Thursday morning I attended a Bar Mitzvah at the Davidson Archeological Garden, under Robinson's Arch (named for the Archeologist who discovered it) near the (or more accurately, near the SW corner of the) Kotel. About 25 years ago, while working as USY advisors, Judy and I became friendly with Ken (and later hs wife Tzipi) Krupat. ken is from Toronto, Tzipi from Kiriyat Ekron, daughter of a 5th generation Yemenite silversmith. It was their son Oren's Bar Mitzvah (part 1, I wasn't available for part II on shabbat in Kfar Saba). It was a very nice service, led by Rabbi Feder and was followed by breakfast at the Te'anim Restaurant behind the King David Hotel. I had a nice time, especially with Tzipi's mother, uncle and brothers, and Ken's family, who I hadn't seen in many years.
After packing to leave Jerusalem in the early afternoon, I drove first to Har Homa and then to Sho'eva to pick up my friend Rinat Hugi so we could go to Holon for the Children's Museum exhibit Dialog BaChashaicha (Dialog in Darkness). It is a 75 minute blindness simulation, where in groups of 10 with a blind guide, you expereince a variety of simulated experiences, shopping in the shuk, walking in a forest, taking a boat ride, visiting an apartment, walking on the street. There is absolute darkness, and you can go through with or without a cane (I went with). You have to remove any light source, your watch, cell phone, anything and lock it in a locker before you go in. It is amazing. Our guide Meir, a 41 year old former English teacher (the tour is in Hebrew) was amazing, Meir learned our names and voices in seconds and it is something to put on your definite to do list when you come to Israel.
Then I went with Orit and Rinat (I was driving) to the Port of Tel Aviv for a great Fish dinner. It was packed on a Thursday night, with kids arriving at midnight and later. Parents behave very differently here than in the US.
It was a late night and a long drive back to Jerusalem. Friday, after an early farewell lunch with Danny at Burgers Bar, I stopped to see my friend and winemaker, Avital Goldner at his home-based, Katamon winery. I tasted a bunch of great wines in the barrrel, a Johannesburg Riesling, a Merlot (2010 - still sweet) a dessert wine, a cabernet franc - all very delicious. I'm hoping to find a role for Avital in my planning for the JEA conference in February - his personal story is very interesting - he is a scribe - a sofer stam, and teaches Gemara and makes terrific wines. He is also a terrific person.
Then it was off to Herzliya for Daniel David's Bar Mitzvah.
We interrupt this blog for an important announcement. While I am sitting outside, in the shade, with a breeze blowing in the center of Jerusalem, the light rail just went by on Jaffa Road with passengers on Board - I'm waiting for the shofar blast to announce that the Mashiach has come.
I had a lovely shabbat with the David-Hayoun families whom I have know for over 30 years, Amy and her sons (I hadn't seen Yonatan or Noam for a few years) and grandaughter - it was a great service at the conservative Torat Chayim congregation in Herzliya. President Ruth Ritterband, with whom I have many colleagues in common was most welcoming and it was a terrific shabbat.
After shabbat I drove Amy's cousin Kayla to Pardess Hanna and I was able to visit Micha Balf, who served as Washington's Education Shaliach for 3 years (2006-2009 I think). It was great visiting at his home at Maagan Michael, and as always I learned a lot from our exchange that will help me with the planning of the JEA conference in February.
Amazing how your horizon expands when you have a car in Israel. I loved having the independence it provided, and it was a great deal. In fact I may have spent more on gas than on the rental itself.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Another typical Israel-Mitzvah-Wine Day -- Wednesday, Aug 10
So a lot of people question my reason for naming my blog as I did. The truth is, these are my spare-time passions, and this is the place where it all comes together for me. Wednesday was a perfect example.
At 8:30 am Arnie and I met with Yael Rosen from Atzum. Yael, who for about 6 years has been our contact for helping Righteous Among the Nations (those who saved Jews during the Shoah) living here in Israel. Yael started a new project for Atzum this year, to recognize and educate about Ethiopian Prisoners of Zion (Asirei Tzion). Those of you in my age group will remember the Soviet Jewry movement of the 70's and 80's and the term Prisoners of Zion given to Soviet Refuseniks imprisoned for wanting to leave the USSR.
It is an official term, determined by the Office of Immigration, and also has been applied to approximately 500 Ethiopians living in Israel. These people were imprisoned in Ethiopia and Sudan, many of them tortured, but finally made their way to Israel. While they get a small stipend from the Israel government, many are reticent to tell their stories, and relive their ordeals. Also, there is a huge generation gap within the Ethiopian community, not unlike other immigrant populations. The parents don't learn Hebrew as fast or as well as the children, become dependent on children for negotiating with the bureaurocy or the electric company or school officials, and so the kids respect their elders less as illiterate or not worthy. Many of thes people risked their lives to get themselves and others out of Ethiopia.
