OrGani

Play on words

The Hebrew word for Organic is Organi…which is made up of two words
or = light
gani = my garden
Therefore when we practice consciousness in our gardens and don’t use any unnatural products and chemicals, we are doing enlightened gardening

My stay at Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu was so beautiful, for my eyes, my body, and my mind. It’s located in the scenic Jordan Valley, home of ancient Roman civilizations (so replete with ruins that people have columns in their front yard as garden décor). Additionally, Sde Eliyahu is on the forefront of organic agriculture. I can die happy now having had this experience… or at least cross that off my checklist of To-Do’s.

I want to share with you more about Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu because they set an exemplary standard for living a meaningful and harmonious life. A properly functioning kibbutz is great model for a healthy, productive society with happy, free, and protected citizens (an ideal balance rarely struck in actuality). Additionally, the Kibbutz is a prototype for sustainable living, using innovation and technology in order to live a simple life rooted in tradition, family, and community.

Work hours are reasonable, livelihood is guaranteed, (mommy’s get ready for this one) they wash your laundry, day care, health care, retirement, education, cooking is all part of the package. When we aren’t slaves to these incredibly important provisions, there is time to stop and chat with neighbors and friends. The look of ease in the eyes of the residents is the byproduct of living in a community where everyone cares about the well-being of the governing unit and the governing unit cares about everybody else.

Sde Eliyahu has many income generators, but their goal is not to amass wealth, rather to live comfortably and to create products that benefit the world. Everyday I walked around in amazement by the breadth of the work that takes place here (and they don’t outsource the brain power to India or the manual labor to illegal immigrant workers).

Sunrise over the vineyard, the beginning of the workday

Organic Farming
I worked in the vineyard during most of my stay at the kibbutz, where we harvest grapes, tend to the luscious pomegranate fields quickly bulking up in time for Rosh HaShana, and reap plump, sugary dates. They also farm seasonal crops for domestic consumption. Many aspiring-farmers are drawn to the kibbutz to work as an apprentice under the well-known Mario Levy, the first visionary of organic agriculture in Israel.

the goodies, bundles of delicious grapes hide under the brush

Natural Pesticides
Just in case you are wondering how everything is pesticide-free while still being pest-free, Sde Eliyahu uses and markets an incredible solution; breeding, packaging, and shipping mass quantities of predatory bugs that will quickly eat your harmful insect infestations.

Additionally, they have a product called Bio-Fly (AKA insect birth control), a natural, chemical free solution for the Mediterranean fruit fry. Sde raises sterile male flies and then releases them into the field where they marry the female flies and no babies are made. It’s kind of sad, but equally so, it’s effective and brilliant.

the pomegranate orchard...otherwise known as pom pom grenades

And it don't stop.....

• Natural Pollination (Bio-Bee) -Don't let the front page headline in the New York Times alarm you, there is no threat of bees coming extinct. Sde Eliyahu has been in the business of mass rearing bumble bees for natural pollination for years.
• Employing the Locals for Pest control - The kibbutz and the local birds work together too. By building houses and protecting the falcons, owls, and bats, the kibbutz is ensured that there are no moths, rodents or pests.
• Donkey bong - There are no weed whackers at the kibbutz. Donkeys hang out in the date fields happily munching away all the weeds.
  

donkeys in the date palm orchard eat all the weeds

• SDA Spice Factory - Organically grown spices, herbs, and oils are dried and packaged at the kibbutz
• Fish farm and hatchery - Sde Eliyahu is on the forefront of fish production and the largest producer of tilapia in Israel. (Its good, I can testify)
• Cow Dairy - There are 300 cows that are milked 3 times a day, meeting all dairy the needs on the kibbutz.
• Chickens Coops - Chickens are raised on for kosher slaughter. These chickens eat healthier than most humans from the organic compost.

I am flabbergasted by what's being yielded in Israel. Mark Twain visited in 1867 and wrote the land off as….

“….. A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds… a silent mournful expanse…. a desolation…. we never saw a human being on the whole route…. hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”

Today Israel supplies most of its own agricultural needs and even has a profitable exportation industry. They are a leader in water preservation, irrigation methods, and desert agriculture and are the only country in the world who has an increasing tree population. These are miraculous feats for a land deemed barren and desolate less than 100 years ago. These achievements are possible (besides G-d's hand in the matter) because love of the land is an integral part of Jewish observance. In fact, most mitzvoth (commandments) are agricultural in nature and only obligated to be kept in the land of Israel. This respect and appreciation of the land is a trait shared with many other indigenous peoples, such as the Native Americans, and is crucial to inculcate in all peoples and nations.
My sojourn at the kibbutz is over for now, although I milked every moment spent here (I also milked a goat and made some cheese). Sde Eliyahu has taught me the hidden meaning of the expression “to be partners with G-d in creation”. Human-kind has been given all the tools we need to live in concert with the land; to guard and protect it. It is our responsibility to utilize the gifts and bounty of the earth properly and consciously. We must live IN the land, WITH the land, not just on top of it.

If anyone is interested in visiting Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, they are always looking for hard-working volunteers. The kibbutz also offers a Hebrew Language Immersion (Ulpan) and gives guided bio-tours. Contact Beni at gavrieli@sde.org.il, tell him Gani sent you. Also, if you are serving in the Israeli army as an American or new immigrant, they have a lone soldier program.

