Land of wine and olives

Last Friday a group of us went on a trip to the Judean Hills to taste some wine, buy some local produce, and just enjoy the beauty of our surroundings. Later that evening we enjoyed kabbalat shabbat services on the Southern Wall inside the Old City. Walking from my apartment to the Old City I was struck by the ubiquitousness of olive trees (hope for peace, perhaps?). I have never been one for olives (though I have always appreciated their valour from afar), but and I find that as time winds its way through the Jerusalem stone, and I am surrounded by varieties of beautiful olives crying out, that my senses are awakening to the olives many virtues...What is it about wine and olives that make them so special, the ideal accompaniments to things holy? (there are too many answers to this question than can be addressed here, so I will leave it to you).

On another note, it has become clear to me how Jerusalem is a city of meetings- of the holy and the profane, of people from all over, of the ancient and the new. On the one hand I have been running into old friends here that I haven't seen for years, and that I would not run into at home. Here at HUC we are all going through the various levels of meeting and getting to know each other- Tuesday night we had our first 'beit cafe' (coffee house), and I was so joyed/impressed/blown away by the spirit and talent and energy of my cohort. Tomorrow we are going to tour around where David and Goliath had their tête-à-tête. That's just the way things roll here....

Cheers,

d