Monday 6 October 2014 Neot Kedumin Nature Reserve

 On Monday, Oct. 6, 2014 we went to Neot Kedumim with the students.  It is a Biblical nature reserve where the students learned Jewish customs and way of life.  While we were there the students herded sheep and goats, saw different types of sukkahs, and cooked fry bread and lentil soup. 

Students competed separating the sheep and goats and herding them into a circle.

They crushed zatar in a bowl. Zatar is a popular herb in the Middle East and is similar to oregano.  It is mixed with olive oil for bread dipping, on pizza, in rice and chicken, etc. A tourist told Linda it is against the law to pick Zatar in the wild because it was becoming extinct.

Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year.  It is followed by Yom Kippur.  During Yom Kippur, Jews repent and recommit to live a good life.  Yom Kippur is followed by Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles. During Sukkot, Jews remember that their ancestors lived in the wilderness with Moses as their leader, after escaping from captivity in Egypt.

Jews build Sukkot on their balconies, in parking lots, outdoors in restaurants, etc.  A sukka is a temporary structure which reminds them that their ancestors were wanderers in the desert before entering Palestine.

Over the years, various rabbis have developed specific guidelines for building a Sukka.  If a Sukka violates one of the rules, it is "invalid".  The roof of a Sukka must be exposed to the elements so light and rain will come in.  In the city, many apartment buildings have offsetting balconies, so a balcony on a higher floor is not over a balcony below.

I don't think all rabbis agreed on what was valid for a Sukka. For example:

During Sukkot, a Jew might eat and sleep in his Sukka to reinforce his "remembering". At Neot Kedumin, there was a village showing what makes a Sukka invalid. This year, Sukkot began on Wednesday evening October 8 and ends on Wednesday October 15.



 







Last but not least, a Sukka on a camel:

The etrog is one of the 4 species mentioned in the Old Testament that is used to celebrate Feast of the Tabernacles, or Sukkot. The other 3 are Palm branch, willow, and branch from leafy trees.

Etrog tree:


Etrog fruit:




Almond tree with almonds:



Fig tree with figs:

Fig:

The seed of the carob plant became a standard of weight.  Every carob seed is said to weigh exactly the same as another carob seed.  It became a measurement for weight.  Diamonds are measured in carots, which derives from the carob seed.

For lunch, the students mixed flour, water, and salt to make fry bread.  They built a fire and cooked the dough on a pan that looked like an inverted oriental stir fry pan made of iron. 

Mix and knead:

Shape:

Stretch thin:

Fry:

Eat - hmmm, yummy!

They also made lentil soup. They cooked onions then added red lentils, water, salt, paprika, zatar, pepper, cumin. 

It smelled and felt like Girls' Camp:

After lunch we had a demonstration with a scribe copying the Torah.



Animal skins called parchment were used for making permanent copies of the Torah.

"You shall put these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall tie them for a sign upon your arm, and they shall be as totafot between your eyes."  —Deuteronomy 11:18
Observant Jews live this scripture by tying these little boxes on their foreheads and arms. The are called Teffelins.  Verses from the Torah are put in the boxes..



When the scribe finishes copying a Torah scroll, it is wound around two holders. The leather scrolls are rolled up in fabric to protect them.

If a scribe catches a writing error during his work, he carefully cuts out the leather that has the error and sews in a new piece of leather on which he puts the correct words.  The old piece of leather is buried in the ground.

Back at the Old City,David Tower Museum at Jaffa Gate just before sunset.