Touring Israel with a tour guide

#imagineisraeltours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Dates The date palm (Tamar in Hebrew) appears over 40 times in the Hebrew Bible, though the fruit itself is referred to only once: "Your stature is like that of the palm, your breasts like clusters of fruit" (Song of Songs 7:7). The Hebrew word d'vash usually means bee honey. Jewish tradition, including Rashi, interprets the "honey" referred to as one of 'the 7 species' (Deuteronomy 8:8) as date honey, a sweet syrup (silan) made by boiling then pressing the fruit The date was a staple food in biblical times. Eaten fresh, dried or pressed into cakes for travellers (1 Chronicles 16:3; 2 Samuel 6:19) Israel's hot, dry climate is perfect for date cultivation. The Jordan Valley, the Arava & the Dead Sea area are the primary growing zones The date harvest runs from late summer thr...

#ImagineIsraelTours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Simon says: "Let's meet the Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) The lion appears more than 150 times in the Hebrew Bible. Samson tore one apart with his bare hands at Timnah (Judges 14:5-6); David killed a lion - & a bear - to protect his flock (1 Samuel 17:34-36) The lion was the emblem of the tribe of Judah (Genesis/Bereshit 49:9); the first of the 4 living creatures in Ezekiel's vision had the face of a lion. The Asiatic lion once roamed the Levant from Turkey through Israel, east to Persia; the region's forests giving them cover. But they became extinct in Israel in the wild during the Middle Ages, due to habitat loss & hunting. Archaeologists found lion bones at Tel Hazor & Tel Megiddo, & attached is a drawing of a lion in the Sidonian cave in Beit Guvrin The Talmud lists 6 terms to describe a lion; each name captures a different stage of life or a human reaction to the animal. Rabbi Levi added gur ary...

#ImagineIsraelTours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael The catfish (Clarias gariepinus) Ein Afek Nature Reserve covers 660 dunams in the Acre Valley, east of Kiryat Bialik - & the swampy water is full of catfish! Catfish are bottom dwellers, preferring murky water, shallow pools & muddy bottoms - exactly what Ein Afek offers! They use their whiskers to feel their way through dark water, finding food by touch. Some species can even breathe air, a useful trick in low-oxygen swamp conditions! They are bottom feeders, eating invertebrates, small fish, insects, fallen leaves & algae. Mating: The female can lay tens of thousands of eggs at once. Males guard the eggs - some catfish even carry eggs in their mouths until they hatch. The Kashrut Question: Leviticus 11:9: anything in the water with both fins & scales is permitted. Anything without - catfish included - is forbidden. Catfish lack scales entirely. Fishing for catfish, at kibbutz Ein Gev They thrive in Ein Afek, which is uniq...

The crocus (Crocus hyemalis) #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael #ImagineIsraelTours Isaiah 35:1 says the desert will "blossom like the crocus" In a couple of months that verse will be in my mind when I'm leading tours that I'm booking currently, for visitors planning to come & tour across northern Israel, after Rosh Hashanah. This crocus starts blooming after the first rains, usually October to November. We find it in the Galilee, the Golan & parts of the Sharon plain- growing right out of rocky hillsides with no leaves, just the flower pushing straight up from the ground! Different species bloom at slightly different times. Some start as early as September at higher elevations, others continue through December . The flowers range from white & lilac to purple, with bright yellow stamens in the centre The crocus is connected to saffron (Crocus sativus), which is mentioned in Song of Solomon 4:14. Saffron comes from the dried stigmas of the flower & has been use...

#ImagineIsraelTours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael The pomegranate (Punica granatum) one of the Seven Species of the Land of Israel (Devarim / Deuteronomy 8:8) Its fruits & flowering branches have inspired poets & artists for millennia. As it says in the Song of Songs: "I went down to the grove of nut trees… to see if the vines had budded, if the pomegranates were in bloom" (Song of Songs 6:11) Flowering: Spring (April–May). Showy, crimson, trumpet-shaped flowers Fruiting: Ripens late summer to autumn (August–October) Uses: Eaten fresh, juiced, used in cooking (e.g., fesenjan) & made into molasses for savoury dishes. The seeds (arils) can also be added to salads & desserts The pomegranate (rimon in Hebrew) can be found in the mosaic detail in the images from a 6th-century BCE Byzantine palace in Caesarea, showing a pomegranate tree, & also a dog resting beside a pomegranate tree. It decorated the grand atrium of a palace complex just outside the city walls. Th...

#ImagineIsraelTours #SimonOsterTourGuideIsrael Mediterranean House Gecko ( midactylus turcicus) Mentioned in the Hebrew Bible - i n Proverbs 30:28 we read: "the gecko takes hold with her hands, yet she is in kings' palaces" 🏛️ Biblical significance: Listed among the unclean creatures in Leviticus 11:30 🍽️ Eating habits: Nocturnal insectivores, these geckos are voracious predators that cling to surfaces using specialised pads on their toes. The Hebrew name, semamit, refers to its ability to climb walls with ease. They are attracted to light sources to find their prey - making them excellent natural pest controllers! 🌿 Breeding: They are egg-layers, with an average clutch size of 2, breeding once yearly. They reach maturity at around 22 months & can live up to 9 years! 🌍 Habitat & behaviour: Native to the Mediterranean region, they inhabit shrubland, rocky areas, cliffs & human homes - often taking shelter in cracks & unseen areas of buildings. Males are...

  A Taste of Biblical Israel Did you know the fig is one of the Seven Species of Israel? 🍯 The fig tree is mentioned 16 times in the Hebrew Bible, often alongside the vine as a symbol of peace & prosperity . "Every man under his own vine and under his own fig tree" (I Kings 5:5) became the ultimate vision of security. 🕊️ 🌱 The fig was cultivated in Israel as early as 7000 years ago - making it one of the world's first domesticated fruit trees! Archaeologists found evidence at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley 🍃 Adam & Eve used fig leaves to cover themselves (Genesis 3:7) - the very first biblical mention of this iconic tree 🍯 The "honey" in "a land flowing with milk & honey" (Deuteronomy 8:8) - according to some Jewish sages, it refers to fig honey! 🐝 💫 Some rabbinic traditions believe the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden was actually a fig tree The fruit was eaten fresh, dried into cakes (develah) & even used as a healing pou...

#ImagineIsraelTours 3,000 Years of Jewish History in One Day. Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter brings together some of the most significant sites in Jewish history, archaeology & worship, spanning the First Temple period to the present day. Highlights of this tour include: 🕍 The Western Wall (HaKotel) - The surviving western retaining wall of the Second Temple, & Judaism's holiest place of prayer. 🕍 The Western Wall Tunnels - A 485-metre underground route revealing the full length of the Wall, including the enormous Western Stone, one of the largest building stones ever used in antiquity. 🕍 The 1948 Independence War Memorial 🕍 The 'City of David' - still under excavation 🕍 The Hurva Synagogue - Originally established in the early 18th century, destroyed & rebuilt several times, most recently reopened in 2010 following meticulous reconstruction. 🕍 The Four Sephardic Synagogues - A remarkable complex dating largely from the 16th century, reflecting the traditi...