Dora Dabash

  • Age
    44
  • Sex
    Female
  • Ethnicity
    Bulgarian
  • Religion
    Christian
  • Level of education
    Bulgarian philology
  • Family status (children included)
    married, with 1 child
  • Place of birth (town, state)
    Plovdiv, Bulgaria
  • Now living in (town, state)
    Bat Yam, Israel
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1. I'm Bulgarian.

2. I'm married and living in Israel and because of this my family identity has changed. My religious identity has been enriched because I have become familiar with Judaism, without being a follower of it. I feel Bulgarian, but the Bulgarians who do not really know me consider me like a foreigner. In Bulgaria I worked in a library and in Israel I do translations. In Israel I don't have much contact with people because I work at home. Because of this, I don't have as much social contact as I used to have.

3. My personal identity was formed by the family atmosphere and the country of my birth - Bulgaria. This identity was also affected by the study of Eastern philosophy, Zen Buddhism and yoga.

4. The images with which identify my Bulgarian identity are Bulgarian mountains and nature are missing me a lot in Israel. My favorite pieces of literature are those of "The Glass Family" by J. D. Salinger; but sometimes I think I live in Kafka's narrative. My musical preferences are eclectic: classical music, rock and jazz. I like artists: Claude Monet, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall and others.

5. Sometimes I write about my personal experiences but only for private use. Under the influence of my life in Israel and learning Hebrew I write about interesting moments from the Old Testament that are not so well-known and analyzed in Bulgarian language.

6. My identity helps me when I educate my child regarding tolerance for differences; but I live in Israel which is a Jewish state and I'm different because I'm not Jewish.

7. My identity is atypical, because my husband is Israeli and we live in Israel. It follows that I got to know Israel and its culture, and my husband has gotten to know Bulgaria. Through his eyes I see the other aspects of Bulgaria: a peaceful, quiet and friendly country with beautiful scenery and people who speak quietly.

8. Most importantly is that a person should live in harmony no matter the geographical region they find themselves in.

9. "Everyone must know and understand that within burns a candle and no one's Candle is identical with the candle and there is no human being without a candle.”

RABBI ABRAHAM ISAAC HACOHEN KOOK

2011