February 6, 2013
-
LETTER FROM ISRAEL
Dear Lois,
December and January have been busy months. In December our group returned to Kibbutz Ketora. I won't give a day-by-day summary because we did most of the usual activities: visits to nearby Kibbutzim Lotan and Grofit, to Timna National Park (site of ancient copper mines and smelting), desert crafts.
We also visited a private farm (very rare in the southern desert) where a young couple has planted olive and date groves and are building a boutique spa-hotel. They already have a small café there which hosts parties and cultural events.
One evening we heard a fascinating lecture on the Cairo Geniza. A geniza is a small room in a synagogue where damaged holy scrolls and books were kept because it is forbidden to throw them away. Generation after generation anything in Hebrew, Aramaic, or remotely connected with Judaism was also added. There was a fire in the synagogue, and the entire interior, including the geniza, was thrown out. Congregants noticed the geniza items and most were saved. Some were sold to antique dealers and found their way to the great libraries of the world in England, Russia, the U.S.A., the Vatican, etc.
Many books and academic papers have been written about this treasure of ancient holy texts. A picture of everyday life through the ages is revealed through marriage and engagement contracts, wills, property deeds, commercial documents , and other items. Some of the artifacts have been bequeathed to Israel; others have been bought by Israeli institutions, but much is still overseas. Some has recently been put online, but much is still unavailable to scholars.
Ketora is home to Methuselah, the date sapling grown from a seed found on Masada. How "our boy" has grown! He is definitely a male, a disappointment to botanists, but several fairly ancient seedlings are being grown in hopes of finding him a mate. (One tiny plant has optimistically been named "Rebecca.") Methuselah is not much taller than he was 3 years ago, but he is broader. Now outside, there is electronic fencing to prevent his being damaged.
Here at home we have had a very rainy and windy winter, with one day of heavy (for Israel) snow in Jerusalem, the Judean hills, the high desert, and the hills of Galilee. Our elections were held on January 22, and this week the first efforts will be made to form a coalition government (the norm). Although our own leftists and the foreign media cite "a turn to the left" or "a tie between left and right," that is really wishful thinking because the "tie" includes the Arab parties on the leftist side. The son of good friends of ours is the new leader of a party of the right, and I understand the U.S. administration and media have deliberately misled the public by branding him an extremist.
At last we now have new ceramic tile floors, laid on the previous floor tiles! All the furniture had to be moved twice: one for the flooring and once for the stuff (I don't know the English word) between the tiles. [Editor’s note: grout.] Wardrobes and bookcases had to be emptied in order to be moved. Since the work was done during a particularly rainy week, all the tile cutting had to be done inside, and even covered furniture was filthy with the dust. All in all, the experience was far worse than moving house. The workers left over two weeks ago, and I'm still finding items, usually while searching for other items. The floors, however, are gorgeous. The only drawback is that the light beige tiles show every speck of dust and tiny crumb, but I'm getting lots of exercise stooping to pick them up.
Love, Marsha
Timna National Park. Fenced-in ancient copper smelting site. Note the pinkish stone of the area.
Timna National Park. "The Pillars." Note stairs for intrepid climbers. Not us.
Methusulah the date sapling.
A solar panel field at Ketura. As in the biblical fields where the corners were not harvested but instead left for the poor (Book of Ruth), the kibbutz donates the profits from the corners to charity.
Kibbutz laundry. Members sort items and put in appropriate openings. Temperatures are centigrade.
Private farm on hill. Young olive and date trees below.
Kibbutz Lotan. One of several experimental gardens, this of two wooden shipping platforms standing on end. Several kinds of vegetables grow at the same time in tiny spaces.
Playground at Lotan made from tires, straw and mud.
Recent Comments