Today began our trip to the northern part of Israel. It began with a drive into the West Bank, driving east from Jerusalem and then straight up along the Jordan River valley. Our first stop was Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, a religious kibbutz which, as we learned, is one of the few remaining "pure" kibbutzim, meaning that it has not been privatized. In this old-school model, laundry is still done communally, members of the kibbutz receive an allowance according to their specific needs, and the kibbutzniks all eat three meals a day in a communal dining hall. Sde Eliyahu was the frontrunner in organic crop production in Israel, paving the way for the reduction of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that is now starting to become more common. The kibbutz has developed methods of encouraging predatory birds to make the kibbutz their home, as a natural means of eliminating detrimental rodents. We were surprised to see the huge amount of weeds growing up around many of the crops, but our guide explained that while it may not look pretty, the weeds can actually be beneficial. The weeds host insects that prey upon others which would otherwise destroy the crops and also help shield the soil from excessive evaporation.
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| Between the dining room and the synagogue, at the center of Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu |
What really put the kibbutz on the map was the development of "Bio-Bee" a kibbutz-owned company developed by kibbutz members which cultivates bumblebees as a means of effective crop pollination, and also raises insects which feed on other crop destroying insects. Farms that have used the bumblebees have reported 25% increases in food production and those that have utilized Bio-Bee's insects have managed to cut chemical pesticides by up to 80%. Aside from all the good that Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu has done across the globe, the kibbutz also boasts its own enormous fields of wheat, grapes, tomatoes, dates, olives, and many more fruits and vegetables. It was an awesome sight to see the crops of this kibbutz--as well as those of many others on our way up--flourishing in an area that otherwise looks totally barren.
We finished our tour of Sde Eliyahu with lunch in the main dining hall, along with the rest of the kibbutzniks. It was a delicious meal of chicken, beef goulash, shnitzel, rice, potatoes, couscous, soup, and assorted salads. The kibbutzniks must work awful hard if they're able to eat like this on a daily basis!
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| Some of the "hired help" at the kibbutz |
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| A glimpse of the majestic date groves at Sde Eliyahu |
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| A hive swarming with bumblebees, just as it would be shipped to another farm or kibbutz in need |
From Sde Eliyahu, we began our drive further north towards Tzefat. The drive up was absolutely mesmerizing. Every few feet we encountered more of the astonishing beauty of the Land of Israel. The dates and grapes we had seen further south now changed to bananas, mangos, and prickly-pears. The limestone that we'd seen all over Israel until now suddenly gave way to black volcanic rock (Iddo explained that this area of Israel sits on a fault, the black rock originally begin deposited here by lava that ran from Mount Chermon, high up north). We drove along Lake Kinneret--the Sea of Galilee--with its sparkling blue waters. After the heavy rainfall Israel enjoyed this past winter, it was a pleasure to see the Kinneret's water level so high. After much driving and climbing up into the mountains of northern Israel, we finally entered into Tzefat.
We got off the bus and immediately began our tour of Tzefat's renowned art galleries. After a couple of initial visits, we made our way to the studio of Sheva Chaya, an American-born artist specializing in watercolor painting and glassblowing. Sheva Chaya treated us to a glassblowing demonstration and described some of the kabbalistic concepts she infuses into her work. We continued on towards the major strip of art galleries in the city for some browsing and shopping, enjoying the varied styles and methods of the artists whose work hung in the spaces all around us. We took a brief pause to enter into the synagogue of Rabbi Yosef Karo, 16th century legalist and mystic, best known for his authorship of the Shulchan Aruch, a series of texts utilized until today as a practical code of Jewish law.
After checking into the Ruth Rimonim Hotel--a beautiful hotel that artfully matches the charm of the rest of the city--we met for a delicious buffet dinner in the hotel's dining room.
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