Yitzhar, a Jewish Village in Samaria

by Nadene Goldfoot

What was once called Samaria and Judea is referred to today by outsiders as "The West Bank". In the Samarian Mountains near the town of Nablus and Shechem, just off Rt 60 north of the Tapuach Junction, lies the village or settlement, as outsiders want to call these places, of Yitzhar. It lies on the top of a mountain from where you can see from Ashkelon to Hadera, and started as a historic pioneer Nahal military outpost.

130 orthodox Jewish families live here comprising about 500 people. Yitzhar means "olive oil" and that's a crop they grow. Also, they grow grapes. Their grape-growing achievement was so successful that they won two gold medals and one silver medal in a recent wine competition.

They had followed the rules of Shmita, which means something established in biblical days. It's to allow the fields to be fallow every 7th year. Besides that, they had built a synagogue and a Yeshiva in their village. During the Shmita period they had the opportunity to study there and pray there.

Now the government has announced that they must tear down these two buildings. I feel it is because of the pressure of Obama wanting the Arab's Palestine to be there, and not wanting any Jewish presence at all. The land still is a part of Israel. Somehow the Arabs have been building throughout Samaria and Judea without permission. They just built without the involvement of permits which these Jews had.

It's funny that the Arabs had 2,000 years to build and use the land, but didn't. Now that we are back in force, they want the land because we need it. This is sure an example of coveting. They covet something that belongs to someone else. Only now does it have worth to them. It'll mean that they will be expected to work the land, though, if they take over everything. I wonder if they will.

I notice that usually only the orthodox Jews dare to live in Judea and Samaria. More secular Jews live in Tel Aviv and the more populated areas. The history of Judea and Samaria are very important in our religion, and the orthodox are trying to honor that memory. Besides that, we have a horrible history of being locked up every night in ghettos and living in crowded conditions in shtetles in Eastern Europe. It's nice to be out in the country and see the stars at night and be able to own land and grow things, something denied to us for 2,000 years. It's too bad our own government has to be so compliant of Obama in order to protect its citizens. They feel this is just like Kristolnight-a horrible memory in Germany.

Reference: gerardrobins@sbcglobal.net -

http://www.jewishisrael.org/

Wikipedia

Golan Heights-Wine-Rockets From Lebanon

by Nadene Goldfoot

Lebanon has been shooting rockets into the Golan from Lebanon. The Golan Heights landed in Israel's hands since the Six-Day War of 1967. It is in the northeast corner of Israel, a sub-region of the Galilee.

There grow the vineyards about 4,000 feet above sea level from the Sea of Galilee towards Mount Hermon, where Israelis can ski.

Grapes, called the fruit of the vine, were listed as one of the seven blessed species of fruit in the land of Israel. Jews have been making wine in Israel since biblical times. In Roman times, wine from Israel was exported to Rome. By the 7th Century ACE, the Islamic Arabs wiped out the wine industy by pulling out the vines to close down the wineries as they did not drink wine. The Christian Crusaders that came from 1100 to 1300ACE revived winemaking, but Arabs returned, Jews were scattered and winemaking stopped.

A rabbi in Jerusalem in 1848 started a winery but it was short lived. By 1870 a Jewish agricultural college studied about wines and growing grapes. Finally in the late 1800's Baron Edmond James de Rothschild founded the modern Israeli wine industry.

There are six regions where the grapes are grown. Considering that Israel is about the size of New Jersey, you can see that everything is very close.

1. The Northern Galilee
2. Judean Hills around Jerusalem
3. Shimshon-between Judean Hills and Coast
4. Negev desert
5. Sharon plain just south of Haifa
6. Golan Heights.

Israel has been busy producing kosher wines that are mostly sweet that are exported to Jewish communities. However, the wine industry is growing. In the late 1960's the Carmel Winery, #5, made a dry table wine. By 1990, wineries like the Golan Heights Winery were winning awards at international wine competitions. By 2000 there were 70 wineries in Israel and by 2005 there were 140.

Now less that 15% of Israeli wine is for religious purposes. Some wineries are not even producing a separate Kosher line. The Golan Heights Winery and two other large producers account for more than 80% of the domestic market with the United States being the largest export receiver. Israel has been willing to adopt new technology and has a large export market. The culture in America is into wines with up-scale restaurants and love international wines. Israel has been exporting over $22 million worth of wine each year.

If you thought you were drinking the same wine grown in the bible days, you would be mistaken. Because of Muslim rule there are no more indigenous grape varieties. The wine industry uses French grape varieties imported in the late 19th century like Cabernet Sauvignon, chardonnay, Merlot and Sauvignon blanc. Also gaining in popularity are their Cabernet Franc, Gewurztraminer, Muscat Canelli, Riesling and Syrah. They also hae Emerald Riesling, Muscat of Alexandria and the crossing Argaman. The Golan Heights Winery is famous for its Yarden wines. Their label of GAMLA is very good. The Muscat of Alexandria comes the closest to the indigenous varieties of long ago.

Israel announced in 2008 that they would create a 150 acre wine park on the slopes between Zichron Ya'akov and Binyamina to promote tourism in the area and wine tourism in Israel in general.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_wine
http://winetastingguy.com/?p=68&cpage+1#comment-2777