Atzum's new project takes Ethiopian and other students (the pilot was last year in Be'er Sheva) in small teams to interview and film the stories of these silent heroes of the Jewish people. It has a cathartic effect on the Prisoner of Zion, gives them respect, educates the students and the wider population, and raises their esteem among the youth in their community. Not a bad project, I hope you agree. For $10,000, we can make it happen again.
After the meeting, it was play time. Yossi picked me up and we headed east, to Gush Etzion. We visited Shraga Rosenberg at the Gush Etzion Winery (who is no longer making my favorite Sour Cherry Liqueur), and then headed to Bat Ayin to meet organic Vintner and winemaker Gershon Ferency. We tasted several of his wines, a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, a Sauvignon Blanc/Viognier combination, a merlot and a red blend. All were very good and very reasonably priced. I didn't buy a lot, but I will definitely go back.
Then we headed north to Psagot. Winemaker Yaacov Berg was on vacation in the US, but we were attended to by Ruchama, a terrific, knowledgable and friendly member of the staff. We tasted 5 wines. Their viognier never disappoints, the Edom blend is excellent, the merlot and cab were great, the Shiraz was ok, but not as good as the others. All are worthwhile and importantly available in the US. Psagot was affected recently by a boycott on West Bank businesses (Yaakov was quoted in the Washington Post in July - I brought a copy of the article to the winery) and it is important to help support this terrific winery.
We had a very late lunch (turned into and early dinner) in Abu Ghosh. Excellent food. So you see, it's possible to bring one's passions for Israel, Mitzvah work and wine into one 12 hour period. Nizkeh l'mitzvot v'yayin tov! - We should be worthy together to do mitzvot and drink great wine.
At 8:30 am Arnie and I met with Yael Rosen from Atzum. Yael, who for about 6 years has been our contact for helping Righteous Among the Nations (those who saved Jews during the Shoah) living here in Israel. Yael started a new project for Atzum this year, to recognize and educate about Ethiopian Prisoners of Zion (Asirei Tzion). Those of you in my age group will remember the Soviet Jewry movement of the 70's and 80's and the term Prisoners of Zion given to Soviet Refuseniks imprisoned for wanting to leave the USSR.
It is an official term, determined by the Office of Immigration, and also has been applied to approximately 500 Ethiopians living in Israel. These people were imprisoned in Ethiopia and Sudan, many of them tortured, but finally made their way to Israel. While they get a small stipend from the Israel government, many are reticent to tell their stories, and relive their ordeals. Also, there is a huge generation gap within the Ethiopian community, not unlike other immigrant populations. The parents don't learn Hebrew as fast or as well as the children, become dependent on children for negotiating with the bureaurocy or the electric company or school officials, and so the kids respect their elders less as illiterate or not worthy. Many of thes people risked their lives to get themselves and others out of Ethiopia.
Atzum's new project takes Ethiopian and other students (the pilot was last year in Be'er Sheva) in small teams to interview and film the stories of these silent heroes of the Jewish people. It has a cathartic effect on the Prisoner of Zion, gives them respect, educates the students and the wider population, and raises their esteem among the youth in their community. Not a bad project, I hope you agree. For $10,000, we can make it happen again.
After the meeting, it was play time. Yossi picked me up and we headed east, to Gush Etzion. We visited Shraga Rosenberg at the Gush Etzion Winery (who is no longer making my favorite Sour Cherry Liqueur), and then headed to Bat Ayin to meet organic Vintner and winemaker Gershon Ferency. We tasted several of his wines, a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, a Sauvignon Blanc/Viognier combination, a merlot and a red blend. All were very good and very reasonably priced. I didn't buy a lot, but I will definitely go back.
Then we headed north to Psagot. Winemaker Yaacov Berg was on vacation in the US, but we were attended to by Ruchama, a terrific, knowledgable and friendly member of the staff. We tasted 5 wines. Their viognier never disappoints, the Edom blend is excellent, the merlot and cab were great, the Shiraz was ok, but not as good as the others. All are worthwhile and importantly available in the US. Psagot was affected recently by a boycott on West Bank businesses (Yaakov was quoted in the Washington Post in July - I brought a copy of the article to the winery) and it is important to help support this terrific winery.
We had a very late lunch (turned into and early dinner) in Abu Ghosh. Excellent food. So you see, it's possible to bring one's passions for Israel, Mitzvah work and wine into one 12 hour period. Nizkeh l'mitzvot v'yayin tov! - We should be worthy together to do mitzvot and drink great wine.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Quick updates, details to follow
I'm about a week behind in my writing - I've been really busy, nearly everyday.
