My honey from Israel arrived on time, so left on the to do list is challah and wine. I found a source for Binyamina wines nearby so no worries about being stuck with Baron Herzog at the last minute.
Speaking of Binyamina wine, I volunteered to read the haftorah for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. It's inspiring to read a prophesy that we can see coming to pass before our very eyes...
.עוֹד תִּטְּעִי כְרָמִים, בְּהָרֵי שֹׁמְרוֹן; נָטְעוּ נֹטְעִים, וְחִלֵּלוּ
Yes, the grapes are growing on the mountains of Shomron. The planters plant, and are indeed making use of them. I love it when a plan comes together. I thank HaShem every day for not making me a goy, but this time of year I find to be the most delicious and sweet to be of Am Yisrael. Oh, to be in Eretz Yisrael to walk among the vineyards, and not just taste the wine.
Next Year!
I really can't speak of the more personal side of this week. I think that what goes on between a Jew and HaShem is best left between the two. But what a joy it is join the relationship anew at this time of year, when the air grows crisp and clearer, when the harvest comes in, and the gates are so wide open.
I can speak on the distance between myself and our land. In physical terms it should be about 6000 miles, but really it's only the distance of one verse from Jeremiah. I will be chanting only 19 verses on the second day, while 20 are read in Israel.
הַצִּיבִי לָךְ צִיֻּנִים, שִׂמִי לָךְ תַּמְרוּרִים--שִׁתִי לִבֵּךְ, לַמְסִלָּה דֶּרֶךְ הלכתי (הָלָכְתְּ); שׁוּבִי בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֻׁבִי אֶל-עָרַיִךְ אֵלֶּה
I find it a little sad we don't read that last verse in Galut, the place in greatest need of markers, the place from which we have the greatest need to set our hearts toward home. I suppose that we have no physical roads out here on which to walk, but my feet are pointed that way. I'll walk home if that's what it takes.
K'Tivah V'Chatimah Tovah!
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How is Israeli honey different from American honey? Just wondering.
ReplyDeleteIf we're speaking physically, there are flowers in Israel that don't exist in America. Honey derived from different flowers have different tastes.
ReplyDeleteBut to truly understand the difference, one has to go there and literally get their hands in the earth. The answer is in the land; the Who Where Why and How of Eretz Yisrael. It's those things that answer why that land has, since it was settled by Am Yisrael more than 3000 years ago, only bloomed in the hands of the Jewish people.
Honey is a nexus of earth, water, light, plants, and animals...all of which come from HaShem. Milk is another such nexus. Perhaps that's why Eretz Yisrael is repeatedly referred to as eretz zavat chalav u d'vash; a land flowing with milk and honey. Eretz Yisrael is itself the nexus between HaShem, the Jewish people, and the earth from which both Am and Eretz are derived.
I have had honey from America that was sweet, delicious, even memorable. But that which is derived from a place such as Eretz Yisrael, to the Jewish tongue at least...it is the taste of everything the Jewish heart holds.
Thanks. I knew all that, but I also knew you could express it better than I.
ReplyDeleteTry wines from Binyamin - the region of South Samaria: Psagot, Shiloh,
ReplyDeletehere and also here
I've tried to find the Binyamin wines, but our selection is not so great. I have a friend who used to purchase wines so we're looking to see if we can establish a connection.
ReplyDelete