On the right side of the walkway to our home, three lavender plants emanate their sweet fragrance as I walk by. Every Motzei Shabbat my husband picks a spike or two, which we use together with lemon geranium and myrtle for havdalah…
When foraging for hyssop with my students, it is easy to mistake calamintha for hyssop. These two plants look almost identical in the spring, before the tiny pinkish, light purple or mauve flowers clearly distinguish calamintha from hyssop…
Lemongrass makes a rich flavored lemony herbal tea, which lends itself to a delicious ice-tea on a hot summer day. Known for its cleansing properties, lemongrass needs lots of water…
As the scorching sun is at its zenith, the fast of the Ninth of Av is before us. In Israel, this is the hardest of all the fasts, as it starts at sundown on one of the longest and hottest days of the year. I recall my first years in the Torah world. During most of the fast of Tisha b’Av, I was thinking about watermelon rather than crying over the loss of our dear Temple. Now, as a seasoned faster, the long summer fasts pass easily…
Prickly burnet is considered the main component of middle-eastern terrain. When we first inspected our plot of land in Bat Ayin, we found it overgrown with thorn-bushes. The land was hard and dry and nothing but thorns could grow here. It took years of hard work until we were able to uproot and keep the thorns at bay, to make room for fruit-trees, herbs and greens…
I must confess! Although Shabbat is the centerpiece of my blessings – after 37 years of living a Torah observant life – I’m still struggling to keep Shabbat fully. Don’t get me wrong. Every week I look forward to the serene Shabbat experience: enjoying tranquil Torah learning in my garden, relaxed gourmet health-food meals with family and guests, intimate nature walks, or just lying on the couch…