Some people, when asked what they remember about a particular experience they lived through long ago, must actively search their minds. Recollections can dim. Colors can fade. Sounds can become dulled. But not if you can refer back to something you wrote at the time, when all was vivid and fresh.
Zipporah Porath must go no farther than her bookcase and a copy of Letters from Jerusalem: 1947-1948, a collection of missives she sent home as a young woman who came to Jerusalem for a year of study but became caught up in events stretching from the United Nations’ declaration partitioning Palestine to the very establishment of the State of Israel, and even beyond.
To be honest, “caught up” doesn’t do Zipporah Porath’s experience justice, for she quickly went from observer to direct and active participant. Her memories of this period are right at her fingertips, still vivid and fresh, as if she’s relating events and observations to us in very real time. A must-listen.
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