Dorothea Shefer-Vanson

  By 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

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson JERUSALEM — A petite lady with short dark hair and amazing green eyes called out my name as I entered the café at the Israel Museum where we had agreed to meet, never having set eyes on one another before. “You just looked like someone who would be called Dorothea,” she said

By Dorothea Shefer Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A few years ago I was asked to prepare the text for a website for Joseph Hirsch (1920-1997), a highly regarded Israeli artist who also happened to be my mother’s first cousin (double first cousin, actually, as two brothers had married two sisters in pre-WW1 Germany, one

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel -In preparation for our summer in France, or perhaps simply because I like to think I can read books in French, I bought Anne Sinclair’s book, 21 Rue la Boetie. Reading it took me into the fascinating world of French art in the twentieth century, with extensive ramifications regarding

 By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –It was only after our father died, almost ten years ago, that my sisters and I could begin to tackle the daunting task of going through all the books, papers, and sundry objects that he and our mother had managed to accumulate in their roughly 20 years of life in

  By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson  MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — A cold and rainy Saturday morning with no visiting grandchildren or social obligations presented a golden opportunity to attend a concert of chamber music given in the nearby neighbourhood of Ein Kerem. This is an outlying part of Jerusalem, consisting mainly of picturesque old houses, many of

By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel –Music has played a vital role in the development of humankind. It can rouse people to action, soothe the troubled breast, and elicit a wide range of emotions. Some people, myself included, are addicted to music (classical, in my case), and cannot bear to be conscious for a single