In collaboration with the Jewish Book Council, JBI is recording writers’ first-hand accounts, as shared with and published by JBC, to increase the accessibility of these accounts for individuals who are blind, have low vision or are print disabled.
From the Jewish Book Council:
“These pieces are part of an ongoing series that we will be sharing in the coming days from Israeli authors, based in Israel and abroad. It is critical to understand history not just through the books that will be written later, but also through the first-hand testimonies and real-time accounting of events as they occur. At Jewish Book Council, we understand the value of these written testimonials and of sharing these individual experiences. It’s more important now than ever to give space to these voices and narratives.“
Essay by Jonathan Dunsky, October 10, 2023:
"I Am Lying to My Children" by Noa Yedlin, October 11, 2023:
"To Keep a Level Head" by Haim Watzman, October 11, 2023:
"That They Be Safe in the Land" by Ilana M. Blumberg, October 12, 2023:
"A Night Funeral" by Jonathan Dunsky, October 12, 2023:
"We Will Survive" by Aviva Gat, October 12, 2023:
"Massacre and Pizza" by Jessamyn Hope, October 13, 2023:
"The Land of the Screaming Silence" by Einat Nathan, October 13, 2023:
"Just like the Soul Returns to the Body" by Yaara Shehari, October 16, 2023:
"Excerpt: As Figs in Autumn" by Ben Bastomski, October 17, 2023:
"Kibbutz Nir Or: An Oasis in Which One Could Imagine an Endless Expanse of Life" by Sarai Shavit, October 18, 2023:
"Again" by Adi Wolfson, October 18, 2023:
"Bread, Books, and Perseverance" by Jonathan Yavin, October 18 2023:
"Nobody Knocked on Our Roof" by Lali Michaeli, October 19 2023:
"The Israeli-Arab Gardener" by Luca M Damiani, October 20 2023:
"My Two Lost Epiphanies" by Edna Noy, October 20 2023:
"Cold Water" by Haim Watzman, October 20 2023:
"Take us to see the Mona Lisa Uncle Moshe!" by Moshe Sakal, October 23 2023:
"Speaking Hebrew in Secret: Being an Israeli Abroad" by Maya Tevet Dayan, October 24 2023:
"Why Am I Enraged?" by Helen Joyce October 26 2023:
"Books of the Dead" by Haim Watzman, October 27 2023:
"Letters From the Desert" by Janice Weizman October 30 2023:
"Its About Time to Talk About Shadows" by Lior Maayan October 31 2023:
"Making Chocolate for My Son" by Sarah Sassoon October 31 2023:
"Shelter" by Haim Watzman November 6 2023:
"Night Shift" by Jonathan Dunsky November 6 2023:
"Things Keep Spinning" by Illana M. Blumberg November 8 2023:
"A Nation Running From Bad News" by Ilana M. Blumberg November 15 2023:
"Below Sea Level" by Julie Gray November 16 2023:
"Two Poems from These Burning Days" by Eliaz Cohen, translated by Larry Barak November 21 2023:
"Tunnels of Reality and the Information War" by Michael Simkin November 29, 2023:
"How my Town has Changed" by Jonathan Dunsky December 6, 2023:
"Kislev, on the Way to Hebron" by Eliaz Cohen, Larry Barak, December 8, 2023:
"No AI Can Replace Yocheved Lifshitz" by Lali Michaeli, December 11, 2023:
"A Thinking Heart in This Waking Nightmare" by Haviva Ner-David December 19, 2023:
"Diasporic Nostalgia" by Gili Haimovich, December 25, 2023:
"Shelter Tales" by Caroline Goldberg Igra, December 28, 2023:
"Slowing It Down, Making It Up" by Leon Wiener Dow, January 18, 2024:
"Sewing Machine" by Shoshana Vegh, January 26, 2024:
"The Other Side of the Rain" by Haviva Ner-David, January 30, 2024:
"Caring for the Dead During War" by Diana Bletter, February 6, 2024:
"Love Song" by Amiram Cooper, David Arkin, February 9, 2024:
"Backstory: A Translator and Her Author" by Anne Landau, February 12, 2024:
"Fragments from Here or the Before and the After: October to November 2023, Tel Aviv" by Dara Barnat, February 15, 2024:
"How to Pray for Hostages" by Ruth Ebenstein, February 16, 2024:
"The 1970s Jewish Multiverse" by Don Futterman, February 19, 2024:
"To Sleep To Forget" by Tamarah Touvian, March 11, 2024:
"Hauntings: Looking Back at Fall 2023" by Abby Horowitz, March 13, 2024:
"How to War: A Manual" by Deena Glickman, March 19, 2024:
"The October 7th Haggadah" by Vivian Cohen-Leisorek, April 8, 2024:
"We Are No Longer Welcome" by Yardenne Greenspan, April 19, 2024:
These pieces can all be found on the Jewish Book Council's website at https://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/with-tag/3361
*The views and opinions expressed in these pieces are those of the authors, based on their observations and experiences.