This New Year finds me in Washington, DC – a verdant city shaded by massive trees, with a great river, abundant rain and lush natural growth. To get here, I traveled from Israel, through Europe, passing from the Ancient to the Old to the New World. Compared to the Ancient and Old Worlds, the magnitude … Read More »
Advanced Arabic
It’s hard to believe its been almost a year since I registered for an Advanced Arabic course. My original intention was to improve my communication skills with the many friends I made over the course of my research on the local foods of the Galilee. I wish I could say that I retained even half of … Read More »
Old Friends – New Setting
To everything there is a season. And now it is summer and I am in Washington, DC, with much to engage my forager’s eye – from the yards of beautiful homes whose considerate landscapers planted herbs as part of their design scheme, to the honeysuckle covering fences, there for the sipping. Fortuitously, my sister Jocelyn … Read More »
Two Weeks into the Omer
We are now almost two weeks into the Omer – the 49 plus one days that are counted between Passover and Shavuoth. In a region that has basically two seasons – winter and summer, the Omer, which bridges between them, has always been a period of tremendous climatic uncertainty, with drastic implications for agriculture. So … Read More »
The First, First Fruits of Spring
Early on in Arabic class, we learned the names for the seasons of the year, and one of the topics for discussion was, “what is your favorite season?” Visiting in Kufar Manda to practice my lessons, I took up this conversation with Abu Malek and Um Malek. I like winter best, I told them. The … Read More »