Harvesting Gani

I am red…is it a sun burn? Or have I become a communist? Both, I am a kibbutznik.
I arrived, clean and naïve and within minutes they stripped me of my pretty dress handed me a patched up denim outfit and a pair of used work boots. Twenty minutes later I was sitting in the dining room getting the orientation.
“That’s where the new immigrants sit”
“That’s the goat cheese that was made in our own dairy”
“That’s where the retired old ladies sit…don’t let them see if you don’t finish your plate”
“That’s the mean French man, only sit by him if you are feeling confident”
“That’s the Rabbi of the community”
“Those are the Yeshiva boys, they don’t talk to women, so don’t even try”
“If you mix the chocolate powder with the coffee, it’s really yummy”
…………and so it went, I got all the survival advice I needed, a pat on the back, and a good luck bidding.

For those of you who do not know, a kibbutz is a type of collective community, original to Israel. The movement was born in the late 19th Century when Jews began returning to the land. Setting up small, self-sustained, agricultural communities was the only practical way to survive in the land when there was no central government or a grid to be on. Life of a kibbutz is very interesting and counter-intuitive for the self-interested capitalistic system us westerners are accustomed to since all resources are pooled and evenly distributed… the farmer and the lawyer make the same money (sorry). Everyone eats together in the community dining hall, works together, and governs together. The social experiment proved successful and was the breeding ground for the hard, tough pioneers that came back to resettle the land. Today the kibbutz movement has lost much of its fuel since there is an official Jewish State and many can’t find ways to generate enough income to support the tribe. Nevertheless, these utopian communities still exist and many people prefer this setup as opposed to cities and suburbs. Most kibbutzim resorted to tourism or operating industrial plants to generate income, however this kibbutz is on the cutting edge of large-scale organic farming and agriculture…back to my personal narrative…

Then I got my job assignment: harvesting grapes in the vineyard. Which sounds really romantic, right? Picture me, prancing about with a wicker basket, the hills are alive with music, the Gilboa Mountains to my left, the Jordanian Mountains to my right, me, in the middle of the Beit She’an Valley with grape vines in my hair, leopard print, the music to fantasia playing in the background, a Jewish Dionysus, goddess of wine, festivities, merrymaking, and ritual madness (insert maniacally laugh here)…well not exactly.

The work day starts at 5:30am. After a quick lesson in Torah and some black coffee, we dive into work. The sun has yet to make to make its appearance, although he’s the star of the show. We man our positions in the vineyard, armed with silly hats, scissors, and gloves, unified against our common enemies…the merciless sun and the territorial hornets (getting stung is a right of passage). The sun peeks over the horizon, casting a red glow on the grape vines, breathtaking at first, but then it keeps rising and the faucet of sweat turns on, perpetually leaking down your back…drip drip drip. Time passes but not so quickly and there is only one place to go…deep inside yourself.

When you are spending hours inside your head, it’s important that you enjoy your own company. I refer to it as: The Gani and Jenna Show. Talk about a mild case of schizophrenia, truly a jekell and hyde of sorts; the more refined self-aware version of me (Gani) versus the hedonist pleasure-seeker (Jenna). Man do they go at it. It’s quite humorous to step back and listen in. Both make valid and convincing points, they even switch sides sometimes.

After a while, everything starts to blur, life stories, all valid, equally vivid: standing on Northern Blvd. wondering why there is smoke coming from the Twin Towers, standing at Mount Sinai wondering why there is smoke coming from the clouds, memorizing Boyz to Men songs, memorizing the Shema, killing me softly with his words, building tree houses, salamander hunting, rebuilding New Orleans, ascending the steps at the Beit Hamikdash, standing at the foot of ancient pyramids in Mexico, standing on one foot in lotus pose, crying, laughing, dying, sighing, skiing, being, loving, dancing, telling secrets, getting high, getting low, getting back to the garden, WoodStock or Gan Eden? Lech Lecha, driving my pink Cadillac (plush velvet seats), billiards, Redemption Song, Memorial Day Parade with Grandpa Milton, parading around Jericho, recklessly jumping from cliffs into icy water, recklessly wrecking my car, Criss Cross will make you jump jump, Modah Ani Lefanecha, want to play the game? Is this life or was this the game all along? Am I loosing my mind or have I suddenly found it? Eureka!

And just when I am on the brink of insanity, the sound of the tracker interrupts my thoughts, drowning out the chirping birds and the melodic crickets in the foreground. I drop my scissors, drop my hat, drop my gloves and swagger towards the monstrously large hay covered machine which I ride to breakfast, gloriously, covered in dirt, stinking, barely recognizable.

Do not get me wrong, this work has been extraordinarily rewarding. I am so glad that I am here. So glad to be working in the land if Israel. So glad to be harvesting fruit after the most intensive year of my life. I am glad to have this time to sort out myself. Truly contemplate, meditate, germinate.

Plus the grapes are incredibly delicious and perhaps the most sensual fruit I have ever experienced. The bunches, they hide under the brush (interesting that in nature, the most precious things are tucked away and hidden from sight). I sweep the leaves to the side, exposing the large, supple, juicy clusters, dangling, sun-kissed and dripping with dew…and snip, they fall into my hand.
I have eaten so many a grape.
I am sick to my stomach and drunk, but tomorrow I will do it again.
They are so good.
And the variety of grapes is unbelievable.
Juice grapes, wine grapes, high end organic grapes, purple grapes, seeded grapes, raisen grapes… I could continue but I think you get the point.

I find it quite symbolic that I am harvesting grapes in Israel. I came here a year ago, my garden wild and chaotic, with the conviction to tame it a little bit. I came to Israel to grow, and growth is no easy process. I had to raze myself to the ground, up haul everything, weed it out, plow, relandscape, replant, water, tend, sow, and now…I am harvesting fat organic grapes. Now we shall make some wine and have a toast, will you please raise your glasses...L’Chayim.