Last Sunday, the 7th was a day for meetings, phone calls and writing, and when I got most of last week's posts written. I picked up my chariot, a light blue Hyundai Getz from Budget, which has turned out great (except that gas is about $8 a gallon, 7.22 NIS a litre). In the evening, Danny Yossi and I went to the anniversary party for Avshalom and Pam Beni's daughter Alyssa and son-in-law Richard Shore, on the beach at Sdot Yam. It was a beautiful event where they celebrated with their Israeli friends and family after getting married last summer in New York.
Monday during the day I took care of some errands to be able to be ready for Tisha B'Av, since restauarants in Jerusalem all close mid afternoon. The afternoon was a very successful series of meetings realted to the JEA Conference I am co-chairing with Scott Littky and Rabbi Paul Freedman in February in Jerusalem. Paul and I met at the Begin Centre, where we are considering holding our final banquet, and then went to Har Herzl to meet with David Breakstone at the new Herzl Education Center. While the building is finished, the technology we were hoping to see is not yet installed, but still the meeting was very productive. It is always moving to be on Mt Herzl we went through the Herzl Museum (about 6 yrs old - I had never been before) and its very nostalgic for me since my first Israel trip in 1975 i was based on the back of Mt Herzl, at the Jerusalem forest Youth Hostel, and I have very fond memories of being there.
Monday night I observed Tisha B'Av as I did last year, with Cong. Moreshet Avraham in Talpiyot at the scenic Haas Tayelet overlooking Jerusalem from the South. It is more or less where Abraham may have first seen Mt. Moriah on his way to sacrificing Issac. It is a beautiful site, and it was a very meaningful place to observe the day.
On Tuesday, Danny and I went (the freedom of having a car!) to Tel Aviv, to meet Avshalom Beni and watch him conduct a session with children attending a day program at the African Refugee Development Center in South Tel Aviv. He brought 5 dogs, Begal D, the great Dane (14 months, 140 pounds and growing), Jezzy, the new collie we helped purchase this spring who has just recovered from a broken hip (scooter accident), Sky and 8 year old boxer, Ilsa, a Miniature boston terrier and Samson, an 11 yr old golden. The kids were at first very tentative ( amazing how kids here only 6 months are already fluent Hebrew speakers) but within an hour were feeding and petting the dogs, and able to describe how you can treat dogs and people with love and they will react more positively. It was great watching Avshalom work and exhausting being Begal D's handler for 2 hours - he is amazing strong, but very sweet and gentle (and quite distractable).
On our way back to J-lem we stopped at Kibbutz Tzuba to see Yoel and Sara Dorkam, who used to run the Yaakov Maimon volunteers and to meet the new head, Meir - a really great guy. They are doing great things to support Ethiopian olim in Mevaseret, and it was great catching up with the Dorkams, and hearing about the work that is now being done.
We broke the fast at Doron's on Rachel Imeinu (I had the meatballs with rice - simple, excellent food) and made it an realtively early evening. Pictures to follow.
Last Sunday, the 7th was a day for meetings, phone calls and writing, and when I got most of last week's posts written. I picked up my chariot, a light blue Hyundai Getz from Budget, which has turned out great (except that gas is about $8 a gallon, 7.22 NIS a litre). In the evening, Danny Yossi and I went to the anniversary party for Avshalom and Pam Beni's daughter Alyssa and son-in-law Richard Shore, on the beach at Sdot Yam. It was a beautiful event where they celebrated with their Israeli friends and family after getting married last summer in New York.
Monday during the day I took care of some errands to be able to be ready for Tisha B'Av, since restauarants in Jerusalem all close mid afternoon. The afternoon was a very successful series of meetings realted to the JEA Conference I am co-chairing with Scott Littky and Rabbi Paul Freedman in February in Jerusalem. Paul and I met at the Begin Centre, where we are considering holding our final banquet, and then went to Har Herzl to meet with David Breakstone at the new Herzl Education Center. While the building is finished, the technology we were hoping to see is not yet installed, but still the meeting was very productive. It is always moving to be on Mt Herzl we went through the Herzl Museum (about 6 yrs old - I had never been before) and its very nostalgic for me since my first Israel trip in 1975 i was based on the back of Mt Herzl, at the Jerusalem forest Youth Hostel, and I have very fond memories of being there.
Monday night I observed Tisha B'Av as I did last year, with Cong. Moreshet Avraham in Talpiyot at the scenic Haas Tayelet overlooking Jerusalem from the South. It is more or less where Abraham may have first seen Mt. Moriah on his way to sacrificing Issac. It is a beautiful site, and it was a very meaningful place to observe the day.
