In Parhsat Shoftim, Devarim 18:4 we read: “The first portion
of your grain, your wine and your olive oil and the first of the shearing of
your sheep are you to give him (the Kohen).
Rashi points out that this pasuk refers to the Teruma
offering.
We learn in the Gemara in Chullin 136a that just as the
mitzvah of Teruma is only in effect in the Land of Israel so too is the mitzvah
of giving the first of the shearing of your sheep (reisheet gez) only in effect
in the Land of Israel.
According to Collins Atlas of the Bible, “The economy
of
has generally been pastoral-agrarian in character. Agriculture has
traditionally been based on the well known
Mediterranean triad of grain, wine and olive oil.”
When you walk through the shuk (open air market) in
smell the fresh pita bread. In the supermarkets, there are hundreds of bottles
of wine to choose from (all Kosher) as well as a large selection of olive oil.
What if you want to get the feeling of what it was really
like in the days of the Torah, before the products were readily available in
the local markets?
In
today, there are opportunities to literally have a taste of what it was like to
live in Biblical times. On the farm of Moshav Mevo Modiim (also known as the
Carlebach Moshav) visitors have the opportunity to grind wheat and bake pita
bread, press olives to make olive oil, visit a vineyard and learn about wine
making as well as sheer the sheep and spin the wool into yarn.
These hands-on experiences really help make the Torah come
alive.
Those of us who live in
or who will be visiting
should try to make time for these experiences and become familiar with produce
of the
