Succot ושמחת בחגך Why the Joy?

One of Judaism's interesting questions is:

Why is the Succot Holiday called the "Joyful" one? ושמחת בחגך

The other day, while walking outside in Shiloh and wondering when Gd will bless us with cleansing and health-producing, also necessary for agriculture rain, I noticed the grapes.  OK, I didn't need to go very far to see grapes, since we have a few vines by our house.

The grapes are rather dusty, and some are dried out, eaten by birds, bees etc. And the leaves are awfully brown and ripped. But there are still grapes for humans to feast on.

I began to think of how it must have been in olden times, a few thousand years ago, when food storage meant drying and pickling food. Instead of refrigerators, freezers and modern containers, they used caves and ceramic urns. 

In this late summer season, people couldn't rely on piped water from high tech reservoirs, desalination, drip agriculture etc. It hasn't rained for six months. We frequently complain of the high prices of fruit and vegetables, because the summer crops are finished and the winter ones can't grow without water. The products of modern high tech agriculture isn't cheap.

How did our ancestors manage? During the almost four hundred years of the Mishkan, Tabernacle in Shiloh, there may have been grapes growing right where my grapes grow today. Considering how easily grapes grow here without any professional care, it's obvious to me that this is the Land Gd created for grape growing.

Finding and preparing sufficient food for the many late summer, Tishrei holidays is challenging enough in today's modern world. It's hard to imagine how much more difficult it was thousands of years ago. And then think of the joy when the food was served. Or many the mitzvah, the commandment to be joyful helped them enjoy what they could find to eat.

In Ancient Times, I doubt that the sukkot one lived in during the holiday was built onto people's homes or terraces. They left the comfort of their home to go up to Shiloh and later to Jerusalem for mass prayers. Conditions weren't like today's hotels, three enormous meals and unlimited afternoon cake. Vineyards like mine were treasured and shared, since there wasn't much to eat.

People were grateful and joyful for what they had ושמחת בחגך Visamachta bichaggecha, And be joyful in Your holiday.

Water Shortage Again!

Last summer, just as I arrived back home in Shiloh after a difficult visit to New York I discovered that Shiloh and other communities in what's known in Hebrew as "Gav HaHar," the Biblical mountain range, were suffering from severe water shortages.

Well over thirty years ago,o when the government set up the infrastructure for this part of the country, it seriously underestimated how large and how quickly our population would grow. I found myself bringing dirty laundry to my daughter in Ofra for laundering. Ofra is part of a different water supply system. Shiloh is part of the Shomron system.

The government finally had to truck in water, just like it did thirty-six years ago, when we first came to Shiloh. The big difference between then and now is that now we have pipes and are part of the national water carrier system. Then our water was very localized. There was nothing other than the daily truck.

Today when I came back from the pool, I saw a water truck making its way to the hookup point near the local water tower. Thank Gd things are more under control, although an upgraded enlarged water supply must be instituted.

Water is Big News, Better than Peace

Here in Israel water is big news. We can't take water for granted, and even a bit of a drought can be deadly. Judaism includes prayers for rain in the correct season, to be a blessing not a curse etc.

Visitors to the Holy Land before Zionism always described a barren desert-like landscape where nothing grew but cemeteries. Even though there were always Jewish communities here in the holy cities, not just Jerusalem but Hebron, Tzfat and Gaza, Jews didn't work the Land. That was one of the two major innovations of the Zionist Movement, Jewish agriculture and envisioning/planning a Jewish State.

Jewish leaders, religious and secular, of the time mocked the Zionists claiming them unrealistic and even heretical. But the last laugh is on them, because today Israel is not only a vibrant, advanced country, but it has used its "brainpower" to solve much of the water problem.  That is why Israeli agricultural industry and exports are legendary.

Nearby vineyards, east of Shiloh

While conventional "peace" with our Arab enemies may be far away, they have just signed a "water treaty" with us. Even our enemies, who are trying to destroy us, know that we are the only ones who have succeeded in making miracles with the very limited natural water resources available.

Trump envoy announces Israeli-Palestinian water deal, silent on peace prospects

Will We Have Enough Water in Shiloh and Gav Hahar Shomron?

As many of you probably know, since not only did I blog about it, but it has been on the news, there are major water supply problems in Shiloh and Gav Hahar Shomron. The entire infrastructure stinks. It was planned for a much smaller population and ignored the possibility of agriculture in the area.

The government has been forced to truck and pipe in water to our neighborhood water tower.

With just over an hour left to the Tisha B'Av fast and restrictions, many of us are extremely anxious about the water situation. Most of us haven't been doing laundry either at all or as much as usual. There's lot of laundry piled up, even in "empty nest"' homes like mine. 

Will our washing machines find themselves washing on empty/dry of water? Let's hope and pray that the trucks are on their way, and the repairs will be done by next summer.

Serious Water Problems in Shiloh-- Rotten Government Planning!

Emergency Fresh Drinking Water
Set up near our synagogue
Shiloh, Israel

Those of you who read my other blog, "A Jewish Grandmother" may have noticed a recent post about cooking with minimal water:

Quick Shabbat Cooking with Minimal Water

I wrote it, because there are major water problems in our area, from the Shomron (Samaria,)  south to Gush Shiloh, the Jewish villages around Shiloh, Eli, Ma'ale Levona and the many smaller hilltop communities. Simply put:

"The infrastructure is kaput!"

