Tag Archives: harvester

Torah Portion: Kedoshim, Fallen Grains

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“Do not gather the fallen grains … you shall leave them for the stranger and the poor.”

(Vayikra / Leviticus 19:9 -10)

Many years ago I had the dubious honour to work in an airplane food factory. I will never forget the day that I was ordered to dispose of over 1000 kilos of produce because the produce was a day past its ‘use by date’. A few minutes drive by car from this warehouse were some of the poorest areas of England, where children have as bad nutritional health as some third world countries.

Such waste is not tolerated in the Bible. According to this week’s portion, if it is even slightly possible that produce will be wasted it is to be given to the poor and needy. Any grain dropped by a harvester or fruit left on trees or grapes that fell out of the gatherers basket must be left for the poor to collect.

This is not an archaic law, but one still very much in operation today through organisations such as Leket redistribute left over food from fields, factories, restaurants and catered events.

You too can join in this commandment, make it part of your tour to Israel and work in a field gathering fallen crops to give to those in need.  Either contact http://www.leket.org.il/english

Or we can build it into your tour of Israel, contact me here.

Watch this space for a new social action centered tour!

This word of Torah is dedicated to the health of Zlata bat Sima.

 

 

 

Haftarah for this Week: ‘Like a booth in a field of Gourds’.

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A Shomera in Wadi Jinan near road 443 (Watch this space, I am going to upload a better picture of a Shomera that I saw)

“The Daughter of Zion is left like a (sucah) booth in a vineyard, like a (melunah) shed  in a field of gourds” (Isaiah Chapter 1:8)

This week is part for the 9 days of mourning leading up to the 9th of Av which commemorates the destruction of both Temples and the various tradgedies of the Diaspora. There is a tradition to read on the Sabbath before the 9th of Av from the first prophecy of Isaiah. In his prophecy he predicts the downfall of Judah and anthropomorphises her and explains how she is abandoned like a special type of building described as a ‘booth’ (a sucah) or some kind of lodging place (a melunah). Both are types of ‘Shomera’ which is a concept which has existed since ancient times and is used in arab agriculture.

The Shomera

A Shomera is used as a watchman’s booth in harvest time. During the harvest the harvester lives in a little hut next to his field until he has finished his harvesting and no longer has any more produce to protect.

So What’s So Bad about being abandoned like a Shomera?

A few weeks ago I was hiking in the beautiful hills of Sataf, which is an old abandoned village just West of Jerusalem. There is a wonderful trail that I can recommend called the ‘trail of the Shomerot’. Where you follow a trail of such booths up the hillside. It was just after midday and incredibly hot, my companions and I were forced to seek refuge inside an ancient Shomera. It certainly is not luxury accommodation, its a dank crampt little stone hut that you hide in from the scolding midday sun.

A mixture of Protection and Abandonment

The image here is stark, the ‘daughter of Zion’ is fleeing from the Sun; the harsh judgement that has been meted out to her and her only protection is a dank hut on a mountainside. Yet she does have some protection even though it is rickety and unsafe. The Shomera is a symbol of both the oppressive situation of the Jewish people and their ability to ‘cling on’ and survive in the oppressive heat of history. It is not the ideal situation but it is survival.

(These words of Torah are dedicated to the speedy recovery of Zlata bat Sima, please include her in your prayers)