On Tuesday, Danny and I went (the freedom of having a car!) to Tel Aviv, to meet Avshalom Beni and watch him conduct a session with children attending a day program at the African Refugee Development Center in South Tel Aviv. He brought 5 dogs, Begal D, the great Dane (14 months, 140 pounds and growing), Jezzy, the new collie we helped purchase this spring who has just recovered from a broken hip (scooter accident), Sky and 8 year old boxer, Ilsa, a Miniature boston terrier and Samson, an 11 yr old golden. The kids were at first very tentative ( amazing how kids here only 6 months are already fluent Hebrew speakers) but within an hour were feeding and petting the dogs, and able to describe how you can treat dogs and people with love and they will react more positively. It was great watching Avshalom work and exhausting being Begal D's handler for 2 hours - he is amazing strong, but very sweet and gentle (and quite distractable).
On our way back to J-lem we stopped at Kibbutz Tzuba to see Yoel and Sara Dorkam, who used to run the Yaakov Maimon volunteers and to meet the new head, Meir - a really great guy. They are doing great things to support Ethiopian olim in Mevaseret, and it was great catching up with the Dorkams, and hearing about the work that is now being done.
We broke the fast at Doron's on Rachel Imeinu (I had the meatballs with rice - simple, excellent food) and made it an realtively early evening. Pictures to follow.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Knowing one's limits Friday-Shabbat, Aug 5-6
Waking up Friday morning, Yossi and I concluded independently but agreed after consultation that we had had about enough of a good thing. We had not had a bad wine in 2 days, maybe tasting about 60 wines. I have no idea how competition judges do what they do, but we were doing to take it easy on Friday.
We departed Kfar Blum, had a quick breakfast and drove to Rosh Pina. There we found the Meister Winery, run by Yaakov Meister, an Ezer Weitzman double who worked for about 40 years for Bank HaPoalim. He retired to land that had been in his and his wife's families for 3 generations, including some beautiful orchards and caves at Givat Oren (named for his father in law), who as a retired police chief, was murdered in his home in the 90's.
Yaakov has his winery in natural caves (though be excavated down a bit) and the effect is amazing. He makes 15,000-18,000 bottles a year, primarily Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz (and grows a bit of petit verdot). He also has many fruit orchards, brines his own olives, sells his own olive oil and makes a variety of fruit liquors (we tried the apricot, but he makes lemon, orange, pomegranate and many others). The only other thing we tasted was a very nice 2006 Cab Shiraz (90-10) blend, very smooth with light tannins.
We stopped in Har Adar to look in on Dina's cat Anna, made sure she was fine, and went back to Jerusalem. We were invited by Alice and Effry Jonah to have dinner with them at their daughter Rachel's brand new apartment in Baka. We had a lovely meal and enjoyed their company.
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| Entrance to the Meister winery |
We departed Kfar Blum, had a quick breakfast and drove to Rosh Pina. There we found the Meister Winery, run by Yaakov Meister, an Ezer Weitzman double who worked for about 40 years for Bank HaPoalim. He retired to land that had been in his and his wife's families for 3 generations, including some beautiful orchards and caves at Givat Oren (named for his father in law), who as a retired police chief, was murdered in his home in the 90's.
Yaakov has his winery in natural caves (though be excavated down a bit) and the effect is amazing. He makes 15,000-18,000 bottles a year, primarily Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz (and grows a bit of petit verdot). He also has many fruit orchards, brines his own olives, sells his own olive oil and makes a variety of fruit liquors (we tried the apricot, but he makes lemon, orange, pomegranate and many others). The only other thing we tasted was a very nice 2006 Cab Shiraz (90-10) blend, very smooth with light tannins.
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| One of 2 barrel rooms at Meister |
We made our way further south to Pardess Hannah, to take Daniel home, and went to the Dipon winery. This home based winery, which still raises bees for honey and started out as a honey wine operation, is run by the very mellow Frank. He spent a lot of time showing us around, and their plans for expansion. We didn't taste anything, but Frank made us of give of a bottle each, I think in gratitude for Yossi's persistence in trying to visit (he'd been in touch several times to arrange a visit) and for the wine map. I'm really looking forward to tasting his wine - he's certainly a great guy and I've often found a correlation between the two qualities.
We stopped in Har Adar to look in on Dina's cat Anna, made sure she was fine, and went back to Jerusalem. We were invited by Alice and Effry Jonah to have dinner with them at their daughter Rachel's brand new apartment in Baka. We had a lovely meal and enjoyed their company.
