Leiah Elbaum elbaum@actcom.co.il Posted: June 27, 2000 (from an online aliyah discussion) Talking about Jewish educational benefits of living in Israel, you know aside from the wealth of formal learning programmes here. I realise that this isn't some kind of revolutionary revelation - wow, if you live in Israel you see biblical places, I know, that's kind of cliched, but still, I find that for many people who haven't visited Israel the idea is still a bit fuzzy. It's not just that you can live near the Kotel, it's that even if you don't you're still living in the biblical land, and this in of itself is a very special educational and spiritual experience. I've learnt so much about the bible and Judaism just by living in the Land of Israel - and I came to Israel with a pretty good Jewish education to start with. Suddenly the agricultural cycle and the weather patterns described in the Torah and Talmud make sense, because they are part of my life. A wealth of metaphors and landscapes described in Jewish sources suddenly mean something because living in the Land of Israel they are part of my life, the rocky fields, the swift gazelle antelope, the topography and geology of the Land. I've seen every one of the shiv'at haminim, the 7 species of fruit and grain listed in the humash, growing wild in this area, along with all manner of other flora and fauna mentioned in the bible and other Jewish sources. Tu B'Shvat is heralded by almond trees in bloom, spring brings a riot of colourful wildflowers everywhere you look. At Pesah there were meadows of wild barley and followed a few weeks later by fields of ripe wheat. By Tu B'Av the vines will be heavy with grapes and around Sukkot there will be plump fruits on the date palms and fig trees. I'm not just waxing romantic here, I'm talking about an educational experience which means that Jewish studies, especially the bible, can be taught in Israel in a way which is more real, more interactive, than anywhere else in the world. For example, you can take your bible in hand an go and teach the story of David and Goliath in the area in which the battle took place, or go and stand on Mt Carmel and read about Eliahu's confrontation with the prophets of Ba'al. You can see the remains villages and towns from the Second Temple and Talmudic periods, suddenly you have a wealth of new teaching aids for teaching Judaism and Jewish history with. That's a type of Jewish connection that can only happen here. Just some more reasons to think about moving to Israel. :-) Leiah