Eco 7: Zionists, Green Freaks and Hasidic Hippies: Memoirs from a Middle Eastern Commune

By Michael Robertson

Have you ever been confused when people talk about sustainable living?
Do you want to know about the real Holy Land, the one that doesnt get shown on the news?
Ever wondered what living in a communal village would really be like?

In September of 2011, the author went to Israel to answer all these questions for himself. Eco 7: Zionists, Green Freaks, and Hasidic Hippies is the insightful and inspiring memoir of his five months on the Hava-ve-Adam Ecological farm in central Israel.
Along the way, he does indeed meet Zionists, green freaks, and Hasidic hippies, and he learns from sometimes painful experience the fine art of vagabonding in a foreign country. Over time, he comes to understand the true meaning of not just permaculture but also family and community.
Far from being a war-torn military state, this book shows an Israel that is alive and ever-changing, as well as a study in contrasts, through the eyes of one who was there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 6, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477284964

Michael Robertson

MICHAEL ROBERTSON studied literature at Purdue University, attended law school in southern California, and worked in educational publishing and software technology for many years. He spends his spare time surfing, a few hundred yards north of the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant. He is the author of the Baker Street Mystery series, which begins with The Baker Street Letters.

Book preview

ECO 7

ZIONISTS,

GREEN FREAKS AND

HASIDIC HIPPIES

Memoirs from a Middle Eastern Commune

Michael Robertson

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© 2012 by Michael Robertson. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/26/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8497-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8496-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012920212

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

In The Beginning

The Story

Preface

What Is This?

Chapter 1

Welcome To The Sandbox

Chapter 2

Beware Of Teapots

Chapter 3

Um, Where’s This Train Going?

Chapter 4

Gained One, Lost One

Dramatis Personae: Impressions

Chapter 5

City Of The Dead

Chapter 6

The Pilgrim’s Trail

Chapter 7

Not As Good As Advertised

Chapter 8

We’re Dropping Like Flies

Chapter 9

Three’s A Crowd

Chapter 10

Green, Green

Interlude

A Brief Timeline Of Jewish History

Chapter 11

The Sustainable City Slickers

Chapter 12

And Now For Something Not So Different

Chapter 13

Let Us Count The Shrines

Chapter 14

Does Not Play Well With Others

Chapter 15

Gift Exchanges

Chapter 16

Your Expert Assistance Is Required

Chapter 17

A Sandbox Full Of Weeds

Travel Tips For Experiencing Israel On The Cheap

Chapter 18

My Brush With Fame

Chapter 19

Goin’ Across The Line

Chapter 20

That Made It All Worth It

Chapter 21

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Chapter 22

Last One Out, Turn Off The Light

Interlude

Dramatis Personae: Post-Impressions

The Classroom

Lecture 1

What Is Permaculture Anyway?

Lecture 2

Design Principles, The Heart Of The Matter

Lecture 3

Bringing Them Together With Companion Planting

Lecture 4

The Qualities And Uses Of Common Herbs

Lecture 5

Botany 101

Lecture 6

Dirt Is An Unkind Word

Lecture 7

Plant Propagation (It’s Plant Sex . . . Come On!)

Lecture 8

Wet, Wild, And Wonderful Water

Lecture 9

The Importance Of Thermal Physics

Lecture 10

The Joys Of Composting

Lecture 11

Adapting To Urban Environments

Lecture 12

Basic Processing Of Medicinal Herbs

Lecture 13

Permaculture In The Bible

Lecture 14

Ecosystems Large And Small

Lecture 15

Conventional Economics, Alternate Energies, And Why The Joke’s On Us

Lecture 16

Permaculture On The Social Frontier

Lecture 17

Techniques Of Irrigation

Lecture 18

Seed-Saving (A Lot More About Plant Sex)

Lecture 19

Diy Herbal Recipes

Lecture 20

The Nitty-Gritty On Nutrition

Lecture 21

Integrated Pest Management

Lecture 22

Diy Food Preservation

About The Author

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Here’s a shout out to all the folks

who have made this adventure possible:

my survival instructor, Cody Lundin, for showing the way;

my sensei, Mr. C., for instilling iron discipline

and saint-like patience;

Steve for acting as a mentor and editor;

Sparks McGhee Photography for technical assistance;

my parents for always having my back;

my family in Israel for providing havens of sanity

(and protein) when needed;

the staff of Eco-Israel for taking good care of us;

and the rest of Eco 7 for giving me something to write about.

