Shortly after the Iron Sword War began on October 7th, I began volunteering to help businesses that needed labor to survive. Accompanied by one of my sons, two grandsons, or his wife, I have harvested tomatoes and cucumbers, made tempeh, and given lectures on beer to refugees from the northern and southern border regions. .
My latest commitment to volunteering is related to the holiday of Tu Bishvat, the New Year of Trees, which is celebrated in Israel by planting trees and enjoying the fruits of the land. These include the olive, one of the seven species that the Rabbis say glorify the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates.
Olive trees do not require much attention. They grow here in the wild and can live for hundreds of years. There are several trees in Israel that date back more than 2,000 years and are still producing fruit. All we humans have to do is harvest the olives.
Then, on a sunny morning a few weeks ago, I drove with my son Aharon and grandsons Amitai, 14, and Yadin, 11, to Kfar Shmuel, a moshav between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I headed over. Our destination was a family-run Pas farm that owns 100 dunams (25 acres) of olive trees and a modern press to produce olive oil.
help with the olive harvest
We went to help harvest olives (which have a special name in Hebrew: Marsik). There were dozens of other volunteers there, most of them from American-born Orthodox families. Most of the regular harvesters were Arabs from West Bank villages (not far away), but since the war began and the borders were closed, they have been unable to work there. All that remained were the Jewish workers involved in the orchards. They also acted as our guides.
The traditional method of harvesting olives is to spread a blanket around the base of the tree, then hit the branches with a stick and let the olives fall onto the blanket. In the orchard where we worked, a special machine was mounted on the tractor, which grabbed the trunk in a vise and shook it vigorously for several seconds. As a result, more than 90% of his olives fell onto the tarpaulin.
What about the remaining 10%? That’s when volunteers stepped in. We grabbed sticks and mini rakes and knocked down and pulled down all the remaining olives in sight. Often it was over their heads.
Yadin’s immediate reaction was, “Stop!” You’re killing the trees! ” Our guide explained that this is the way olives have been harvested for thousands of years and does not cause any permanent damage to the trees.
Each time we took down a few trees and the tarp was full, we pulled it up into the container, lifted the tarp, and dumped the olives. Each container contains 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of olives.
Although it was about three hours of continuous hard work, Amitai and Yadin did not get tired. They continued to knock down the trees and knock down the olives like true professionals.
We then went to a very modern mechanized olive press. There, workers were already pressing the olives harvested that morning. The trick is to press the olives as soon as possible after harvest. This keeps acidity levels low.
Paz Olive Oil is not sold in retail stores and is primarily supplied to establishments such as hotels and restaurants. However, it is sold to volunteers and visitors, so I bought a few liters and took them home.
When olives are harvested, they become very painful, very dirty, and very oily. But I’m very satisfied. It seems to be effective for all age groups. ■
The author was born in New York and has lived in Israel since 1971. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife of 55 years, and they have his three sons and his five grandchildren.Now semi-retired, he has his own Facebook page (Israel Brews and Views) and jerusalem post.