A Yellow-vented Bulbul in a Loquat Tree

Did you ever see a yellow-vented bulbul in a loquat tree? This bird is enjoying the holy fruit of the land of Israel. How about you?

Under the Vine

These pics were taken somewhere in Giv'at Shaul:

I could not help but think of this:

1 But in the end of days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall go and say: 'Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths'; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide concerning mighty nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken. 5 For let all the peoples walk each one in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

May it happen speedily, in our time, Amen.

Did You Ever See a Loquat Tree?

Do you know what a loquat tree is?  I didn't, that is to say that I did not that in English it is called loquat.  In Modern Hebrew it is called "shesek", and it is now in season.

Here's a close up:

Snow in Jerusalem

Rabbi Chaim Vital Street:

A broken umbrella...I've seen so many of those lately.

Snow and Jerusalem stone:

I wonder what those palm trees are thinking. As for the man with the umbrella, I am sure that he is having fun.:

Did You Ever See an Avocado Tree?

Here in Israel, people eat a lot of avocado. I was in a Moshav near Nahariya, where I saw this and couldn't resist photographing it:



A little bit about the avocado from Wikipedia:

The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to the Caribbean, Mexico,[1] South America and Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. The name "avocado" also refers to the fruit (technically a large berry that contains a large seed) of the tree, which may be egg-shaped or spherical.

Avocados are a commercially valuable fruit and are cultivated in tropical climates throughout the world (and some temperate ones, such as California), producing a green-skinned, pear-shaped fruit that ripens after harvesting. Trees are partially self-pollinating and often are propagated through grafting to maintain a predictable quality and quantity of the fruit. Avocados are perennial.

Mystery Tree for Passover

18 Nisan 5769

I was at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens on Friday and I saw this:



Can you identify the tree?

The Torah Lives in the Land of Israel

The land of Israel is where the Torah comes to life. I was in the Jerusalem Forest the other day. Then I saw something that immediately brought the following verse to mind (Song of Songs 2:13):

הַתְּאֵנָה חָנְטָה פַגֶּיהָ, וְהַגְּפָנִים סְמָדַר נָתְנוּ רֵיחַ; קוּמִי לָךְ רַעְיָתִי יָפָתִי, וּלְכִי-לָךְ

"The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines in blossom give forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."

Mystery Tree No. ?

Update: Soccer Dad is right! It's an almond tree, or in Hebrew shaqed or sheqeidia.
The almond appears several times in the Torah, for instance when Yaakov's sons go down to Egypt for the second time:

And their father Israel said unto them: 'If it be so now, do this: take of the choice fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spicery and ladanum, nuts, and almonds; (Genesis 43:11)

The almond also appears in the first chapter of Jeremiah. The verses make absolutely no sense when they are translated into English:

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 'Jeremiah, what seest thou?' And I said: 'I see a rod of an almond-tree.' Then said the LORD unto me: 'Thou hast well seen; for I watch over My word to perform it.'

Here's the verse in Hebrew:

וַיְהִי דְבַר-ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר, מָה-אַתָּה רֹאֶה יִרְמְיָהוּ; וָאֹמַר, מַקֵּל שָׁקֵד אֲנִי רֹאֶה. וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֵלַי, הֵיטַבְתָּ לִרְאוֹת: כִּי-שֹׁקֵד אֲנִי עַל-דְּבָרִי, לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ.

There is a play on words here. The word for "almond" (shaqed) is similar to the word shoqeid which is translated her as "watch over". Shoqeid could have been translated as "being diligent" or "being assiduous". The almond tree blossoms at the end of the winter, before most if not all of the other fruit bearing trees. Just as the almond blossoms quickly, so G-d will act quickly to fulfill His word.

Another Mystery Tree

It's been a while since I posted a "mystery tree". But this one is really isn't such a mystery. Do you recognize it?



Update: Rafi got it. This is a carob tree.

The carob tree stars in at least two places in the Talmud. One is the story of Choni HaM'agel:

One day he was journeying on the road and he saw a man planting a carob tree; he asked him, How long does it take [for this tree] to bear fruit? The man replied: Seventy years. He then further asked him: Are you certain that you will live another seventy years? The man replied: I found [ready grown] carob trees in the world; as my forefathers planted these for me so I too plant these for my children.

Choni sat down to have a meal and sleep overcame him. As he slept a rocky formation enclosed upon him which hid him from sight and he continued to sleep for seventy years. When he awoke he saw a man gathering the fruit of the carob tree and he asked him, Are you the man who planted the tree? The man replied: I am his grandson. Thereupon he exclaimed: It is clear that I slept for seventy years."

