Through the plane window, I could see New York, dipped in water, its tall buildings thrown into the sky with defiance. An incredible city, I thought to myself, remembering my father who at seventy years, when I had already begun to think that it might be too late for him, visited the city. Standing with his head tilted back, observing the skyscrapers he muttered, "Ya Alla!" That was the first time in his life he had seen the world. Thinking of the travel agent from Bnei Brak who had agreed to deliver the flight ticket to my father in person, I smile. He had to walk several kilometres, by foot, under the blazing sun to reach the outskirts of my father's village, at the top of the mountain. Incredible, I thought, an observant Jew, wearing a kipa, trying, to speak to the villagers, to locate Avram - Abbedalla, my father. I remember how my father had arrived at the airport in New York, and stood there confused in the crowd, like a lost child. When he spotted me, he pulled out from his backpack a jar of preserved grape leaves, his wife had made, and placed it in my hands. "Where am I?" he asked, "America City?" "No dad," I answered, "You're in New York." Scanning the urban view around him, he determined, "Ok, yalla, we'll fill up the gas tank and drive to Canada..." This autobiographical novel tells the riveting personal account of rising out of the ruins and the struggle for survival. Dr. Israel Sela - whose father was a Druze who converted to Judaism and whose mother was Jewish - tells his moving life story, from his parents' failed marriage to his becoming an acclaimed figure in education. Sela's doctoral thesis studied the cultural phenomenon of intermarriage between Jews and Arabs in Israel, which led him to participate in peace talks in Jordan as part of the Geneva initiative. His life story is a model for a population that is in need of nurturing, encouragement, and help toward achieving its goals. Dr. Sela, a true Israeli and humanist at his core, manages, in his book, to touch upon the national, social, cultural, and human experience in Israel. "A beautiful and fascinating life story, with a positive ending - that he became an educator. Education must be our top priority." former Israeli president Shimon Peres