Land of Milk and Honey?

[rubyz]

Those of you who have read my posts are surely aware of my dangerous obsession with p. dactylifera. If not, this posting will certainly convince you.

    As a lover of palms and the Bible (principally from a literary point of view), I had long been intrigued by two terms: the name of my hometown, "Karmiel," and the expression "Land of milk and honey." I will deal with the latter first.

    The expression "Land of milk and honey," generally a reference to modern-day Israel as well as the biblical Land of Israel (or Greater Palestine, if you prefer), is based on the biblical phrase "...a land flowing with milk and honey." But, from what I knew of the botanical/commercial history of this land, there was never any beekeeping industry, which came into being only after the British Mandate took effect. So what honey is being described?

    After a bit of linguistic research, I came up with an answer both surprising and interesting. The phrase above is the St. James translation of the Hebrew "EHretz zaVAT haLAV oodehVASH," with the word "deVASH" translated as "honey." However, this translation is misleading, since "dehVASH" in Ancient Hebrew actially means "syrup!" The syrup in question is, undoubtedly, the sweet juices of the fig, and (even more likely) the date. So the expression really should be "Land of milk and date palm syrup!"

    The name of my hometown, Karmiel, is based on two Hebrew words: "KEHrem," meaning "vineyard," "orchard," "grove" or "plantation," and "el," meaning "God." Hence, "Karmiel" could mean either "God's vineyard" or "God's orchard." I vote for "orchard." (Of course, I'm slightly prejudiced.) True enough, grape growing and wine processing were well-developed commercial enterprises here in the Galilee, as attested by the Biblie, amongst other sources. However, olives have always been a big hit in this region (nowadays you cannot travel anywhere in the Galilee without encounterint olive groves), and date palms, I would assert, used to be. I use the word "assert," since no actual proof has been discovered that the ancient date palm forests, stretching from the Sea of Galilee (in the eastern Galilee) southward to the desert, extended westward to the Central Galilee (where Karmiel is situated). A few acquaintances of mine even claimed that the climate of the Central Galilee is not arid enough to support fruiting in date palms, and pointed out the fact that none of the date palms planted by the Municipality actually fruit.

    However, it turns out that the Municipality deliberately planted only male specimens, since they didn't want to be bothered by the mess created by dropping dates, nor did they want to deal with the phenomenon of fallen date poachers. Additionally, the pic below is proof positive that Karmiel has a date-friendly climate: these specimens of p. dactylifera are located in the inner couryard of Karmiel's ORT College of Engineering, where I lectured for ten years. They were planted in 1988, and by 1990 were yielding plentiful clusters of luscious Medjool dates. (The pic also shows that the maintenance team got carried away with trimming.)

    So, in my mind, "Karmiel" means "God's date palm orchard!"

   

[iamjv]

Rubyz,

 Very interesting information and aspect.  Certainly agree with you that dates should easily grow there and probably even commercially, if plentiful land and water weren't an issue.  Jv

[rubyz]

(iamjv @ Mar. 12 2007,00:37)

QUOTE

 Certainly agree with you that dates should easily grow there and probably even commercially, if plentiful land and water weren't an issue.

They really aren't an issue.

The problem of periodic rainfall shortages has been  overcome through high-tech drip irrigation; p. dactylifera is not commercially planted in the Central Galilee since, although its climate could indeed support date palm horticulture, it is simply does not have the optimum climate for such a venture. That's exactly why all Israeli date plantations are located either in the Jordan Valley or in the Negev Desert, both of which have a more arid climate.

[Alberto]

´´ The just man shall florish like a ´date palm´´

[Scott]

Reuven,

I too like the Bible, and I've often heard from people that the palm (I'm assuming they meant Date Palm) is a Holy tree, but I can't recall ever actually reading that. Do you know, is it true? And if so, where could I find it?

[rubyz]

(Alberto @ Mar. 12 2007,02:33)

QUOTE

´´ The just man shall florish like a ´date palm´´

Amen! ::

[rubyz]

(Scott @ Mar. 12 2007,08:14)

QUOTE

I too like the Bible, and I've often heard from people that the palm (I'm assuming they meant Date Palm) is a Holy tree, but I can't recall ever actually reading that. Do you know, is it true? And if so, where could I find it?

The Prophet Mohammed called the date palm "a blessed tree," and it is referred to several times in the Koran.

    For Christians, the Sunday prior to Easter Sunday is called Palm Sunday, on which the entry of YAEshu - Jesus - into Jerusalem, is celebrated. The palm branch, being a symbol of victory and triumph, was waved by the receiving crowd which also laid them down as a royal carpet. Nowadays Christians commemorate this with a procession in which palm branches are waved.

    For Jews, the palm frond is ceremoniously used in the synagogue during a certain blessing ("haLEL" = "Praise God") on a holiday called SuKOT. This holiday commemorates the Jews' 40 years of wandering before entering the Land of Israel, in which they had to live in quickly constructed huts. Nowadays, many Jews construct such huts and live in them (or at least have a meal or so in them) during the week-long holiday. In the synagogue, the palm frond is one of four species mentioned in the Bible which is waved during the haLEL blessing. I partake in this every year - not because I am religious, but because this ceremony creates for me a very special ancient atmosphere.

[polihale]

Rubyz,

Thank you for the topic on dactylifera. I grow many different kinds of palms, but it was the True Date Palm that started my interest in palms. I live in Hawaii, and many people associate coconut palms with paradise. But for me, palm paradise was always the California desert (Palm Springs, Coachella Valley, Blythe, Colorado River Valley). This is where I spent lots of time in my youth, and my interest in palms really took shape.

Dactylifera were the first seeds I germinated and planted. Today, I have about 100 plants. I tell people they are "Man's First Crop", celebrated by Jews, Muslims, Christians and ancient Egyptians. I enjoyed the stories about how Mohammad himself was a date farmer. Come see my trees in 20 years!

Palm Springs and two of my plants:

[Alicehunter2000]

Sorry if this is a little bit off topic but since you are a " lover of palms and the Bible (principally from a literary point of view)" Have you ever read any from the following PhD Physicist/Biblical Theologist?

Gerald Schroeder earned his BSc, MSc and PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctorate is in the Earth Sciences and Nuclear Physics. Dr. Schroeder's yeshiva studies were guided by Rabbi Chaim Brovender at ITRI, and before that by the late Rabbi Herman Pollack. He is the author of Genesis and the Big Bang, the Discovery of Harmony between Modern Science and the Torah, published by Bantam Doubleday (now in six languages). His second book, The Science of G-d, published by Free Press of Simon & Schuster, was on the Barnes & Noble bestseller list for three months. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife (the author Barbara Sofer) and their five children. Professor Schroeder served in the IDF, as do his two sons, who are officers.  

A facinating read........here is a link to his web site http://www.geraldschroeder.com/gbb.html