Shabbat morning I went to Shira Chadasha, not the friendliest shul in town, but it's a nice service. I've been going there since 2004, and I don't think anyone has ever come over and introduced themselves. It's also no shorter than an American service (just under 3 hours) and there was a baby naming and the mother actually was the darshanit (speaker). I had a quiet afternoon. In the early evening Anita and Giora Shkedi of INTRA came to visit Danny, and its always fascinating to hear what advances they're making in therapeutic horseback riding, particularly with children with autism and people with traumatic brain injuries. I played the role of house boy.
Saturday night my friends Rinat Hugi and Orit Shoham-Mandel can to visit and we went out to Tal Bagels, my first visit of the season. The food is still good, but the friendly service they were once known for has disappeared. It was very disappointing. The company, however, was great.
I came home and wrote a bit (it was nearly midnight) and then did some planning for Sunday, a pretty busy workday.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wine Adventure Day 2 - Thursday, Aug 4 - Upper Gallilee
So, if you have ever been on vacation, and met someone more or less by accident, and started spending time with them and liked them a lot, that's what happened to us in the small Upper Gallilee village of Ramot Naphtali. The small, mountaintop community, overlooking the Lebanese border, may have some of the most beautiful scenery in Israel. It is also the most organized village I've visited. The signage is terrific, there is a detailed map at the Village gate to show where everything is, guest houses, wineries, crafts people, clinics and things were very easy to find. The village is surrounding by prime vineyards and in a small community, it hosts 4 wineries, two with well developed visitors' centers.We happened by the Ramot Naphtali Winery, but alas, the winemaker Itzik was in Tel Aviv, so other than just seeing what a great job he's done in building, we weren't able to meet him or taste his wine. Next we called 3 Gefanim (3 Vines) and spoke with Yossi Ben Barak; we asked him if there is a place to get coffee in town, and he invited us over. Yossi, and his wife Ainat were amazing hosts, served us coffee and cookies (Ainat is a special ed teacher, so we had stuff besides wine to discuss) and we talked for about 45 minutes before we even began the discussion of their wines. Yossi grows concord (the first I heard of in Israel and the first grape I ever plucked from a fine during my childhood in Rochester, NY) grapes in his front yard, a very small amount he uses in his blends. He is primarily a Karem, a vineyard grower, but also makes about 8,000 bottles a year.
We stayed with Yossi and Ainat for half a day! That clearly had not started as our plan, but we so enjoyed their company and their wine, we couldn't pull ourselves away. It meant not getting to one of my goals/favorites, and Galil Mountain Winery at Yiron with its breathtaking view, but now I have several new reasons to visit the region again soon.
Here is what we tasted:
1. From the barrel, a 2009 Cab Sauv blended with just a bit of Petit Verdot and Syrah (amazing, flavors of coffee and chocolate)
2. From the barrel, 2010 Barberra (delicious, but young)
3. A 2007 blend of Cab Sauv (75%) Merlot , Shiraz and 3% concord, a light red with negligible tanins)
4. 2006 Emek Kedesh (where the vineyard is, just below his home) blend of Cab (70%) Merlot (15) and Shiraz (15) - I bought one of these.
5. 2007 Kerem Naftali blen of Cab Merlot (nearly 50-50)
6. 2005 Cab - drier, bolder, ready now with a great steak
7 2004 Cabernet
We also tried his grappa (a distilled grape liquoer). No wonder we stayed 4 hours.
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| 3 Vines Winery |
After this great introduction to the region, we went in search of just the GPS coordinates, but then we met Rami Naaman at his winery, Naaman, and though he was imminently expecting the arrival of a group, he invited us in. He has a lovely visitors center on the front edge of the village facing the Hula Valley, and he is a big music fan, so many of his wines have a musical name (his Rose is Pink Floyd, a red blend Deep Purple, you get the idea).
Rami makes 8 wines - I liked his Rose - very dry, his Deep purple and King Crimson red blends were excellent. He makes a varietal Cabernet that is excellent, a Petit Verdot the Yossi fell in love with (I liked it too) and a Cabernet Franc that I particularly liked. His wines are priced in the normal boutique range of 80-120 NIS (about $26-$38, more or less).
After finding the remaining winery for GPS purposes, we headed down the mountain to visit Dalton, where we had an invitation, due to their appreciation of Yossi's wine map. There Edna took very good care of us and we tasted some terrific wines, most of which are available in the US.
At Dalton, by my count, we tasted 8 wines, 3 whites and 5 reds. The Alma White is 2/3 Chardonnay and 1/3 viognier and I really liked it . I already knew I liked the wild yeast fermentation viogier from 2009 and the Sauvignon blanc also was light with a crisp finish. My favorite reds were the Zinfandel, which I think would go great with grilled fish and the Alma Red with 2/3 Cabernet, about a quarter Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc.
