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listen.
”
Her all-volunteer team is
searching for stories and trying
to reach the women to get
their permission to be part of
the testimony library, she says.
“It changed how people think
about women in Israeli wars,
”
she says.
The project approaches well-
known actresses in Israel to
read the testimonies and give
voice to the women, she says,
and has sand art to go alongside
it.
“Sand has a lot of meaning
for us, and when I thought
about it, I thought this is exactly
what we need for that project.
The sand is first of all our land,
the land we are fighting for,
and the sand is from the Bible.
You came from the sand and
you will go back to the sand …
It just comes and goes. It can
vanish so fast, like the life that
vanished over there so fast.
”
They started with four
podcasts and are still going, she
says, with 16 on air at present.
Dvorin says she’s met with an
L.A. agency that represents
some of the industry’s top
actresses and is glad to see
well-known women joining in
to amplify these voices. “When
huge actresses read those
stories, it gives power for those
women, for those families, for
all Israelis,
” she says. “It can give
validity through that, that it
really happened.
”
Dvorin’s got a background
in telling stories — she has
worked with the army, telling
stories about women soldiers
for Women’s Day, and directed
films showing the power of
women in the army. “In the
army, they are a huge force,
and it’s amazing to see that,
”
she says. “
And now through the
war, since the 7th of October.
”
DRAWING A TRAGEDY
Ilana Yahav, who lives in Kfar
Saba near Tel Aviv, helps
visually represent the women’s
stories. Known for her sand
art, Dvorin reached out to get
Yahav involved in the project.
FACING PAGE: Dana Dvorin
initiated the Rays of Light
podcast project.
TOP LEFT: A screenshot
from Episode 7: Alina
Master’s story.
TOP RIGHT: Ilana Yahav, the
Rays of Light sand artist.
ABOVE: A screenshot from
Episode 14: Agam Yosefzon’s
story.