Name: Miriam's Song
Brand: Gefen Publishing House (IS)
SKU: 9789652298751
Price: 23.39 GBP
Availability: InStock

Miriam's Song

By (author): Smadar Shir

Published by Gefen Publishing House (IS)

In Stock

£35.99

£23.39

Published: 15-Feb-2016
ISBN: 9789652298751

Hardback
350 Pages

Subjects:
Middle Eastern history
Israel
Palestine

Quantity

The story of Miriam Peretz's life the story of a mother and a homeland; of love for the Land of Israel, the State of Israel, and the Jewish people; and of the victory of spirit and faith. 1st Lieutenant Uriel Peretz, commander of a Golani Brigade Special Forces unit, dreamed of becoming the first Moroccan chief of staff of the IDF. But his mother Miriam sensed that her oldest son would not leave Lebanon safely. On the day he was drafted, she became a woman waiting for news of disaster. In November 1998, Uriel was fatally wounded by an explosive device planted by Hezbollah terrorists. He was 22. Miriam transformed the pain over his death into education and volunteer service. She began to visit schools and military bases, talking about her son's leadership vision. Tragically, in March 2010 Miriam was forced to face another test. Her second son, Major Eliraz Peretz, was killed in an exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip. He died almost twelve years after he had eulogized his older brother: Sometimes we pay a price for doing the right thing. The price of life. Eliraz, who was 32, left behind a wife and four children, including a baby just two months old. Overnight, the mother who lost two sons as well as her husband, whose heart couldn't bear the death of his oldest son became a symbol of grief and of strength. In December 2010, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi awarded her a medal of appreciation. He said: Miriam's ability to continue to express her deep pain and channel it into a contribution to the education and formation of future generations, serves as an example and model of inspiration for us all.

Smadar Shir is among the most important authors in Israel. Her first book was published when she was 16, and in the three decades since she has published 400 children's books as well as seven novels. She has also written hundreds of children's' songs which were composed and recorded for CDs and DVDs. Many of her stories are included in kindergarten and elementary school anthologies. Some of her other books are part of the annual curriculum in middle schools as well as high schools. Along with her personal work in writing, Smadar Shir works as a senior journalist in Yediot Ahronot, the most popular daily newspaper in Israel. Her 2011 book Shirat Miriam, The Song of Miriam, the story of Miriam Peretz, was a bestseller in Israel selling over 20,000 copies.

Those of us who live and work in Israel as journalists and book reviewers for international publications often have to wait until an Israeli bestseller is translated from Hebrew into English. I, for one, am very excited when this occurs, and especially for a biography like Miriams Song: The Story of Miriam Peretz (Gefen Publishing House, 2016) by Smadar Shir. Miriams Song is replete with courage, faith and commitment, it is also about tragedy and sacrifice. It is a book to read to understand what it means to be a woman, a wife, a mother in Israel today. - Sybil Kaplan, Vancouver Jewish Independent May 2016

Mrs. Miriam Peretz, a mother who lost two sons in combat when serving with the IDF is important to read. You can extrapolate from her powerful reflections the thoughts of all the other tens of thousands of Israeli mothers, fathers, siblings, wives and children [and even grandchildren] whose lives will never be the same again. "Miriam's Song" is an inspiration that will give chizuk. strength to many of us who might not see the half-full cup that life offers us." - Daniel Keren, The Jewish Connection May 2016