I find it difficult to define myself. I am an economist, an artist, and a writer. My education and my profession is that of an economist. I worked at the Bank of Israel for 20 years as a Senior Economist. I managed billions dollars worth of foreign investments made by the state of Israel. My whole life has been characterized by duality. On the one hand, my analytical studies and work in the economic field, and on the other hand, the interest and desire to enter the world of art and design. Ultimately, I decided to follow my heart, and I left the Bank of Israel and began to dabble in art with an artist friend of mine. The creating of art, the physical contact with matter and with the environment – have had the upper hand over the sterile and air-conditioned world of offices, reconnected me with what is real and authentic, and helped me shatter the glass curtain and touch upon life. Although I’ve always enjoyed writing, I never intended to write a book. Everything happened by chance. I thought about the importance of hope, and how to reinforce it. I asked myself: how can I connect people to hope? Then I happened upon a book by Mitch Albom Have a Little Faith. This book, along with other Mitch Albom books, describes meetings with spiritual teachers – Two of them – One, Albert Lewis, the rabbi of the community in which he lived as a child; and the other, Henry Covington, once a drug dealer and convicted criminal who later became the pastor of a black church in Detroit that also served as a shelter for the homeless. When I reached the middle of the book, I knew how to connect people to hope. I also knew what I wanted to do: to disseminate stories about good people –about their acts of benevolence and, beyond that, about who they are: what makes them happy, what saddens them, what they envy, what they think about money and power, are they forgiving, what kinds of people they respect, what are their dreams, and much more. When I reached the end of the book, I smiled to myself upon reading his last five words. They were: “I’m in love with hope.”     Secrets of Kindness: A Journey Among Good People is the story of my journey in the altruistic world. The Dalai Lama said, “This is the time to start educating the heart.” I hope this book will contribute, even a little, to educating all our hearts.