Figsrael

The importance of prolonged picking

The very first stop on the Harvard Israel Trek 2014 took us to the interactive biblical garden Neot Kedumim. After a light intro to the superior produce (and hoummus) of Israel, I snuck around a corner from the bathroom for a quick breather after a long day of travel and ran smack dab into an informational sign about figs. This was perhaps very appropriate and I shouldn’t have been shocked to find this information in a space devoted to cultivating biblical botanical comestibles. Even so, I found myself treating the placard very deferentially, probably a product of jet lag and the awareness of the ancient weightiness of the landscape. I was deeply surprised by the fact that figs can only be harvested over time. They are unique from posterchild produce that I am accustomed to, apples and oranges that are harvested in one fell swoop. The placard said something to the effect that I will paraphrase here, “Picking figs takes commitment. Not much knowledge can be accumulated in a day, a little more tomorrow, but this practice cannot be acquired in only one or two years.”

I found this interesting because we only have one week to gather experiences here in Israel. This preliminary reflection and this meditation on figs is an is helping me to wrap my head around the fact that this trek opportunity is only a firsthand study, only phase one of the harvest cycle. It is a privilege to have this first bushel of experiences, but it is important to remember that picking figs, especially in Israel, will not be a simple or quick matter. I hope for the remainder of the trip, I remember to examine facts in the light of figs.