Another famous story from the Talmud where a carob tree plays a major role is the story of Rabbi Shimon Ben Yochai and his son Elazar:

Rabbi Shimon and his son went and hid themselves in the study hall, and his wife brought him bread and a mug of water and they dined. When the decree became more severe... they went and hid in a cave.

A miracle occurred and a carob-tree and a wellspring of water were created for them. They would remove their garments and sit up to their necks in sand. The whole day they studied; when it was time for prayers they robed, covered themselves, prayed, and then put off their garments again, so that they should not wear out. Thus they dwelt twelve years in the cave.

Here's a question: What's the connection between carobs and gold? The answer:

Ceratonia siliqua, the scientific name of the carob tree, derives from the Greek kerátiōn (κεράτιων), “fruit of the carob” (from keras [κέρας] "horn"), and Latin siliqua "pod, carob." The term "carat", the unit by which diamond weight is measured, is also derived from the Greek word kerátiōn (κεράτιων), alluding to an ancient practice of people in the Middle East weighing gold and gemstones against the seeds of the carob tree. The system was eventually standardized and one carat was fixed at 0.2 grams.

In late Roman and early Byzantine times the pure gold coin known as the solidus weighed 24 carat seeds (about 4.5 grams). As a result, the carat also became a measure of purity for gold. Thus 24 carat gold means 100% pure, 12 carat gold means the alloy contains 50% gold, etc.

It's Still Snowing in Jerusalem

I tried going to work today. The usually traffic laden streets of Givat Shaul in Jerusalem were almost empty. The palm trees on Kanfei Nesharim Street received a white coating:



A mortally wounded umbrella on Beit HaDefus Street:



This reminded me of an old post:

But the last rainstorm has not been without its victims. If one walks around Jerusalem, the victims can be seen every so often abandoned and lying on the ground near the sidewalks. I’m not talking about the homeless. I'm talking about the umbrellas that could not stand up to the Israeli mountain winds. I do a lot of walking and I usually have to replace my umbrella every one to two years. You walk down the street with the top of the umbrella pointed head on into the wind. Then of a sudden the wind changes direction and comes under the umbrella. It would be nice if at that moment you would lifted up into the air and spirited across the puddles like Mary Poppins, but that just does not happen. The untimely gust of wind turns your umbrella inside out. The average umbrella will survive this trauma several times, but sooner or later the fabric will tear and the arms will bend. It is not suave to walk around Jerusalem carrying an umbrella that looks like a television antenna. Of course this is not an excuse to litter. I guess the people who threw down their umbrellas were too worried about getting wet to find a dumpster to throw their umbrella into.

It has been said, “If you build a better mousetrap, the whole world will beat a path to your door.” Who will build the better umbrella that can handle Jerusalem’s winds?

Snow clouds cover a section of the Jerusalem Forest:



Did I mention that that the office building where I work was closed?

More Snow Pics From The Holy City

The tip of a tall cypress tree sways during the snow storm in Jerusalem this morning. The winds will die down, the snow will melt, and the cypress tree will remain.



Bad news for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. A new candidate for Prime Minster emerged today:



He'll probably do a better job than the current one.

It's Snowing, It's Sticking

The weather forecasters got it right! School is out and the kids are happy. I probably won't be going to work today. I'm not to happy about that because it will probably cost me a vacation day.

Here's a pic of a lemon tree covered with snow. It is probably asking itself,"What in the world is going on?"

Not A Mystery Tree

Seen in Kibbutz Lavie:




With this I wish you all a Gmar Chatimah Tovah, and a very Happy Sukkot.

Mystery #2 Update

A while back I posted this picture of a pomegranate tree:



Back then nobody was able to identify it. Today the tree looks like this:



Notice the fruit! The mystery is gone!

Mystery Tree #5

Alright, so this one isn't really such a mystery:



Update: Rafi got it right again! The grape vine, as is well known, is one of the "seven species" that the land of Israel was praised for(Deuteronomy Chapter 8):

And thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.

Of course, the grape vine can lead to problems sometimes:

20 And Noah the husbandman began, and planted a vineyard. 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him.

And then you have this incident:

31 And the first-born said unto the younger: 'Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 33 And they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first-born said unto the younger: 'Behold, I lay yesternight with my father. Let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.' 35 And they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose. 36 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

Like everything else that God has given us, it can be used for bad and it can be used for the good. It is up to us.

Mystery Tree #4

This one is easy:



Update: I told you that this was an easy one. Kol HaKavod to Rafi and Jacob.

The fig, as is well known, is one of the "seven species" that the land of Israel was praised for(Deuteronomy Chapter 8):

And thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.

The fig tree is mentioned in many other places, one of them being Proverbs 27:18:

Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof; and he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

Our rabbis understood that King Solomon was referring to the Torah as Rabbi Mendel Weinbach explains:

When King Shlomo compared Torah to the fig (Mishlei 27:18), he conveyed an important message about gaining and retaining Torah knowledge.