You rock, guys!

INTRODUCTION

IN THE BEGINNING

I don’t know why or how the idea of going to Israel got into my head. Maybe I was just a born Zionist, as I didn’t know about family who had made Aliya (immigration), and I had never paid much attention to religion. Thus the story begins nearly eight years ago.

Fast-forward six years. I’m not doing much, and nothing seems to be coming my way, so it seems to be a good time to start listing my choices. I could have tested the waters by doing Taglit-Birthright. As a program funded by the Israeli government, it offers free ten-day guided tours of the country to young Jews from around the world. It just didn’t seem adventurous enough, and as I later learned, it contains participants in a cultural bubble so that they can travel around drunk in safety.

I wanted to see the sights, broaden my horizons, and get in touch with my cultural and religious roots—all that good jazz. Though I had been following the news there for some time, I wanted to find out for myself the situation on the ground. Most importantly, I wanted to know if it was a good place to live.

The idea I finally latched onto was to fully immigrate by way of going over and serving in the Israeli Army. Brain afire and firmly self-convinced of the righteousness of my cause, I boldly set a meeting with the local Jewish Agency representative, stated my case with vigorous eloquence . . . and was laughed at for my trouble. I’m just laughing because if you go to Israel and try that, they’ll look at you like you’re crazy, he said.

He then told me that even though the Jewish Agency was the oldest and largest government sponsored organization promoting immigration to Israel, it was not the only one. He advised me to set my sights a bit lower for now and gave me the MASA student catalogue to look over. Masa is Hebrew for journey. It’s an umbrella organization funded by the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency, which arranges for young Jews to travel to Israel on various study programs.

What caught my eye immediately was Budokan. It was a five-month martial arts-based program with daily training, full meal and laundry service, and lots of community interaction (according to the website). I did my research, called them up, and got the ball rolling. Things were going well until that pesky detail of the ten-thousand-dollar fee for the program didn’t resolve itself like it should have. To make a long story short, it didn’t happen.

Fast-forward a month. I’m sitting in a handmade sweat lodge in the backwoods of Arizona, receiving an answer from the spirits to the question I asked them two weeks previously in another sweat lodge at a primitive living skills gathering. The question: Show me the path! The answer: You’re walking it, moron! (Ask a Zen question, get a Zen answer.)

A martial arts program would have been fun, but it wouldn’t have taken me anywhere I wasn’t already. Eco-Israel on the other hand . . . hmmm, permaculture . . . well, it would be a new direction, a marketable skill, and having been raised in gardens, it couldn’t be too difficult, right? Not to keep you waiting, the answer is—

What, you really expected me to tell the punch line before the joke? Just read the story.

The Story

PREFACE

WHAT IS THIS?

This account is the story of the five months spent on the Hava ve Adam ecological farm in Modi’in, Israel, where I was a part of the seventh semester of the Eco-Israel program. It was originally sent out as a weekly journal to a small list of friends and family members as a way of keeping them up to date on my adventures. Even though it’s been substantially rewritten, this is a God’s honest accounting with no embellishments or deletions. I have made concessions to respect anonymity, though. The names and certain details of people and businesses have been changed or omitted to protect any guilty parties.

Besides the subtraction of plenty of spelling and grammar errors, it’s seen the addition of numerous stories and asides that could only be included after the fact. Some sections have been added or moved for better continuity of the story. Dramatis Persona: Impressions was originally written during week six, for example, and my first journal entry started on the plane to Israel with no lead-up or explanations at all.