At this point, I was curious about Adir, in the same Industrial Park as Dalton, but I'd tasted too many wines in one day. We stopped by and tasted a couple of wines but i couldn't tell you what. It's a very polished center, the have very nice cheeses as well, but I'll have to go back - I can tell you their wines were pricey.
And it was evening and it was morning on day 2
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Adventures in Wine - Tuesday 2 Aug and Wed 3 August, 2011
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| Syrah Grapes at Chateau Golan |
Tuesday was a day to get organized, arrange some of our visits for Wednesday and for me to use my public transportation skills (more or less) to get to Herzliya to meet Yossi. I met my friend Shlomi Zadok for Lunch at Ryo, an asian restaurant on Emek Refayim. The food was a bit sweet for my taste - I had the wings and something like Sesame Chicken and it was good and it was a huge portion. Shlomi helped me avoid a city bus and took me to the central bus station. From there is was direct to the Tel Aviv train station, and then a sheirut (a private minibus system without formal stops or schedule, but very organizied if you live here long enough and very reasonably priced) to Hezliya. I got to Yossi's office, checked out an excellent local wine shop to get an idea of pricing, and then enjoyed the air conditioning of Yossi's conference room to make calls and reservations for our trip to the North.
After work, we went to Yossi's mom's to go see the apartment that I will stay in for Daniel's Bar Mitzvah next week (a long story) and do some tidying up, but it was in fine shape. Inge fed us a lovely dinner and we slept over to get a jump on our travels the next morning. We had some business of Yossi's to take care of early in Binyamina, and then we were on our way to the north with our young padawan, Daniel Yossi's son).
The ride through the wadi Ara, Jezreel and Hula Valleys in breathtaking, and heading up to the Golan even more so. Much of the Golan Heights, once you get up there, is a broad, mostly volcanic plateau; very fertile and very beautiful. My phone beeped on the way up to tell me my coverage had switched to a Jordanian cell; it switched back when we got to the top, but we drove right along the border. Our first stop, in the village of Eliad was Chateau Golan. This is a well-established beautiful winery with a well-trained and friendly staff (we didn't meet the winemaker). They've been making wine for about 12 years. We tasted 3 wines, their Geshem Lavan made from Rousane (I hadn't heard of it either) and viognier - it's pricey but was very pleasant, a very jammy Syrah 2008 and a very soft, fruity merlot from 2008. The staff suggested we seek out a boutique winery 2 villages over, in Bnei Yehuda.
We stumbled around Bnai Yehuda (signage not a strong point in Israel generally and in small villages particularly - with a beautiful exception from Thursday which I'll describe later) and found a farm without many people around, and then a truck drove up and it just happened to be the winemaker from Ein Te'ana - we didn't taste anything, and he's in the process of moving his winery (though the smell of chicken dung would affect my ability to taste the wines) but Yossi bought a bottle with a guarantee that if he didn't like it, he could send back the empty and the winemaker would return his money. He was a nice guy (I'll have to get his name from Yossi - I don't remember it and I didn't write it down).
Part of Yossi's goal of this trip was to pinpoint the locations of many of the small wineries for which addresses and signage are not easily available, either because agricultural villages lack street signs or addresses (people may have P O Boxes in the village office) so Yossi was using his phone to collect GPS coordinates for the wineries so the entries on his Google Maps Wine Map http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=207503047390820528301.0004917f92da88ea06082&msa=0&ll=31.863563,34.953003&spn=2.831641,4.938354
would be accurate. He is performing a great service to the country and the wine industry for no gain except his satisfaction that maybe it will be easier for more people to visit and support more wineries.
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| Steve At Bazelet HaGolan |
Next we went to the village of Kidmat Tzvi - I think there are 4 or 5 wineries there and we visited 3 - The largest is Bazelet HaGolan - they make about 100,000 bottles a year, have kashrut supervision and make some fine wines. They have a lovely tasting room and nice staff. We tasted 3 wines there - a fabulous 2009 Cabernet that I think will be great in about 2 years but its drinkable now, if a bit young, a nice merlot (I'm not a huge Merlot drinker) and a very pleasant chardonnay, not too heavy on the oak (8 months in the barrel and a nice citrusy flavor. We then spent about an hour with Ram Ilok at the Ram Winery - a one-man outfit who grows his own grapes and makes his own wine, about 10,000 bottles a year, mostly sold locally. Most of the winemakers we met on this trip studied winemaking in a course at Tel Chai. I thought Ram's wines were very good (in truth, we didn't taste a bad wine in 3 days). I thought his Cab-Shiraz blend was excellent and his Shiraz 2010 that we barrel tasted was extraordinary. I have no idea how I will ever get any, though.
