Galya Gerstman

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Nov 23, 2023, 9:44 PM

Jewish Lives Matter Too

Why do I seem to write only about the Jewish reactions to this war in Israel and Gaza, and not about the Palestinian experience? I suppose it’s mainly because I’m Jewish and it’s my personal perspective I’m sharing. I...

Nov 16, 2023, 10:54 PM

A World without Goodness Is Unthinkable

I wrote a memoir about growing up with my father, a Holocaust survivor who talked constantly about his experiences during the war, his narrow escapes, the brutal treatment at the hands of the Nazis. The way he discovered how...

Oct 30, 2023, 12:41 AM

This Is about All of Us

We Jews are all traumatized by what happened on October 7 in Israel and what is still happening. The knowledge that people—our people—were tied up, had gasoline poured over them and their children and were then set on fire...

Oct 14, 2023, 11:56 PM

Just a Statistic?

These past few days my ADD has been completely out of control. I can’t concentrate on anything without an unwanted image suddenly appearing on the screen of my mind: a charred baby’s body, say, or a rape victim paraded...

Aug 29, 2023, 8:38 PM

How to Stand In Line: A Global Perspective

A friend just recently told me his New York Story: “I’m standing outside Madison Square Garden to buy tickets to a game. There is only one counter open and I’m standing behind a white horizontal line about a yard...

Mar 18, 2023, 12:42 AM

Is this the same Israel my grandmother knew?

Kindergarten in Jerusalem, 1907 (Tsadok Bassan / The Israel Internet Association via the PikiWiki - Israel free image collection project)

In the diverse and vibrant community of Jerusalem, the different cultures were for her a draw, not a drawback

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About Me

Galya Gerstman is the author of the novel Daughters of Jerusalem, based on episodes from her grandmother’s life, to be released Winter 2023-4 by Pleasure Boat Studio Press. She is also the author of the novel Texting Olivia and has had articles published in Scary Mommy, Motherhood Later, and other sites. Galya taught French Literature at Tel Aviv University before relocating to Costa Rica to raise a family. She possesses a PhD in French Literature from Columbia University and a BA in Creative Writing from Barnard College.