The layout I’ve chosen to use here may be different from what people are used to. Normally, in these days at least, memoirs are written after the fact so that all the embellishments are in the highlights of the story and the boring, day-to-day stuff can be left out. While that technique makes for fast and exciting reading, I disagree with this approach. It’s that boring, day-to-day stuff that gives real insight into a person’s life and what they were going through. That’s why I’ve preserved the journalistic format right down to the dates.

The nature of this book is hard to define. It is an accounting of my time in the Eco 7 program, but it’s more than a memoir. I’ve included tips on traveling in Israel, all learned from personal experience, but it’s not a travel guide. Selections from my course notes are included (bullet-pointed for ease of reading), but it’s not a manual on permaculture. It’s best not to get hung up on the details of definition though. Read it, enjoy it for what it is, take what you like, and leave the rest.

Some explanation of the lectures in Part 2 is in order here. These lectures follow the course of study I was taking in the program, which was roughly one subject per week. The subject matter of the lecture corresponds to the chapter in which I was learning it. Matching the number of the chapter to the lecture number will give you a good idea of what I was studying at the time and will hopefully provide a solid, step-by-step, layman’s introduction to the field of permaculture. For those people who don’t want to deal with all that hippie-dippie crap, it is easily ignored (their loss, not mine).

Warning: The advice given on traveling in this book are only observations that I have made through personal experience, and they may be mistaken or out of date. They should be used as a supplement, not a substitute for an actual tour guide! This information has worked for me, but it may not for you. Remember to use discretion at all times! Either way, I claim no responsibility for your safety or actions.

Likewise, any information about permaculture, religion, organizations, personalities, or anything else in this book should not be taken as gospel. If you find something interesting, do your own research and make your own opinions. Don’t rely on mine. Hopefully this should be enough to cover my ass from any potential libel lawsuits.

Several members of the political correctness police have complained about egotistical rantings. I will remind them that this was originally written by me, about me, and many times, for me as a form of catharsis. That requires no apology. These same naysayers are quick to point out that I’m not very complimentary toward most of the other people in this drama. For that, I do apologize. Most of them aren’t as bad as I make them out to be, and they do have their good points. As every college grad knows, though, try to live with any group of people long-term, and very soon, you will not see the forest for the trees.

With those preliminaries out of the way, come, listeners, and I shall tell to you a tale . . .

CHAPTER 1

WELCOME TO THE SANDBOX

9/3: So far so good! I’m on the plane to New York right now, and we haven’t crashed . . . yet. I nearly missed this one, too; like every other flight in recent memory. This is a very bad habit that I must try to break.

I’m on the plane to Tel Aviv now after a two-hour layover in Newark International. It’s easy to find the gate for Israel, just look for the closed-off one in the back with extra security. Security was actually not as heavy as I had expected. Maybe they’re saving that for when you’re in country. Somehow, my seat is in the deluxe front aisle, chance has graced me with some extra leg room. I must try to sleep some; I have only had about three hours in the last thirty-six.

Even though airports are the only true international territory, they still reflect their locations. The feel of the Newark Airport reflects New York—a veneer of polish over grime.

9/4: I managed to doze on the plane a bit and discovered a few things about international flights. Airline food lives down to its reputation, you get to know your seatmates very well, and jet lag is a creeping malady. They let me walk right through security and customs. All I had to deal with were some G-men asking general questions about my travel plans. I was met at the airport by my cousin, Maria, and am now at my cousin Linn’s place in Rehovot for the night.

What I’ve seen so far is . . . interesting, truly a land of contrasts. Most things are kosher, so that means meat and dairy are not mixed. The air quality, for now at least, is terrible, almost as bad as LA. Most of this city I’ve seen so far is tract apartment complexes from various eras with massive construction underway everywhere else. Hopefully, things will be better in the rural areas. Cities are not my environment. Sleep and a shower, manna from heaven!

