ESRA: For English-Speaking Readers Only

Way back in June, 1991, when I was working as a reporter for City Lights, the weekend supplement of The Jerusalem Post. I wrote an article about ESRA Magazine. City Lights has long been history, but ESRA Magazine is still there, as eagerly awaited and read as it ever was. In fact, the article I wrote almost 20 years ago could almost have been written today. So why has this particular publication gone from strength to strength, when others, more professional and better funded, have disappeared?

To discover an answer, I looked at a back copy (which of course I keep handy, as I'll bet you do too.)

What I discovered is that ESRA Magazine has kept its freshness, its originality and its relevance over the years. It's the kind of magazine that people read from cover to cover because it deals with the issues that interest us, the questions we have and the people we know. If we want to know what activities are going on, or where to find a plumber or about the lives of English-speaking people, that is the place. If we want to be inspired by volunteers, or find a support group, it's there too.

ESRA has become sleeker, larger and better looking, but it remains essentially the same. As Merle commented, when I interviewed her in 1991, "Why change? We're successful the way we are."

May ESRA continue for many more years in its same inimitable way.