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Hanoch in Israel Sukkot Part I
10/11/2009 Moadim L'Simcha (festivals for joy)!
I am thoroughly enjoying my very first Sukkot in our beloved homeland. Sharing meals (and being a guest!) with friends from all over the world has been a huge treat for me; it's like a non-stop party - eating (although not drinking), WAY too much. I wanted to share some points with you, to give you an idea of what it's been like. 1. On Sunday, I got to hang around with old friends and began discussing various ideas/plans that I've been thinking about. The concept of "Ephramites" is still TOTALLY new here...I am hoping that if I ever to get to finish my book, it will help open up people's minds (I'm talking about English speakers). Native Israelis will need to do the explaining to other Israelis... 2. Monday was a trip to Bet El, a fantastic Jewish town of 1,200 families - about 8,000+ people right now, in the hills of Binyamin. They have established some of the leading Yeshivot (plural of 'Yeshiva') and schools in all of Israel, and have successfully absorbed Jews from Ethiopia, Peru and the Bnei Menashe of India/Burma. Since the arabs continue to occupy the valley below (G-d willing, not for much longer..), other Jewish "settlements" - the Dolev Bloc, have sprung up on the other side of the valley, surrounding the arabs. It used to take 15 minutes to go there from Bet El; now, it's 1.5 hours, since it "isn't safe" to go near the arabs....no comment necessary. In Eretz Yisrael.....sigh... Eugene Gluck, one of the great philanthropists of the Jewish community in Yehuda/Shomron is the lay leader of my former synagogue in the States - the Young Israel of Forest Hills. There was a huge gathering at Bet El, since he dedicated a new playground for children (about 10 buildings there exist as a result of his generosity), 4 busloads full of people. I was invited, since the synagogue leaders really like me since I've come on Aliyah - it's like they're living vicariously through me (according to at least one of them. 2 members of Kenesset spoke, including 'Katzele' one of Israel's few great leaders. I got to meet and hang out with Yishai Fleisher of the Arutz-7, Israel National News station, and he's going to introduce me to a number of really GOOD people here, doing amazing stuff. He introduced me to Rav Melamed, the rekowned Rabbinic leader of Bet El, who has 40 grandchildren!!!!! Yishai helped me translate and I began exposing Rav Melamed to the concept of Ephramites in America. He seemed really intrigued. There was a fantastic catered meal in the enormous Sukka (big enough for the Yeshiva) - food like a wedding! A band was playing, and Dov Shurin was there as well (I passed around a YouTube of his a while back). It was lots of fun, and great seeing such a thriving Jewish municipality in the hills of Binyamin! 3. Tuesday was a trip to Neot Kedumim, (sponsored by Modi'in's Immigrant Absorbtion Dept - one of only 4 in the country) a 'Biblical Landscape Reserve of 600 Acres. It is restored to what represented the Biblical landscape, including the sections we walked through which included all 7 species of Eretz Yisrael. I now fully understood the meaning of praying for the 'early and late (Fall & Spring)' rains, since each of the species grow at different times.
4. We saw 'terraced' land, which was the only way to grow things on a hillside. It finally dawned on me (with a little prodding..) that when the Navi (Prophet) talks about the enemy coming to the Land of Israel and tearing down 'your terraces,' it didn't mean messing up their homes, but destroying any potential to grow ANYTHING on the land. There was an exhibit of various types of Sukkot, and the quotes from the Oral Tradition, explaining which were fit to be Sukkot, and which weren't - VERY interesting and thought provoking.
5. We ground up our own Zatar (hyssop) which was pretty cool, I must admit, but the best thing was the ancient olive press. To see how the olives AND pits are ground up to produce ("First Cold Pressed") olive oil was fascinating. A donkey was hitched to a log, attached to a HUGE stone - that product was then put into baskets (made from date trees, I think) with holes in the middle of them, and was pressed by a HUMONGOUS log. The coolest thing though, was the relation it had to Chanukah. We all know that part of the 'miracle of Chanukah' was that 1 jug of oil lasted for 8 days, until more could be prepared for the rededicated Bet HaMikdash (Temple), right? Well, did you ever wonder why it was going to take so long for other jugs of oil suitable for the Bet HaMikdash, to be ready? It was because THAT oil only came from Modi'in....and it took that long to get word to the village, and have them prepare and send more to Yerushalayim.
6. It also reminded me that when the Torah speaks of 'd'vash,' honey - it is referring to the honey from date trees, NOT bee honey.....
7. Musical festival in the evening...meeting really cool people. Thursday will mark 1 month back in Israel.......
8. Although there are often lines here, and people (sometimes) push...Moshe Kepenski (of the Shorashim Gift Shop in the Old City of Yerushalayim) reminded me: " What would Moshe Rabbenu (Moses our teacher) have given to have been in OUR place, to have been ANYWHERE in the Land of Israel....?
9. We are a generation that is blessed...
B'Ahavat HaMoledet vMoadim L'Simcha,
Hanoch
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