This week, the vastly popular author, Daniel Silva, spent an exciting evening with AMIT’s supporters at the Olympic Collection in Los Angeles. Since the evening took place while rockets are being fired on Israel from Gaza, I asked Daniel about his message to my readers: “I wish I could be there today; I write about soldiers and spies but I want to do something right now for the people in Israel. I feel utterly helpless. I am with the people of Israel, mind, body and soul; you are never far from my thoughts.”
One can question, what do Daniel Silva and AMIT, an educational organization in Israel, have in common? The answer is, education and fine authorship.
Michal Taviv-Margolese is AMIT’s West Coast USA Director. Susie Meyers is AMIT’s USA Director of Development, who resides in New York. They are dedicated to raise the necessary funds for AMIT that allows children in Israel, for many of whom the forecast of a good future is murky, to turn their lives around. Unexpectedly, at this juncture, with the current situation in Israel, some of the funds currently raised for AMIT will buy hours of therapy and counseling for children suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, from the effects of the war.
Established in 1925, AMIT is one of the largest educational establishments in Israel. With over 100 schools, mostly in the periphery, it can be recognized as the frontline of global innovation in education. And Silva’s character, Gabriel Allon, could have been an AMIT graduate, while Sgt. Ben Itzhak Oanounou z”l, from Ashdod, is an AMIT alumnus who lost his life defending Israel in the current Protective Edge-Solid Rock war in Gaza.
Rabbi David Wolpe moderated a Q & A with Daniel, an attractive, soft spoken man. The audience, avid readers of Silva’s books, in awe of his writing ability, wanted to get into the mind of such a prolific and successful author.
Mr. Silva, residing in Florida, did not have formal training in the arts, apart from some college courses. When he was young, his mother literally dragged him to museums, he remembers.
He is infatuated with Israel’s intelligence body, Mossad, and its intricate modus operandi, which gets his vivid imagination going. “I start with a small incident and let it grow, the story chases the characters in my books,” Mr. Silva said, explaining how he develops his story’s plot. He then expands on the information at hand, directly with some of the Mossad operatives and their life experiences, vicariously expressed through his main character, Gabriel.
Mr. Silva then digressed into politics. He expressed that he is deeply disappointed in the current administration and the European Union’s plan to put sanctions on Israel. He has no qualms blaming Hamas, the responsible party for the mounting deaths in Gaza. In his view, “Hamas is getting the casualties they want for media coverage so they can point fingers at Israel.”
“Will there be a movie?” everyone wanted to know.
“The interest in making a movie is high,” he said. Though he did set out ahead of time to support Israel in his books, and the characters are who they are, “This type of movie is complex for Hollywood, when the main character is an Israeli-Jew, a James Bond type,” Silva smiles when replying.
Restoration is everything in Daniel Silva’s series of books, from arts to Tikun Olam – reparation of the world.
Daniel Silva is simply a great defender of the State of Israel and her people, their principles and national pride, and he portrays these sentiments through his books’ characters.
Reading, writing, learning = Education. Education is the food of the masses. Without it, one has no future. Education is also a character builder. AMIT provides a future for the children of Israel through education. Daniel Silva’s “Gabriel Allon’s adventures,” based on the clarity of national sentiments, is one way for a child to receive all the elements needed in education, learning and building character.
To learn more and then help AMIT in its ongoing education endeavor, please visit: www.amitchildren.org
And please watch the video: AMIT Saves the Children
“AMIT Saves the Children” from DMJ Digital Media on Vimeo.