Next we found Asaf Kedem whose winery is now called Asaf because Kedem wines in the US threatened to sue him, even though his name is Kedem. He was the original winemaker at Bazelet Hagolan (not so unusual in winemaking for their to be splits and offshoots). Asaf makes about 7 or 8 wines. We tasted a delicious Sauvignon Blanc with a lot of grapefruit and passionfruit flavors, a dry rose made from zinfandel (which is pretty unusual in Israel), his 2009 Cabernet Shiraz which is a 50/50 blend (I bought one) a Pinotage, a Syrah and a Cabernet Franc. His wines don't have kashrut supervision, they are excellent, and he makes about 60,000-80,000 bottles a year and pretty much sells it all.
At this point it was pretty late in the afternoon, around 5 I think. We stopped for lunch/dinner and realized we wouldn't make it to Har Odem, a winery I wanted to get to but didn't. We decided to see if we could find Pelter at Kibbutz Ein Zivan, at the very least to get GPS coordinates, and with the thought of maybe returning on Thursday.
We got the to kibbutz, and found another winery and a chocolate shop (both closed) but we learned from someone that Pelter was "around the back of the building". We walked around - there was absolutely no signage, and we saw a guy driving a forklift. We asked if he knew where Pelter was and he said "I'm Pelter". We introduced ourselves to Tal, told him what we were doing and he graciously invited us inside. He spent about an hour with us, I can't find my page of notes, so I have no idea what we tasted, but as I said, we didn't have a bad wine all day. We detained him long enough, he refused to sell us wine, said we can get it in shops (which is true - he makes about 100,000 bottles a year - it is very good and very available).
Saturday, August 6, 2011
My Take on the protests in Israel
A couple of people have asked about my take on the protests here. I don't have a very sophisticated view of it, and I'm not an economic analyst. Israel is a strong (though slightly screwed up) democracy, where the members of Knesset don't really have to answer back to the people, as they are not directly elected by people in a particular district. Here you vote for a party, the party has a slate of candidates, and depending on the percentage of the votes the party receives, the number of candidates from the slate get seated.
Parties have platforms and jargon and rhetortic, and the party you vote for today could disappear after the election and the members join another party. Without accountability to the electorate, special interests intercede to get MK's to do what they want, not necessarily what is best for the country. The best case-in-point, in my opinion, is the horror created in the education funding, and the hundreds of millions of shekels that have gone over the last 15-20 years or so to a third track of ultra orthodox schools (primarily because of the influence of the Shas party) that quite frankly isn't training its students for productive lives in the 21st century. They are being trained for a life of Torah study (as they define it) without the math, science and general knowledge to be productive in modern society, so that they will continue to be beneficiaries of a state welfare system and the generosity of private donors (I find it curious that this was never Judaism's intent. Talmudic rabbis had vineyards, were wood choppers or blacksmiths and supported their families in addition to their studies). The other school systems struggle as a result, and no one is getting top rate education without having to pay for it privately.
It is expensive to live here. Prices are high, salaries are frozen. Preschool childcare is private and expensive, often consuming most of one spouse's salary (not so different for many people in the US). Food costs, after the gradual removal of government subsidies (like the Cottage Cheese protest of late June) are rising. Gas costs twice what it costs in the US, cars are taxed 100% costing twice what they cost in the US, and people are starting to see "Hey, I'm not in this alone, and I'm not lazy, most of us are struggling." Facebook is playing a major role in helping people get organized, and bringing people together (not unlike the Arab Spring we witnessed) for protests.
I have a hard time following the local news. They speak fast, with a specialized and jargony vocabulary, and on talk shows, it's sort of like John McLaughlin (Washingtonians will understand) where everyone talks over everyone else and its hard to follow what everyone is saying. One of the best treatments I read was actually written in DC by our Shaliach, Anton Goodman, and you can find it at http://www.shalomdc.org/blog_post.aspx?id=4220.
People are frustrated and fed up. The government is looking around at last week's economic news, east and west, and saying we can't afford to start doling money out now if an economic tsunami (the term that was used on a talk show I saw this morning) is going to wash over the world. They want to keep a reserve. There is growing pressure on the government to do something, but what is still very unclear, as the protesters are asking for the moon and stars (free child care from age 3, 6 months paid maternity leave (its currently 14 weeks, I think)) and there is no clear demand much beyond a sense of frustration.
It seems every summer there is some kind of tent city; last year it was over the issue of the treatment of foreign workers and the government's threat to start deporting them. This year's is larger, and reaches beyond Jerusalem - I've seen tent cities (20 or so tents) at the entrance to Gadera, Kiriyat Shemona, Rosh Pina, City Hall in Herzliya in addition to at least 3 parks in Jerusalem. It is a bit like the movie Network; people are mad as hell and they don't want to take it any more.