I wonder if the bureaucrats/politicians who planned and budgeted for this water piping infrastructure 35-40 years ago are/were at fault. Whether it was accidental bad planning, or did they purposely sabotage the post-1967 Zionist settle the Land undertaking, intentionally underestimating, under-planning the the future population and attractiveness to Jews from all over?

If I had a dollar for all those who had unabashedly asked me why I'm here in Shiloh during the early years we were here, I'd be very rich. Most people were under the impression that we were just playing a game, like a complicated expensive demonstration.

Contrary to all the doomsayers and doubters, the Jewish population of Judea, Samaria, Jordan Valley etc has grown and thrived. We have schools, industries, businesses, stores and even a university. And yes, we're here to stay. There's a second and even a third generation raising their children here and going to the same schools.

Too bad the Israeli Government did such a cruddy shortsighted job in setting up the water system here. Now they will just have to fix it. And this time they must plan properly for a growing vibrant population!

No Rain in the Forecast, and No Substitute for Rainwater

Ariel

17-26°Today November 27
Mostly Cloudy 

13-21°Thursday November 28
Hazy 

13-19°Friday November 29
Partly Cloudy 

15-21°Saturday November 30
Partly Cloudy 

From this morning's forecast on Arutz 7

So far, this has been a dangerously dry winter.  In Israel winter rains were supposed to have begun after the Succot Holiday, exactly two months ago.  There were a couple of very short scattered rains in some parts of the country and even an hour or so of very heavy rain that made us think that all was right in the world.  But we were mistaken.

I think that G-d is very angry.  It's written in the Bible that our rain is a gift from G-d and an indication of how satisfied He is with our behavior. Nu, so in all honesty, I'm not all that surprised that yesterday was so hot and dry that my heavy cotton wash dried completely in less than an hour.  And that was late afternoon.  There was absolutely no humidity, even at dusk.

No doubt that G-d is angry, especially when the news was released that the Israeli Water Authority was complaining of "too much water."  Yes, just a couple of weeks ago, that strange announcement was in the news, davka at the same time that rabbis were announcing that we should add a special prayer for rain to our daily prayers.

This year, the Water Authority is concerned again. However,Globes reports that this time, the fear is that Israel will get too much rain – forcing the government to pay desalination plants to stop producing fresh water.

Not all water is the same.  I don't know about you, but I can taste the difference in water.  I feel sick and find my gums sensitive when I drink American soft, purified water.  During recent visits I've been buying myself bottles of mineral/mountain water, and I feel much better.  We once invested a fortune in fancy water filter in the house, and the water tasted "American," and I began having problems.  I don't buy bottles of "purified" water.  you have to read the labels.

Last year we finally, after a long period of drought,  had good rains which started on time, and the fruits were delicious and plentiful.  There is a difference in taste between rainwater citrus fruit and fruit grown with piped water.

The other day I had a tremp, ride with a friend who is a farmer.  He has orchards and a hot house for-export flower business.  As we rode, I asked about rain versus water.  He told me there are many differences, because the purified and desalinated waters don't have the necessary minerals for sweet healthy fruit.  Yes, it's not my imagination; not all water is the same.  There's no way that piped in desalinated or purified water, no matter what the quantity can substitute for rainwater.

This year's heat also has him terribly worried.  Pretty much all of his agriculture is based on our usual climate, the mountain cold and a certain quantity of required cold spells during the winter.  Without that cold, the flowers and fruit trees are barren. This means that food will be much more expensive in the coming year.

In addition, we're getting very close to Shnat Shmitta, the sabbatical year.  We need a bountiful harvest before Shmita, and we won't have it unless a great miracle happens.

That miracle is up to us.  G-d is waiting, no doubt.

It Is Illegal!

According to the ad publicized in the Jerusalem Post by the Israeli government, it is illegal to wash cars or clean paved areas with water hoses. When I took the pictures, nobody seemed concerned. Of course, I used the camera's zoom.

In back of Binyan Clal, The Clal Building, on Agrippas Street, I could see a work supervisor use "threatening" body language to make sure the man holding the hose did his job. The other picture was taken from Yoel Solomon Street, Nachalat Shiva, near Zion Square.

Both areas, especially Agrippas Street, have lots of police passing by. Nobody paid them any attention but me. I wonder if there's a way of informing the police. My feeling is that they don't really care. If they fine anyone for breaking the law, it will be an ordinary home owner.

The ad about the water saving laws can be seen here.

It Should Be Illegal...

... to clean with high-powered water hoses.

They should be banned and destroyed. People, whether for private use, cleaning agencies, the municipality-- EVERYBODY!

There's a major water shortage in Israel.

Pave over your lawns. There will never be enough water if people plant gardens as if they live in London.

The Land of Israel is rich in history and holiness, but it's not rich in natural water supplies.

There was a lot more conscious water thriftiness when we first made aliyah, especially in Jerusalem. Now people think it's enough to have the #1 and #2 flushes on the toilet. To say it's a drop in the bucket is a very bad pun.

Year after year they've been dropping the "red line" of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee,) but sometime, probably soon, that sort of foolishness will rise to haunt us.