last night and no fairy godmother appeared to turn the pumpkin into a carriage. So we poor benighted citizens of Israel face another two-and-a-half months

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Play review: ‘My Ex- Step- Mother- in- Law’

May 22, 2019

By Dorothea shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — Actually, the one-woman show of the above title that I saw last week has very little to do with the subject of the title, namely, mothers-in-law. I am one such, and even an ex-one in one case, but not a step one, or not yet, at least (and I hope never).

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Middle East, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

An opera about Auschwitz!?

May 8, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — I was one of the brave souls who attended a performance of the opera, The Passenger’ by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. I did so mainly because a friend of ours was the revival director of the production by the Israel Opera, and not because I’m a “glutton for punishment,” as I have

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History, Theatre, Film & Broadcast

Book Review: ‘Asylum’

May 1, 2019

Asylum by Moriz Scheyer (Translated by P.N. Singer); Little, Brown and Company, 2016 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Written at the time of the actual events, this powerful book starts by describing the atmosphere in Vienna before the Anschluss by Nazi Germany, followed by the author’s flight, together with his wife and non-Jewish housekeeper, who

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Jewish History

Has Spring finally sprung in Israel?

April 25, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — After blowing hot, then cold, then hot, then cold again, the weather in Israel seems finally to have settled down to the appropriate behavior for this time of the year. Yes, I know that for a while last week it was warmer and sunnier in London than here,

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Israelis abroad: Glimpses of the USA

April 24, 2019

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Six weeks, eleven flights, six states, one one-week cruise and four countries (in addition to the USA). That is feeble compared with the Beatles’ tour of the USA in 1965 (twenty-five cities in thirty days), but they were much younger than we were (and probably flew first class).

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, International, Travel and Food, USA