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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.

