Touring Israel with a tour guide

#ImagineIsraelTours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael The 'Cave of Letters' in Nahal Hever, in the Judean Desert Discovered by Bedouin of the Ta'amireh tribe in 1953, the cave was excavated during 1960–61 by archaeologist Yigael Yadin & his team, who made an astonishing discovery in what appears to have been a refuge for Jewish families fleeing the Romans during the Bar Kochba Revolt (132–135 CE). Almost 2,000 years ago, the items pictured were hidden in the cave. Sealed with bitumen, this basket was packed by a Jewish family with the hope of returning home. They never did. The proof they were hidden by a Jewish family? The items belonged to a Jewish woman named Babatha; her marriage contract, property deeds & legal documents were hidden in the very same cave. Her stepdaughter Shelamzion's ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) confirms their identity beyond doubt. Alongside the basket, archaeologists found sandals, combs, keys, coins & personal correspondence. There ...

#ImagineIsraelTours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael The desert hedgehog ( Paraechinus aethiopicus)   Simon says: "Did you know that one of Israel's smallest desert creatures has been quietly roaming these lands since biblical times?" Known in Hebrew as קיפוד (qíppôdh), it is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in Isaiah & Zephaniah. It's a tiny survivor that has witnessed this land's entire history. The species was first described by the German naturalist Ehrenberg in 1832, & its name is recognized in modern taxonomic databases . The "aethiopicus" part of the name refers to Ethiopia (the species was once called the Ethiopian Hedgehog) . These little creatures are perfectly adapted to Israel's harshest desert environments. The desert hedgehog is found in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia & across the Sahara. What makes them so special? 🦔 They can survive in dry scrublands, stony plains & mountainous desert country. 🦔 Their dark spines h...

#ImagineIsraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael 30 HaRav Berlin Street in Jerusalem Without this building, Israel's history might have been written very differently..... Beit Kadima sits on the seam between Kiryat Shmuel & Rechavia. In 1945, the British built it as luxury housing for senior officers - a statement of imperial permanence. But the officers never moved in. The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created on 15 May 1947 in response to a United Kingdom government request that the General Assembly "make recommendations under article 10 of the Charter, concerning the future government of Palestine." By August 1947, the 11 members of UNSCOP had moved in. There they formulated the recommendations that became the Partition Plan....leading directly to the historic United Nations resolution of November 29, 1947, & the establishment of the Jewish state. Designed by architect Otto Hoffman, the building blends Bauhaus modernism with classic J...

#imagineIsraelTours #simonostertourguideisrael The purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) August is the driest & hottest month in Israel, so vibrant spring wildflowers have already dried up. However, this tall perennial (1–3 metres high) can still be found along streams & springs from the Golan & Hula Valley down through the the coastal plain. You'll find it blooming from June > November; it has 5–7 pinky-purple petals each with a dark stripe running down the centre. One plant can produce up to 2.7 million sticky seeds annually which are dispersed by birds, helping it spread naturally. It has extensive roots sending out 30–50 shoots, & even root fragments can regrow into new plants! 💊 Ancient Medicine Purple loosestrife has a long history as a medicinal plant in European traditional medicine; uses included treating diarrhoea & dysentery plus skin & mucosal infections - ie diseases caused by pathogens that invade or the moist linings of our bodies such as...

Simon says: "Welcome to my Blog!" Even if you've been following me for a while, while you know I post here about Israel's incredible flora and fauna, tours I've led & places I've explored all around Israel - but that doesn't tell you much about the person behind the lens. So here's my story. 👇 I grew up in North London, the middle child between an older sister & younger brother. Frequent family holidays to Israel planted a seed: one day, I'd make this extraordinary country my home. That dream took a while to come true! After school, I spent a year here on a kibbutz - & digging into history on an archaeological site. Then I headed to the US for a summer as a camp counsellor with troubled teens, & then back to the UK for a History degree at Leeds University. I built a solid career in Facilities Management, leading support teams in pharmaceutical companies, & corporate finance.....but Israel kept calling. In 2006, I finally made t...

#imagineisraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Lychees (Litchi chinensis) This slow-growing fruit tree, sensitive to temperature, humidity & inadequate watering was planted in my garden in 2007. This year we have the best crop, ever! Harvested commercially from late June to mid-July, Lychees are harvested & packed the same day, & shipped in refrigerated trucks to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem plus supermarkets across Europe. Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands & Italy. The lychee is from the same family as peaches, cherries, apricots & cashews which all belong to the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) alongside with rambutan & longan (planted the latter, 3 days ago). The fruit's shelf life is very short. It only ripens on the tree & deteriorates very quickly after harvest, which is why exports require refrigerated transport & same-day packing . Did you know? one cup of lychees gives you over 100% of your daily vitamin C. They also contain powerful poly...

#imagineisraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Simon says: "Let's discuss the kosher grasshopper loophole - meet the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria)" The Torah makes an exception for 4 specific types of locusts (Leviticus /Vayikra - וַיִּקְרָא - 11:21-22 ) when discussing the prohibition against eating insects - because they have 4 walking legs + 2 leaping legs. It’s a very specific anatomical loophole. BUT only Yemenite Jews have an unbroken oral tradition identifying the exact kosher species. Everyone else lost it. Without that tradition, rabbis banned non-Yemenite Jews entirely, to avoid eating the wrong bug. So yes - same locust. Kosher for one community. Not kosher for another. All because of who remembers. So today, a Yemenite Jew can eat a desert locust, but an Ashkenazi Jew (generally) cannot - even if it’s the exact same bug. A few wild facts about the desert locust itself: Diet: Voracious herbivores. They eat their own weight in vegetation daily....leaves,...