Viewing Israel in Photographs and Poetry

Milton J. Shapp. My Impressions of Israel. Merion Station, Pa.: M.J.S. Publishing Co., 1973.

This is a collections of photographs and poems devoted to Israel by then Pennsylvania Governor Milton Shapp. Readers will note Shapp’s questioning, as “If God is One, why should man, Question who is right”, as well as lighter moments as enjoying the sights, food, and people of Israel, as well as when security x-rayed his post card. His poetry speaks of the strengths of Israel and the struggles it faces as a nation.

Shapp visited immigration absorption centers and noted how dissimilar they are. He further noted legal oddities, such as how an automobile purchased in Israel can cost twice as much as a similar automobile bought outside Israel and then brought into the country. He writes of the war and fears of more fighting, of how it took Moses 40 years to reach Israel from Suez and how he would now be unable to return to Suez. Shapp found hope in future generations, for as he put it, “a nation that values its youth, will always stay young.”