Israel Sites – Arava
The Desert (Getting Israel Together)
Reproduced from “Getting Israel Together”, 1986, © The Jewish Agency/WZO
“The State, the nation, the youth, the men of science now confront the supreme test in the history of our progress toward independence and the renewal of our sovereignty. Only through a united effort by the State in planning and execution, by a people ready for a great voluntary effort, by a youth bold in spirit and inspired by a creative heroism, by scientists liberated from the bonds of conventional thought and capable of probing deep into the special problems of this country, shall we succeed in carrying out the great and momentous task of developing the south and the Negev.
David Ben-Gurion
Since the 1950′s, close to 20 kibbutzim and moshavim (as well as an industrial center) have been established for the purpose of farming the Negev. But it hasnt been easy. Agriculture needs land (fertile if possible), water, sun, and a number of other factors (drainage, minerals, suitable crops).
In the desert there is limited amounts of land suitable for farming and there is constant erosion of that which is available by wind and flooding. In order to create new farmland for the settlers evacuated from Sinai as a result of the Peace Treaty with Egypt, the Jewish National Fund has conducted large-scale land reclamation in the northern Negev, by means of flood control and massive landscaping. The lessons of this project may now be applied to other regions of the Negev, just as the use of drip irrigation and hot houses which was developed in the Negev (in order to maximize the use of water) has spread throughout the country – and even to Jordan!
Agriculture and industry also require large amounts of water. Even more critical is the need for cheap energy, in order to make mining the earth’s riches cost effective. Three directions are being followed today regarding energy:
- The search for natural gas and petroleum
- Research and development of solar power
- The Mediterranean – Dead Sea Canal, first envisioned by Herzl.
Despite the hardships there has been development in the Negev and the Arave valley. Yotvata, the oldest Arava settlement, has a dairy that’s become famous throughout Israel. Immigrants from English speaking countries are well-represented in the Arava: Kibbutz Ketura was founded by members of HaShachar-Young Judea, and Kibbutz Yahel is affiliated with the American Reform Movement. They face a great challenge, not only in their attempt to make the desert bloom, but also in adjusting to desert life in small, relatively isolated communities, and in a difficult natural environment. It really is a heroic undertaking.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the
desert shall rejoice and blossom;
Like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice
with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of
Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God….
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears
of the deaf unstopped;
Then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the
tongue of the dumb sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and
streams in the desert;
The burning sand shall become springs of water; The
haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall
become reeds and rushes.
And a highway shall be there,
and it shall be called ‘the holy Way”….
No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
They shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to
Zion with singing;
Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 5:1-10
Thoughts to Ponder….
The desert seems to have always exerted a deep influence on the feelings and senses of man. What is it that makes us so meditative in the desert?
Is it the great expanse? Is it the loneliness and quiet?
As far back as prehistoric times the desert was apparently a holy area – as it was for Moses and the people of Israel, for the Sectarians at Qumran, for the Byzantine monastics.
Is this because of the seeming purity of the desert? Is there something inherently mystical or spiritual about the desert?
The Song for our Troubled Times?
“Point a finger at someone and you’re pointing three fingers at yourself.”
Yeah I know, it’s one of those annoying aphorisms that appear on Facebook with some cute photoshopped image. But as in many annoying Facebook aphorisms, it has something to it.
I’ve been thinking about this physiological morality tale over the past few weeks. Like an evil wind, uproar against one Israeli ‘tribe’ or another has been whipping from headline to headline, stirring up anger then moving on to the next issue, leaving pointing fingers in its wake.
I keep returning to the Prayer of the Secular. It’s a song by Kobi Oz that, to my mind, manages to point a finger at everyone, and yet finds a space for self-critique and harmony. (For a less polemic interpretation of the song, feel free to pop over here, where you’ll also find a full written translation and explanatory footnotes.)
The song begins with the prayer, but swiftly moves into a full-blooded yet empathetic critique of the secular life-style. We take pills if we feel bad, we blame our parents for all our faults, and our values are for sale in a mall. We take no cosmic responsibilities, and (my extension of course) we’re no great advocates for women’s rights ourselves…
Oz imagines himself standing praying his secular prayer in a Jewish minyan. Next to him is a sweaty, slavish, over-reproducing Haredi man. All the (well-sourced) stereotypes spill out in three lines of verse. Yet before we have time to take a breath, the National Religious get it in the neck. They are accused of being vainglorious, valuing land over people, stuck in the past and pulling all of us into war.
Then just as the progressive Jew begins to giggle, the song cuts Reform Jews to the quick, with a suggestion that their Judaism may not be an alteration but instead a totally different religion. My translation, “A reform Jew with a brand new cover or a different book”, is less inflammatory than the Hebrew (what can I do? Child of my time, I was thinking of that great line from ABC…). The Hebrew reworks a phrase asking if Reform Judaism is a make-over, or a different woman entirely?