Linn’s son, Jude, is here. He flew in from Thailand this morning; a big shot tennis player, number one in the country. Another cousin named Bill came over, and we all spent the night talking. I didn’t know just how bad the cost-of-living situation is over here. Compared to the Bay Area even, everything is two to three times more expensive, a third the size, and all on half the pay people get in the United States. Not as bad as Iceland, but still . . . living here is already looking unlikely.

9/5: It was a good first day, even though I only slept till 2a.m. and then dozed till dawn. I was picked up by Bill, who took me all the way to the farm. It’s still hot here, about high eighties with high humidity. I’m prepared to be sticky for the next two months until it cools down. The vibe is very friendly and laid back; things are slower and calmer, a nice contrast from the city.

I was right in assessing my tribemates from their bios. It’s very much a mixed bag. Most are Americans, and half are from California but included are a Swede, a Brazilian, and a Canadian named Dave, my roommate. The total number is fifteen students and four regular teachers.

My home is now a yurt about twenty feet wide by twelve feet high, basic bedding and shelving included. I cleverly chose the north side of the dome for my bed, hoping it will be a few degrees cooler. There are at least a half dozen guitars here; five of their owners, I and my roommate included, are still learning to play. I’m thinking it would have been nice to have my banjo for contrast, but it would have been a pain to get here.

I haven’t mixed yet with the volunteer staff. I’ll wait a few days more. It looks like I have the highest level of formal medical training, not counting energy healers and herbalists, as well as the most outdoor survival experience and martial arts background. Most of the tribe are coming from cities and are still a bit timid toward their new environment, which is quite entertaining. It is about 9p.m. right now, and people are still jamming; however, it’s normal to be up late on the first night. The day formally starts at 7a.m. here, so a little Tai Chi (a Chinese system of moving mediation) and then bed for me.

9/6: It’s up and off to a running start at 5a.m. There’s no place for sleeping in here. Between my bed facing the open eastern door of the yurt, the roosters, and my meditation-addicted roommate, it’s going to be easy to keep honest hours. Modi’in is just over the hill to the west, and the light pollution is so bad I don’t need a flashlight at night. Jerusalem is thirty miles east, so we must be getting some from there, too.

This whole week is orientation, so we just got the grand tour of the farm. The entire place is small, eight acres, but feels big because of how compact everything is. The Eco program is based on the eastside or upstairs because it’s on higher ground. The rest of it is downstairs. Chickens, donkeys, assigned farm plots, the library, volunteer dorms, offices, and more are down there. Both sides have their own kitchens and bathrooms. There’s an entire building devoted to secondhand stuff, anything consigned or abandoned; people seem to take great liberties with unclaimed or left-out things around here. My side of the dome seems to be no cooler, so much for being clever. It was ninety degrees with high humidity, but it’s getting drier now thanks to a light breeze.

The farm is in a small valley right next to a side road, with a dry creek bed bordering the other side. The hills to the north are artificially forested with pine. The south hills still have their scrubby native shrubs and trees, none of which I know the names for yet.

Everyone on the farm had name games and dinner together tonight. Besides us and the volunteers (who are putting in a year of community service before the army), there’s a group from South America that has already been here for two weeks. After that, we had an initiation ritual as a tribe—drums, sage incense, a spirit gathering in a cave hidden under a fig tree. At the end, we planted a new pomegranate tree and put a jar under it with our hopes for the program inside and then had a prayer circle. Yep, all that shamanistic, hippie-dippie, new-age stuff.

The land here reminds me of the Arizona high desert. It’s dry and rocky with low trees, shrubs, and dry grasses; the boulders are limestone instead of sandstone though. It has just enough of the hills of home it . . .

9/7: Today was another day of orientation. We have all been shown the basic maintenance tasks of the place and been assigned rotating work tasks. Mine, for now, is keeping the showers and solar panels clean. We met with the rest of the staff here this morning and have started eating lunches with the rest of the farm’s students. It’s only the third day, and this tribe is already coming together with a minimum of screaming.

We’ve gotten the course outline/schedule, and we’ll be taking a field trip about once per month. Proposed activities and improvements are