The Story Behind Tails of Sha’ar Hagai by Myrna Shiboleth

Imagine a typical “Jewish American Princess” finding herself, inadvertently and to her own astonishment, a “pioneer” in Israel.  From a comfortable upper middle class metropolitan life, she is transplanted to living in a modern day wilderness, without electricity or telephone, trying to make a living working with dogs, horses, and other animals (not a particularly respected or profitable profession in this part of the world), and to cope with the very foreign Middle-Eastern mentality.  That girl was me, and I (apparently a masochist through and through) am still in Israel, after years of struggle, smiles, tears, and adventures, telling the story of my attempts to survive life in Israel under conditions totally different from any I had experienced before or from anything I might have expected. The only things that enabled me to survive were an invincible stubbornness and a sense of humor.

The book begins with an introduction to Shaar Hagai, an overgrown and long abandoned group of buildings dating from the British mandate, perched on a hillside over the main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The next few chapters explore what brought me to this point in my life –  family background and an unexplainable attraction to animals and odd lifestyles.

Moving to Israel is just the start of a series of adventures.  Coping with a strange and totally different mentality as I try to support myself doing the things I love – but which are not so acceptable in Israel, especially when done by a woman – result in some very strange and funny experiences.  There are many animals sharing my life – first and foremost are the many and varied dogs, but there are also raccoons, cats, gazelles, geese, goats, sheep, horses, and Baba the striped hyena.  And of course, the varied people that are part of this world – “sabras”, abrasive and hard to understand for an American born and bred, Arabs from the nearby village, other immigrants from varied countries – all a challenge.  Marriage and raising a family Israeli pioneering style is part of life at Shaar Hagai, as well as having to cope with various disasters ranging in seriousness from a badly leaking roof to a major forest fire.

There are also adventures outside of Israel – three years spent in the heart of Africa as the unconventional wife of a career diplomat, and some rather unorthodox trips to Europe and other more exotic destinations, accompanied by a pack of dogs and non-conformist  friends.

Life at Shaar Hagai has never been easy – but it has certainly never been boring!  I found, over the years, that the only way to survive and stay reasonably sane was not to take myself too seriously.  Tails of Shaar Hagai is a humorous look back at my life – a life very different from what is experienced by most.

Actually, I wrote this book for myself.  I wanted to preserve all the adventures I have had over the years, and thought that writing them down would be the best way.  Then I could pass the stories on to my grandchildren. Once I started writing and re-reading what I had written, and letting friends read parts of it, I realized that it actually was pretty good and quite funny, and that maybe I could become the James Herriot of Israel.  Who knows?

Myrna Shiboleth is an animal behaviorist, world champion dog breeder and international dog show judge, and is acknowledged as the world authority on Canaan Dogs, one of the few remaining breeds of feral dogs in the world. After growing up in the U.S. and receiving a degree from Northwestern University in art, she made a radical change in her life by emigrating to Israel.  She has worked at a variety of animal related occupations over the years, including stable manager and riding instructor, kennel manager and dog trainer, advisor on dog behavior to the Israel Defense Department, keeper and animal trainer at the Safari Park, and more. Her previous book, The Israel Canaan Dog, has been published in two editions. She lives and breeds Canaan Dogs and collies at Shaar Hagai Farm in Israel, lectures and instructs in Israel and abroad on a wide variety of dog related subjects, writes for professional publications in Israel and abroad, and continues to enjoy new adventures with her dogs.

www.sephirotpress.com

www.canaandogs.info

www.collies-israel.com

THE TABLET OF MY HEART by Elizabeth Walker

When I was eight years old I lost my voice. Not literally, figuratively. It was buried under the weight of sexual molestation. When I “lost my voice” I found a pen. I couldn’t get past the shame I felt in order to tell someone so I started writing my fears and my secrets between the covers of a tablet that became my childhood diary. While I did eventually tell, my writings had a lot to do with leading me to the point where I understood that I needed to. In black and white the tablet held fear, anger, confusion and finally, healing – But in essence the tablet held my heart.

Years down the road and after 10 years of marriage, I found myself a single mother with four young sons who’s hearts were broken by the absence of their father. As if divorce is not hard enough on a child, my kids’ father was not just absent from their home he was smack in the middle of a cocaine addiction and had little interest and little contact with them at all.

In the process of fighting the odds of ending up on welfare, going back to work, moving them from the only house they ever remembered living in, and convincing them in the midst of the earthquake that had become their lives, that we were going to make it – I saw in their faces the same distrust, the same disbelief that I felt when I was a child in the middle of loss and abuse, the first time someone told me “It’s going to be ok. This storm won’t last forever.”

So…..I couldn’t tell them we would make it to the end of this pain, I had to show them. That illustration began with telling them (gradually) about my childhood story. The story of victory over the pain of the abuse that I endured as a child, so that they could see that healing happens, not just hear it. In order to get to a victory, there first had to be trial. That story of victory began in my childhood journal.

As I thumbed through the writings an idea was born. During this mission to help my sons learn to let go of their anger and heal, maybe I could reach even more people. I decided that I would publish portions of the journal and donate from the proceeds to an organization that helps abused children. That outreach, I decided, would be the best illustration of healing that I could possibly paint for them.

Originally I had planned to publish only the poetry but as I read through them I thought that they might better serve their purpose if I added a little background to the prose. I found myself in touch with pieces of my heart that I had not entertained for years. The project kind of took off without me and took on it’s own form right beneath my nose. The narration turned into a flowing story and the poetry became just a piece of the bigger picture. By the time the manuscript was finished I had in my hands what began as an emotional hurricane and ended as a generously watered garden. A journal of abuse and more importantly healing, that read like a story. My story.

The boys (my kids) and I made it through some incredibly difficult times in the past few years. They had a hands on lesson in the devastation left in the wake of addiction, as they are still sorting through the wreckage. I learned, once again, that I was stronger than I thought I was, though I believe that my strength was a product of my kids’ faith in me. They went from having mom and dad, to just mom, to day cares and babysitters as I took on two jobs to make ends meet, to crummy neighborhoods and frightening neighbors – but we made it! We made it together. We’re wet, but we made it to edge of the storm.

By no means are we a “perfect family” by definition but they are experiencing hope and healing and I have witnessed a beautiful thing happen in them; I have watched them defy the term “hurting people, hurt people” as they have learned by demonstration that – helping people heal, helps heal. The Tablet of My Heart has a little something to do with that in their lives – we hope that publishing it might have a little bit to do with that kind of healing in some one else’s life too.

A portion of the proceeds from The Tablet of My Heart are donated to Childhelp USA for the treatment and prevention of child abuse. Visit them at www.childhelp.org.

Elizabeth Walker is the author of the memoir, The Tablet of My Heart. You can visit her website at www.tabletofmyheart.net. To read an extended bio, click here!

THE SITTING SWING by Irene Watson: “…it shows how we can re-write the life scripts that have been passed down for generations.”

The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference is a story of a portion of my own life I had to tell so that others could find hope and freedom, and knowing they too can heal their own lives, regardless of how shattered they feel they are. At first, I didn’t know what direction I would take the book into or even what I would write about, but like most people, I knew I had a book inside me and my story had to be told.

So…I started writing. I started in a chronological order and reflecting on my life from birth. I am gifted with a memory that goes back as early as 2 years old. My experiences are very vivid and clear. (And, confirmed by my mother.) As I started writing a lot of “stuff” came up for me; mostly memories of the emotional, and sometimes physical, abuse I received growing up. But, I kept on writing, and writing, and writing…. It was very cathartic for me. And, I got a lot of aha moments.

Once I completed writing about the distinct parts that I felt influenced the dysfunction in my own life, I started looking at the “why” I reacted as I did, or how those same experiences influence my own thoughts and actions. Again, cathartic.

I had already been at the recovery center in Quebec and was able to deal with much of the trauma I experienced, but re-visiting the experiences seemed to solidify and allow me to even move more forward in my life than I had before. The 28-days in the recovery center is what saved my life and gave me the understanding of why I behaved as I did, and why I accumulated the addictions I did. Of course, the experience at the center had to be part of my story. It shows how I rebelled against anything they were telling me – ohhhh, did I have an attitude! However, it was where I got the explanations to my questions of “why?” It was my turning point.

However, The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference isn’t just about my story. It is full of explanations of the “why” we behave as we do, “why” we act and react the way we do, and there is a lot about finding our spiritual self – the authentic place we all have. In the end, it shows how we can re-write the life scripts that have been passed down for generations. We no longer need to be prisoners of someone else’s visions and thoughts, we can actually create our own lives. That’s the bottom-line message of the book. And, it works, because I know – I’ve been there.

Irene Watson is the author of the spellbinding memoir, The Sitting Swing.  You can visit her website at www.irenewatson.com.