Diana Bletter, at The Blogs

Diana Bletter

Peripheral vision on a beach village in northern Israel

Nov 19, 2023, 7:08 PM

Fighting for Israel on New York Streets, Social Media and the Battlefield

Snir Dayan has fought for Israel on the streets of New York City and on social media. And now, the 29-year-old has left behind his successful New York business to return to Israel to fight once again in the...

Nov 2, 2023, 11:15 PM

Celebrating Life in the Midst of War

New life in the midst of war. Photo credit: Diana Bletter

Every morning at dawn, I ride my bicycle to deliver coffee and tea to the soldiers stationed along the beach near where I live in Israel’s Western Galilee. I’ve taken it it upon myself to do this ever since...

Oct 25, 2023, 12:55 PM

Holding my breath on the northern front

Hope Goes On After October 7: A Muslim woman and a Jewish man working together in a supermarket in the Western Galilee. CREDIT: Diana Bletter

My favorite beach is now a military zone. In the summer, it’s crowded with sunbathers and beach volleyball players and now it’s empty except for the soldiers. Last week, I started bringing them coffee (instant Nescafe with milk is a treat,...

Jan 28, 2021, 10:51 AM

My Tu B’Shevat Serendipitous Birthday Discovery

I didn’t even know I was born on Tu BiShevat, the Jewish new year celebration for trees, until I went to the Rabbinute in the nearby city of Nahariya, to get my license for my second marriage. At first,...

Mar 27, 2020, 9:58 AM

Featured Post

Coronavirus and my husband’s shoelaces

In this crisis, my outlook has shrunk from global to local: More than ever, I’m relieved I moved to Israel, a place I feel cared for and wanted

Sep 5, 2018, 2:43 PM

From Anti-Semitism in the Hamptons to the Western Galilee

It's hard not to compare shopping for Rosh Hashanah in the Hamptons with shopping where I do, in "Souq Faisal HaGadol," in the village of Mazra, the Western Galilee. You’d think the pre-rush Rosh Hashanah shopping squeeze would not be...

Aug 31, 2018, 2:15 PM

Happy 80th Birthday, My Village in Northern Israel

In 1991, when I moved to Shavei Zion on the shores of the Mediterranean in Northern Israel, about 12 miles south of the Lebanese border, there were more cows and chickens than people and the tiny train platform reminded...

Feb 7, 2018, 2:03 PM

Where a Druze Beekeeper, A Jewish Hotel Owner and a Bedouin Mother Talk Shop

At a class at Akko Center of Arts and Technology, ACAT, in Akko, Western Galilee, the other evening, I saw the inspiration of the Start-up Nation trickle down to a grassroots level. There were fifteen students, including a Druze...

About Me

Diana Bletter is the author of numerous books, including the National Jewish Book Award Nominee of The Invisible Thread: A Portrait of Jewish American Women, A Remarkable Kindness (HarperCollins) and The Loving Yourself Book for Women. She is the First Place Winner of Moment Magazine's Short Fiction Contest in 2019. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Tablet, The North American Review, The Forward, Jerusalem Post, Israel21C, and many other publications. She lives with her husband and family in the Western Galilee, where she is a member of the hevra kadisha, the village's burial society as well as Dove of Peace, a group of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Druze women.

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