Rabbi Chiya bar Abba quoted Rabbi Yochanan (Eiruvin 54a) as to why the comparison was made:

“Just as one constantly finds figs when he approaches the tree (since they do not all ripen at the same time, there are always some available for eating- Rashi), so too will one always find a new taste in the Torah he is studying.”

If this message about gaining Torah knowledge is derived from the comparison to the fig tree itself, there is another message from the words of this passage regarding the protection of that fig tree which yields fruit for its protector.

“One who sees a fig tree in a dream,” say our Sages (Berachot 57a) “it is a message from Heaven that his Torah knowledge is retained and protected in him.”

The fig tree thus conveys the double message of gaining Torah knowledge by appreciating the new thrill which comes with every step of learning, and the need to retain and protect that knowledge through constant review so that we can enjoy the fruits of our study even if we are not lucky enough to see a fig tree in our dreams.

I could write a lot more about figs but today is a fast day and all of this fig talk is making me hungry.

Mystery Tree Number 3

Okay, I know that this one is not easy. Click on the pic for an enlargement:



Update: That Zman Biur guy sure knows his stuff! Yes, it is a caper bush. In Hebrew it is called Tzalaf or Nitzpah (see Demai 1:1).

The caper bush is mentioned several times in Talmudic literature. For instance there is a discussion of what blessing to recite before eating different parts of the tree (Berachot 36). Our sages say that the caper bush is the boldest tree (Beitzah 25B). Rashi comments there that he doesn't know what is bold about the Tzalaf. Tosefot says that its boldness is in that three different parts of the tree can be eaten and that it provides new fruit every day. In Rabbi Rafael Halperin's Encyclopedia LeBeit Yisrael it is written that the caper bush's boldness is in that it is hard to destroy: If you burn it or chop it down it will quickly regenerate. I remember Rabbi David Samson telling me many years ago that the Tzalaf is bold in that it can take root in nooks and cranies, something that most trees cannot do.

In the Jerusalem Talmud (Shabbat ch. 15 halacha 3) there is a story where our caper bush plays a major role:

Once a pious man took a walk on the Sabbath in his vineyard and he saw a breach (in the fence that surrounded the vineyard). He thought to himself how he was going to repair it when after Sabbath. (Then) he said, "Since I thought to repair the fence (during the Sabbath, when he was usually careful not to think about mundane matters), I will never repair it."(This he did to atone for thinking about this on the Sabbath). What did the Holy One Blessed Be He do? He caused a caper bush to grow there and it filled the breach. From this caper bush he ate and it provided him with sustenance all his life.

Here is another caper bush in bloom in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Shaul:

Another Mystery Tree In Jerusalem

This one is easier than the previous one. Do you know what kind of tree this is?



Update:Wow, I am surprised that nobody got this one. It is a pomegranate tree (rimon in Hebrew). This is how it looks in the flowering stage. Some of those flowers will become full fledged pomegranates.

The pomegranate is one of the "seven species" that the land of Israel was praised for:

(Deuteronomy Chapter 8):

And thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.

This fruit is also plays a role in many midrashim:

"Did the pomegranates blossom yet?" [in the Song of Songs] - this refers to the young children who sit and learn Torah. They sit in rows like the seeds of the pomegranates. (Shir HaShirim Raba, 6, 17)

And of course there is this famous midrash:

Anyone who has ever eaten this exotic fruit is well aware of the extraordinarily large number of seeds it contains. King Shlomo’s comparison (Shir Hashirim 4:3) of this fruit to the Jewish people leads our Sages to finding merit even in those Jews whose standard of observing the mitzvot leaves something to be desired.

In one place (Berachot 6a) it is explained that the city of Tiberias is also called Rakat because the word raik means empty or unworthy. Just as in the above-mentioned passage we read the word rakota’ich as a hint to “the unworthy ones being as filled with mitzvah credits as a pomegranate is filled with seeds”, so too were even the unworthy people of Tiberias filled with mitzvot.

In another place (Berachot 6a) this appreciation of Jews is extended to the entire nation. Even the unworthy ones, our Sages tell us, are so filled with mitzvot like the pomegranate is filled with seeds that these merits will protect them against the fires of retribution in the World to Come.

Mystery Tree In Jerusalem

Do you know what kind of tree this is?



Update:No, it is not a fig tree or a lime tree. It is a walnut tree. The light brown shell of the walnut that we are all familiar with is covered by a green peel.

In the Song of Songs (6:11) it is written:

"I went down into the garden of nuts, to look at the green plants of the valley, to see whether the vine budded, and the pomegranates were in flower."

Why do you have to go "down" the the garden of nuts? One possible answer is here.