Bless The Bitter And The Sweet: A Sabra Girl's Diary from the Last Days of British Rule and the Rebirth of Israel

Bless the Bitter and the Sweet is the diary of Naomi Harris Rosenblatt, a teenage Jewish girl in Palestine, from 1947 to 1952, translated from Hebrew to English. Naomi was born in Haifa to English-speaking parents, attended the prestigious Reali school, and served in the Israeli Navy. Her diary chronicles the early days of World War II, when well-mannered British officers came for tea at her parents' home; the powerful impact of Bible studies; the loss of her heroic 21-year-old cousin, Danny, in the War of Independence; and falling passionately in love with an American visitor. Naomi's diary illuminates events of a unique period of Jewish history: experiences that shaped her Jewish identity to this day. Enriched with photos and an anecdotal introduction, this book shares serious and amusing stories of pain and pride, courage and hope, that recall memories of a previous Jewish generation whose fortitude gave birth to a renewed people.