THE OLIVE TREE

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking


The olive tree has been a symbol of peace throughout history.  

The olive tree is beautiful with its silvery leaves and twisted, intertwined trunk. 

Photo:  Copyright The Holy Land Community and the Israel Olive Bond program

The olive tree originated in the Holy Land, and is mentioned countless time in the Bible.   

Photo:  Copyright The Holy Land Community and the Israel Olive Bond program

"And the dove came in to him (Noah) at eventide, 

and lo in her mouth an olive leaf freshly plucked."

Genesis 8:11

The Holy Bible

The olive tree was revered in the Biblical period for its evergreen leaves, and the strength of its roots that can even penetrate rocks.  The prophet Jeremiah describes it:  

"The Lord called your name,

a green olive tree,

beautiful with goodly fruit."

Jeremiah 11:16

    The Holy Bible   

Our family donated funds to help plant olive trees in Israel.  I had the incredible opportunity to visit Israel in 1997.  People in our travel group had individual, silent prayer time in the Garden of Gethsemane, near the foot of the Mount of Olives.  The name in Hebrew means "oil press."  Oil is still pressed from the fruit of eight ancient and gnarled olive trees there.

Click on this link for photographs 

of the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane:  

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=olive+trees+in+the+garden+of+gethsemane

 

I purchased several carvings made from olive wood on my pilgrimage to Israel.

JESUS, The Good Shepherd  Photo Copyright 2007 Marcia Norwood

Olive Oil is an excellent oil that was used in Bible times for cooking.  It was mixed with flour for cakes, used for frying meat and eaten with bread and stews.

It was also used for lighting.  It was used in lamps and set before the graves of holy men, and was considered holy.  Women drank it or spread it on their bodies as a cure for all kinds of diseases.  Those who came to the Temple would sacrifice on the altar offerings of grain, new wine, and Yitzhar - pure oil.

"Pure olive oil beaten for the light."

Exodus 27:20 

The Holy Bible  

The patriarch Jacob blessed the stone that had been his pillow and set it up as a memorial by pouring oil over it.  (Genesis 28:18)

  

Photo:  Copyright The Holy Land Community and the Israel Olive Bond program. 

The olive press is required to extract oil from the olives.  Oil production has three stages:

• Crushing the olives, to produce pulp
• Squeezing the pulp to separate the oil from the solid part

• Separation of the three components of the pulp  -  water, solids, and oil

There is archeological evidence of olive presses in Israel from 3300 BCE, at  Beit Shean, Gezer, Lachish, and Megiddo.

Extra virgin olive oil comes from cold pressing of the olives, and is judged to have a superior taste.  Thanks to the spread of the Mediterranean diet, (which olive oil is a basic component), more and more people throughout the western world are being exposed to olive oil and it's aroma and taste.  

Lebhar Friedman Inc. reported a major increase in demand for imported olive oil in  US supermarkets. 

September is when our Jewish friends celebrate their most holy times of the year, called the High Holy Days.  They begin with Rosh Hashanah on September 5, which is the Jewish New Year.  The holy time ends ten days later on Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, which is the holiest day of the year for Jewish people.  
 
Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year, begins this evening at sundown.

I wish my Jewish friends,   "Shana Tova u Metuka,"  a good and sweet year.


Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and bring a friend!

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking