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INDIVIDUAL FARMSTEADS:OPTIMISM ON THE LONG HARD ROAD

Ten years ago, the first settlers of the first "individual farmsteads", which began to spring up along the main traffic artery between Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh and Mitzpeh Ramon, settled the land. This was part of a program for renewal of agricultural settlement in the Negev Highlands, based on the ancient history of Nabatean settlement in the very same region, with the respectable "increment" of contemporary Zionism, modern technologies and demographic constraints.

Of 30 planned farmsteads, 13 are already functioning in the area. They were set up on vacant sites, most of which were selected for their panoramic location, that are neither nature reserves nor military training zones. The agriculture they engage in consists of olive groves, vineyards, grapefruit, almonds, jojoba and milk products. They also offer tourist attractions: horse-riding, sales of cheeses and other farmstead products, restaurants and olive- and wine-pressing.

The basic idea was to renew the growth of vineyards as there had been in the area thousands of years ago, to add sources of livelihood in addition to the vine and to create an attractive "wine route" for vacationers and tourists in the heart of the desert. A further consideration was consolidation of a civilian presence along main traffic arteries but, if it had been doubted that sufficient people would be "turned on" by the idea, it rapidly became clear that there were not a few young Israelis (up to a maximum age of 40) who were prepared to take on new challenges, to adopt a special life style for themselves and their expanding families, involving considerable difficulties but also unprecedented challenges.

On each visit to these individual farmsteads, one finds something new. Buildings added, flourishing vines and olives, a mature and very successful wine industry, and the children growing up as though by themselves. Shmuel Rifman, the head of the Negev Highlands Local Council and of the Negev Development Authority Administration says: "The individual farmsteads are changing the area and making it more friendly for holiday-makers."

About a year after the KKL:-JNF World Leadership Conference participants visited the Negev to become more deeply involved in the extensive KKL-JNF project "Action Plan Negev", we visited the farmsteads. In the following two articles, we are bringing you something from the story of five of them.

The Corenmell Farmstead

When we arrived at the farmstead, we found Danny Corenmell busy cutting mature goats' cheese for a customer from one of the near-by farmsteads. Danny and his wife, Anat, moved to the Negev Highlands after lengthy attempts to obtain an area to set up a goat farm in the Jerusalem area and an attempt to set up a goat pen at one of the village communities in the Galilee, which, because of the smell, had to be outside the village. The individual farmstead in the empty Negev was, therefore, a good solution for people who were resolved to live off the land in their own way.

Danny Corenmell (42) has lived at his farmstead for 10 years already but has not yet managed to put up a permanent building for himself, his wife and their three children. They continue to live in the caravan, with all their investments going into the pen, the milking institute and the small dairy where he makes fresh, mature cheeses which are sold mainly to delicatessen shops in the center of the country. The cheeses, almost all of them French-style, also sell well to local residents and the many holiday-makers who pass by on the road to Sde Boqer and Mitzpeh Ramon, on their way to and from weekend desert tours.

"I can say today that our head is above water and we are optimistic," says Danny, before hurrying to his car to travel to Beersheba on business.

Even to reach the little he has, after ten years, considerable help of KKL-JNF was needed, primarily for reclamation of the land in an area dissected by river beds where the farmstead is located. Ancient terraces were restored and new ones built across the river beds so that fruit and ornamental trees could be planted and a local sewerage system set up. This basis enabled Anat and Danny to put all their efforts into building the place up, putting all four glove-enwrapped hands into working with the cheeses. The dairy refrigerator is replete with organized crates of fresh and semi-mature cheeses while the hard cheeses reside in the adjoining refrigeration compartment, where they mature for many months.

Anat and Danny Cornwell keep excellent contact with the Bedouins around them. Danny believes that consideration for individual needs is the right way to the continued development of the area.

Carmei Avdat Farmstead

The relationships with the Bedouin neighbors are also remarkably good for Eyal and Hana Yizrael, who are cultivating the Carmei Avdat Farmstead on the main road between Sde Boqer and Mitzpeh Ramon. A flourishing vineyard, within a wide river bed, welcomes the visitor. The vineyard was planted on the remains of early Nabatean agriculture and the ancient terraces, now restored, are being used by today's vineyard, just as they were in Nabatean times. The guard dog, at the beginning of the dirt road leading down from the asphalted roadway, seems very friendly. "You should see him when thirty camels try to invade the area. He shows what he is worth then," Hana Yizrael praises the dog.

