
Tales from the heart: Having a Jewish baby in ‘Palestine’
Becoming a grandfather in Jerusalem, at a hospital where no Hebrew was spoken, was an unexpected but warm experience for writer Brian Blum.
Writers and bloggers from all over the world share their most poignant and moving personal stories about life in Israel and the people of this tiny country. If you would like to be featured in this column, please write to us at info@archive.israel21c.org. We’d love to hear your tale.

Becoming a grandfather in Jerusalem, at a hospital where no Hebrew was spoken, was an unexpected but warm experience for writer Brian Blum.

With its archaic cobblestoned streets and mountainous backdrop, this small, quaint city is where my grandparents built their home and their family.

Henri Fernebock, killed in the 1948 War of Independence, lay in obscurity until his former teenage pen pal – my mother — rediscovered his name.

At the local lifeguard station writer Diana Bletter savors the last few moments of summer with the Jews and Arabs who have kept her beach safe.

When a stranger collapsed with heart failure at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, two Israelis rushed to help, one an Israeli Arab, the other an Israeli Jew – my husband.