Eugène Roger was a Franciscan missionary who spent time in the Holy Land between 1629 and 1634 and served as a physician to Druze leader and Ottoman governor Fakhr al-Din II (ca. 1572–1635). Roger wrote about his experiences in the Middle East in La terre saincte (The Holy Land), first published in France in 1646.
At an age when most youngsters are struggling to unravel the secrets of mathematics and the mysteries of the Bible; at an age when first love blooms; at the tender age of sixteen, I was handed a rifle…
Everything, nearly everything, was taken away from us in the ghettos and concentration camps by the great criminals. They did not spare our treasures, both material and spiritual. Even our…
I have not sung to you, my land,
And I have not glorified your name
With acts of valor,
With booty of battles;
My hands have planted just a tree
On the quiet Jordan shores,
My legs have trodden down…