In line with our current issues in Israel, Kobi’s minyan includes and excludes the women, “rustling and whispering” behind the mechitza, contributing the “sensuous sound, the feminine voice of the non-counted”
What this song succeeds in doing where most of us in Israel have failed, is in both sharing out the blame and praying for peace. The accusations in the song – against the secular, the haredi, the modern orthodox and reform – do not cancel each other out. The fact that one is fatally flawed does not mean that the other is not. They all stand, together, in the same minyan, praying for fertile rain.
Ki Tissa
Is Peace Always the Ideal?
Spark: Aaron is one of the most beloved figures in Jewish tradition, especially because of his dedication to creating peace. Peacemaking is hard. Aaron has many successes in this area. However, like all biblical leaders, his successes are not universal. In this week’s parasha, we seee how complicated peacemaking is and how sometimes we need to step back and examine our motives for creating peace.
A View from the Galilee – the UN bid
My wife had to go to the shop yesterday with the manager of our local store. The store had been given instructions to stock up on basics – water, rice, and other staples. Why? In case there are ‘repercussions’ following the Palestinian bid for State recognition at the UN this week.
Our privileged position on the top of a Galilean hill, overlooking the large Jewish city of Carmiel and the Arab villages of Majd Al Krum, Ba’ne, and Dir El Assad, is sometimes seen as something of a strategic liability. Were our neighbors to ‘rise up’, we’d be rather isolated on the top of our picturesque hill.
The Honor and Dignity of my taxi-driver
Had an interesting ride in a taxi the other day.
My driver had spent twenty years in Sweden, before returning here a couple of years ago. Not a particularly observant Muslim (he talked about being drunk a couple of times), he mentioned his first response to the Danish cartoon of Mohammed a few years back.
Roger Waters and BDS
Dear Mr. Waters,
I was deeply disappointed to learn that you have decided to build a wall between yourself and your Israeli fans. We love you here in Israel. Surely, you must know that from the warm reception you received when you performed here five years ago at the Jewish-Arab village of Neve Shalom.
What you may not realize is that most Israelis believe in a two-state solution. But this vision is not as easy to turn into a reality as you may think. Instead of recognizing the situation’s complexity, you have joined the campaign to boycott Israel, appointing yourself as a judge in a conflict between Middle Eastern tribes. (How British of you!)
Dancing with Wikileaks
Photo by: Olivia Fitusi
A great teacher once taught me: The opposite of peace is not war. The opposite of peace is truth.
His proof text was one of those famous Hillel-Shammai differentiators. What do you say at a wedding if someone asks you if the bride is beautiful? While Shammai would push for brutal honesty, even if the bride is far from related to Bar Raphaeli, Hillel urges us to say that she is beautiful no matter what. “Say she’s gorgeous and get dancing!” In so doing Hillel encourages peace at the expense of truth.
When Shalom only means goodbye
This year I had a tough Rabin Day.
So many replays of that night, so many archived appearances of Rabin on chat shows, and the speeches he made.
What struck me most was the number of times Rabin talked about Peace. These days it is so rare to hear someone talking about peace.
We hear much talk about “reaching an agreement”, we hear a great deal about recognition and borders and security arrangements and settlements, but I don’t hear anyone talking about peace any more. We talk about methods techniques and procedures to solve the problem, to find an end to the conflict, to divide or not divide the land, but it feels like we’ve forgotten to even dream about what that might look like beyond lines on a map.
Where I was the night Rabin was assassinated
They call them flashbulb memories, moments that come upon us suddenly and with the painful, intensity of a flashing light. The moment is then etched upon our consciousness, whether individual or collective, a picture never to be forgotten.
Most Israelis my age have a flashbulb memory of the moment when they heard that Yitzchak Rabin had been shot. I was at home with my husband, enjoying a Saturday evening Melave Malka dinner with Janet and Lenny (names have been changed). We had lots in common. They were recent immigrants to Israel from Canada, we had come some years before from the States; we were all building religious, Zionist families in this new land. Our politics differed, however. They were firmly in what would be called the “peace camp,” while we attended right wing rallies, turning them into family picnics with our kids.
Lives, not statistics
1st September, 2010. This morning, one of our friends here in Neve Daniel sent me this e-mail:
Hi – I am sitting here crying because one of the women murdered tonight was my son’s kindergarten teacher. Yehuda is six and is mentally retarded – his teachers are our world because they bring him such joy when the world is such an overwhelming and confusing place. Cochava was an angel, and we were with her an hour before she died – she was on her way home from the gan welcome back orientation when she was murdered.
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