It is nice to see democracy working. People protest peacefully, the police act appropriately, there is no vandalism or violence. Maybe how we protest will make us, finally, an or lagoyim, a light to other nations.
Parties have platforms and jargon and rhetortic, and the party you vote for today could disappear after the election and the members join another party. Without accountability to the electorate, special interests intercede to get MK's to do what they want, not necessarily what is best for the country. The best case-in-point, in my opinion, is the horror created in the education funding, and the hundreds of millions of shekels that have gone over the last 15-20 years or so to a third track of ultra orthodox schools (primarily because of the influence of the Shas party) that quite frankly isn't training its students for productive lives in the 21st century. They are being trained for a life of Torah study (as they define it) without the math, science and general knowledge to be productive in modern society, so that they will continue to be beneficiaries of a state welfare system and the generosity of private donors (I find it curious that this was never Judaism's intent. Talmudic rabbis had vineyards, were wood choppers or blacksmiths and supported their families in addition to their studies). The other school systems struggle as a result, and no one is getting top rate education without having to pay for it privately.
It is expensive to live here. Prices are high, salaries are frozen. Preschool childcare is private and expensive, often consuming most of one spouse's salary (not so different for many people in the US). Food costs, after the gradual removal of government subsidies (like the Cottage Cheese protest of late June) are rising. Gas costs twice what it costs in the US, cars are taxed 100% costing twice what they cost in the US, and people are starting to see "Hey, I'm not in this alone, and I'm not lazy, most of us are struggling." Facebook is playing a major role in helping people get organized, and bringing people together (not unlike the Arab Spring we witnessed) for protests.
I have a hard time following the local news. They speak fast, with a specialized and jargony vocabulary, and on talk shows, it's sort of like John McLaughlin (Washingtonians will understand) where everyone talks over everyone else and its hard to follow what everyone is saying. One of the best treatments I read was actually written in DC by our Shaliach, Anton Goodman, and you can find it at http://www.shalomdc.org/blog_post.aspx?id=4220.
People are frustrated and fed up. The government is looking around at last week's economic news, east and west, and saying we can't afford to start doling money out now if an economic tsunami (the term that was used on a talk show I saw this morning) is going to wash over the world. They want to keep a reserve. There is growing pressure on the government to do something, but what is still very unclear, as the protesters are asking for the moon and stars (free child care from age 3, 6 months paid maternity leave (its currently 14 weeks, I think)) and there is no clear demand much beyond a sense of frustration.
It seems every summer there is some kind of tent city; last year it was over the issue of the treatment of foreign workers and the government's threat to start deporting them. This year's is larger, and reaches beyond Jerusalem - I've seen tent cities (20 or so tents) at the entrance to Gadera, Kiriyat Shemona, Rosh Pina, City Hall in Herzliya in addition to at least 3 parks in Jerusalem. It is a bit like the movie Network; people are mad as hell and they don't want to take it any more.
It is nice to see democracy working. People protest peacefully, the police act appropriately, there is no vandalism or violence. Maybe how we protest will make us, finally, an or lagoyim, a light to other nations.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Time for a Little Vacation
Now that I've helped to distribute over $16,000 of tzedakah in one week, I'm going to transition my mitzvah focus for the next few days from tzedaka and acts of justice to "yediat ha'aretz" (getting to know the Land). I've left Jerusalem for the next few days, and on Wednesday and Thursday will be travelling with Yossi into the Golan Heights and the Upper Galil to visit wineries we usually don't get to visit. There are dozens of wineries up there, large and small. We are armed with a map, a list of wineries and their phone numbers, my netbook and a corkscrew.
I will be keeping notes along the way and hope to make some significant finds and recommendations. I don't realistically expect we will get to many more that 8 wineries - even that is ambitious, as winemakers, often thirsty for a willing audience, love to talk about their craft. We'll do our best and hope to give a full report on our respective blogs (google Yossi's Wine Pages on wordpress for further insights into Israeli wineries).
Keep this toast in mind. "The early bird catches the worm. Fortunately, wine is usually served at a more reasonable hour." L'Chaim.
I will be keeping notes along the way and hope to make some significant finds and recommendations. I don't realistically expect we will get to many more that 8 wineries - even that is ambitious, as winemakers, often thirsty for a willing audience, love to talk about their craft. We'll do our best and hope to give a full report on our respective blogs (google Yossi's Wine Pages on wordpress for further insights into Israeli wineries).
Keep this toast in mind. "The early bird catches the worm. Fortunately, wine is usually served at a more reasonable hour." L'Chaim.
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