Inside, the visitor discovers a green island, enchantingly abloom, decorated with lighting poles topped by painted ceramic shades, flowering bougainvilleas, mobile homes decorated with fruit-laden trees, sugar canes, spice bushes and flowers. This is how a desert can look with just a little water, much love for the place and vision aplenty. And this is exactly what is happening at the Carmei Avdat Farmstead, which was settled just four years ago. In a hut at the front of the farmstead there is a small gallery where Hana and Eyal Yizrael sell artistic works of metal which he produces in an adjoining hut, in a traditional smithy process, ceramic works by Hana and other artists from the area and, of course, best quality wine from the grapes of their vineyard. They do not yet have a winery and the wine is produced for them elsewhere in a separate production run using grapes only from their vineyard.

Hana was born in Kiryat Shemonah while Eyal comes from Haifa and they have both tied their lives to their farmstead in the middle of nowhere in the Negev, with the joy of creation, and a business of zimmers, guest-huts, placed on the side of the hill above the farmstead buildings. There are already some Israeli guests who return time after time to the special serenity here and even guests from overseas, either because they heard down the grapevine or chanced upon the farmstead's internet site and were enthralled by the enticement of a desert vacation. The Yizraels employ a young student couple from the Sde Boqer College because, what with harvesting and growing vines, olives and children, there is already a need for additional working hands. The Bedouin in the area are already familiar with Eyal's two right hands and come for technical assistance in welding broken metal parts and various mechanical improvisations. "The neighborly relations with them are good, even excellent," the Yizraels say.

In our next article on individual farmsteads, we hope to bring you the stories of three more farms – Zayit Bamidbar (Olive in the Desert), Nachal Boqer (Boqer River) and Zohar Bamidbar (Splendor in the Desert).

The entire world is bidding farewell to Pope John Paul II, who was beloved by all. The Jewish people and the State of Israel will remember the Pope as a great friend who worked towards achieving historic reconciliation between the peoples and was also responsible for the renewal of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, noted: "The Pope was a man of peace and a friend to the Jewish people, who recognized the Jewish people’s uniqueness. He worked towards achieving historic reconciliation between the peoples and was also responsible for the renewal of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican."

The President, Mr. Moshe Katzav, sent his condolences to Christians worldwide. "As a Christian leader and the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope will be remembered as someone who led his believers down new pathways of ecumenical reconciliation and brotherhood."

Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel represented a living example of religious commitment, projecting a message of peace and reconciliation. In the spirit of ecumenical cooperation, and after an extensive search for an appropriate way of memorializing His Holiness’ visit to the Holy Land, KKL–JNF proposed honoring the Pope by dedicating a forest grove in his name. This forest grove is located on the slopes around Nazareth in the Lower Galilee. It is an outstanding combination of planted conifer forests, natural woodlands and olive groves, and is one of the most beautiful forests in Israel. The forest has a wealth of scenic, historical and cultural sites of interest.

On the dedication tablet that was unveiled at the forest dedication ceremony, the following inscription is written:

On March 24^th, 2000, immediately following mass at Korazim on the Mount of Beatitudes, the Pope blessed an olive tree sapling -"the tree of peace and brotherhood"- that was presented to him by KKL-JNF representatives. The sapling was later planted at Amnun, at the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee (two kilometers from Korazim), by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, a senior representative of the papal entourage from the Vatican.

KKL-JNF has always viewed the preservation and fostering of sites holy to members of all religions as part of its mission. When former papal secretary Monsignor Lorie Copavilla planted a tree at a new forest restored in Nazareth honoring Pope John XXIII in 1997, he cited Jewish and Christian sources, saying, "The two religions are like two trees sharing the same biblical roots." And in fact, the greening of the Land of the Bible by creating new forests and woods contributes to the welfare and benefit of all Israel’s inhabitants. The Pope John Paul II Forest is another milestone in the process of Catholic-Jewish dialogue.

The Corenmell Farmstead

Carmei Avdat Farmstead

INDIVIDUAL FARMSTEADS:OPTIMISM ON THE LONG HARD ROAD

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Ahuva Bar-Lev

KKL-JNF – Information and Publications