MSI Press Blog

                           Excerpt from  Good Blood, Edition 2  (Schaffer): 1961 (Part 2) I look out the glass doors of our apartment building. My family and I live in Apartment 4 at 4634 Dupuis Street in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I like coming out onto the foyer and looking at the stars through these glass doors. I feel like the smartest person in the whole world out here, smarter than my mother, smarter than my father, but this is just another secret of mine.  It is 7:30 p.m., and my dad just got home from work. He is a plumber, so he often works late. My mom is washing the dishes while my dad is eating the breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, and onions she made for him. It is his favorite. I sit at the table and watch as he wolfs down the food. Dad is the fastest eater in the whole wide world. Edna, my sister, says it is because he was in the war and had nearly nothing to eat for a ...

  Excerpt from  Good Blood, Edition 2  (Schaffer): 1961 (Part 1) The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Albert Einstein As soon as I looked into his blue eyes, every cell in my body bubbled with joy. Yes, this must be love. I am in love for the first time. His are the bluest eyes I have ever seen. They are like the deep blue of the ocean on a clear and sunny day. My mom is sitting to my left, my sister, Edna, to my right, and I am falling in love.  Ari Ben Canaan is his name. He is in charge of taking a boatload of people to Palestine. The boat, Exodus, is filled with Jewish Europeans planning to make their home in the soon to be independent State of Israel.  Unfortunately, the British authorities have detained the boat in Cyprus. They are not allowing Exodus to complete its voyage to Palestine, and Ari has to take charge. His confidence is portrayed in his thin and muscular 5’9” ...

  Irit Shcaffer's book,  Good Blood , which explores her family history--both her parents survived the camps during WWII--is a journey of healing and a great recommendation for reading on Intenational Holocaust Day. Book Description: When she was a child, her father said he had "good blood" and that is why he and his wife survived and healed from the Holocaust. The author searched for the meaning and significance of her father's words over two continents and through four generations. Her journey uncovered a unique voice of wisdom revealing mysteries of the healing powers within us and the existence of light in every situation that helps us overcome and transcend any obstacle. This book is a quest into the depth of the human spirit. It is a rich family memoir, being deeply personal, sharing joy and pain and fear and forgiveness. It encompasses the themes of life and a topic in common with every reader: complicated family relationships. Awards earned by the first editio...