Barbara Sofer
Short Bio
Barbara Sofer is a prize-winning journalist and author who lives in Jerusalem and who lectures frequently to Jewish and general audiences. She speaks about Israel, Judaism, women’s issues, and spirituality. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with an MA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, her byline has appeared in the New York Times, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest, Parents, the Boston Globe as well as many other publications. She has written seven books and contributed to others. Her latest book, with holocaust survivor Rena Quint, is A Daughter of Many Mothers. She is currently writing a sequel to her novel The Thirteenth Hour (Dutton and Signet)
She writes a weekend column for the Jerusalem Post that deals with the challenges and miracles of everyday life in Israel, where she moved from the United States over 40 years ago..
As the Israel Director of Public Relations for Hadassah, she has witnessed and documented the daily effort to create an island of peace and sanity within Jerusalem’s biggest medical center. Because of the prominence of Hadassah Hospital in the news, she has worked with top-tier media, including Sixty Minutes and Nightline in formulating programs that show Israel in a positive light. She contributed to the Emmy winning CNBC program “Jerusalem ER”.
Sofer appeared on Good Morning America’s new Seven Wonders of the World series as an expert on the spiritual uniqueness of Jerusalem and likes to think of herself as a “magida,” an itinerant teller of the stories of Israel, past and present. She has served as a scholar-in-residence and visiting lecture in a variety of venues, including synagogues, churches, regional conferences of Hadassah, national conventions, for communities and at schools.
Her prizes include many Rockower awards for Jewish journalism, the Sidney Taylor Award for the best Jewish children’s book, and the 2008 Eliav-Sartawi Award for creating understanding through Middle Eastern journalism. Sofer is married to scientist/writer Gerald Schroeder. They have five children.
Current Article
From Jerusalem Post
73+1 reasons why I love Israel – Opinion
By Barbara Sofer
Yes, there are imitations, but here is the original Jerusalem Post 17th straight year of new “Reasons I love Israel,” even though 2020 was a year of challenges.
- Rappelling, spelunking and droning: Archaeologists rappelled into Dead Sea caves and recently found 2,000-year-old biblical texts of Prophets Zecharia and Nahum. Fighters in the Bar-Kochba revolt against the Romans likely treasured their parchments and hid them for safekeeping. The Israeli archaeologists also used cave-scouting drones in their search.
- According to tradition, the sandals the Israelites wore on the Exodus never wore out in their decades in the wilderness. Ancient sandals were also found in the caves.
- A-tisket a-tasket, the world’s oldest basket, maybe 10,000 years old, was found by the cliff-rappelling archaeologists, too.
A Daughter of Many Mothers:
Her horrific childhood and wonderful life
Barbara Sofer's latest book
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