A Fortnight in the Land of My Forebears

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

Kristine and I spent two weeks in the Holy Land in April of 2019. As I expected the climate, plant-life and terrain were identical to our home in Southern CA. It too enjoyed abundant precipitation that prior winter.

The flowers were flourishing. The waters rushed through the creek beds. It was a wonderful time of year to first visit this treasured land.

Many of the commercial signs were in English as well as Hebrew. We never felt isolated and always felt the warmth of the Israelis. Additionally our tour group included old friends and new ones.

I was struck by the splendor of the country: the rolling green hills of the Golan Heights; the silver-blue color of the Sea of Galilee (below) and the character/richness of the old city of Jerusalem. Above all, we felt God’s presence and peace which one Hebrew word best describes, shalom (שלום).

H. Robert Rubin, Amazon…

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Letters From Dachau by Clarice Wilsey with Bob Welch, a Book Review

I discovered by way of Bob Welch, the writer with whom Clarice Wilsey wrote the book, who, I have known since about 2006, that, this moving book had been published. I immediately bought it.

The book gave me a perspective on the Holocaust I had never studied, the experience of the physicians who entered Dachau upon its liberation. The daughter of one of those physicians is Clarice Wilsey. Her father spent weeks giving medical care to barely living victims of the Nazis. The experience cost her father a healthy family life as his PTSD went untreated for the remainder of his days.

She has taken that tragedy and written a book to primarily help the families who may be suffering with a traumatized father from warfare. It also was to fulfill her father’s hope that humanity never forgets the atrocities of the Nazis. Three hundred wartime letters sent by her father to her mother were exceedingly valuable in her efforts.

The book’s value goes way beyond the accurate history garnered. It is a deeply moving work you should not miss.

The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell, a Book Review

I listened to the audiobook. Gladwell did his own reading. For me, it added an intangible to the experience, such that, this marvelous writer was even clearer. He seems the  sociological writer of our era, given, his excellence and wide audience.

Malcolm essentially, in what I feel is a very balanced narrative, looks at the ethics of bombing choices, then, WWII and briefly, now. His perspective provides a fascinating, informative peek at those issues in the hands of some key officers, particularly, Curtis LeMay.

To those who enjoy Gladwell, this work will not disappoint. It is well worth your valuable time.