Sherri Mandel

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Sherri Mandell is an American journalist and literary professor .

She is the author of "Writers of the Holocaust" and has written for numerous magazines and journals, including The Washington Post, Denver Post and The Jerusalem Post.

[edit] Biography

Sherri Mandell is best known as the mother of Koby Mandell, a thirteen year old American boy who was brutally murdered near his home in Israel in May 2001. His body was found in a cave alongside that of his best friend. Both boys had been beaten with boulders the size of bowling balls.

Mrs. Mandell and her husband, Rabbi Seth Mandell, responded to this tragedy in a most extrordinary way -- by starting a foundation that runs emotional healing programs for thousands of people who have lost an immediate family member to acts of terrorism in Israel, The Koby Mandell Foundation. Information about the foundation's programs is available at www.kobymandell.org, or by calling 301-654-7045.

Sherri was born in New York and graduated from Cornell University in 1977. She received an M.A. in Creative Writing from Colorado State and taught writing at the University of Maryland and at Penn State. She is the author of Writers of Holocaust (Facts on File, 2000) and has written for numerous magazines and journals, including The Washington Post, The Denver Post and The Jerusalem Post. Sherri moved to Israel in 1996, with her husband, Rabbi Seth Mandell, and their four children.

Her most recent book is an uplifting, sometimes heartbreaking exploration of her own experience losing her son. In "The Blessing of a Broken Heart," which won the 2004 National Jewish Book Award, Sherri presents her unique perspective on the hidden power of tragedy based on her own harrowing experience. The book describes Sherri’s loss, her struggle with the first stages of mourning, her journey to find peace, and her growing faith as she endeavors to understand her pain in the context of 3,000 years of Jewish history and tradition. Sherri currently directs the Mothers Healing Retreat, an innovative healing program of The Koby Mandell Foundation that brings love, support and healing to mothers and widows bereaved by terrorism.

Mandell was born in New York. She is a Cornell University grad and has a Master's degree in creative writng from Colorado State. Sherri Mandell was a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park and at Penn State.

She immigrated to Israel in 1996 where she continued her writings and is director of The Koby Mandell Foundation Women's Healing Retreat for Bereaved Mothers and Widows.

Mandell is featured as an expert speaker on the documentary Relentless: The Struggle for Peace in Israel