Page 34 - Jewish News_November-2020

5 Scientists grow fresh dates
34A November 2020 ISRAEL & THE JEWISH WORLD

from a sixth century BCE seed

Grown from ancient seeds found at Masada and Qumran and likely
brought back to Judea from Babylon in the sixth century BCE,

By Abigail Klein Leichman, israel21c.org, September 21, 2020
EASY the fresh dates symbolize the remarkable resilience of nature.
Sallon tells ISRAEL21c.
azal tov to Hannah and
ning of September to great internation-
Methuselah on their 111
She and Solowey collected and
al fanfare.
Solowey and fellow “date grand-
tested many kinds of plants, and
Mmiracle babies! The proud
Solowey grew them at the Arava Insti-
parents are date palms grown from an-
ma” Dr. Sarah Sallon could not be
STEPS cient seeds uncovered in archeological more pleased. tute. Then, Sallon was given date seeds
“The best seeds I could find”
excavations in Israel.
These dates, recently picked at the
Sallon, a pediatric gastroenterologist
discovered during Yigael Yadin’s
at Hadassah University Medical Cen-
Arava Institute at Kibbutz Ketura in
famed digs on Masada in the mid-
How To Stay southern Israel, are a type that hasn’t ter in Jerusalem from 1983 to 2000, 1960s and kept in storage for more
been tasted since the times of Jesus and
than 40 years, plus
Up-To-Date the Maccabees. date seeds found at
“Dr. Elaine Solowey, our director
Qumran by Prof. Jo-
On Your of the Center for Sustainable Agricul- seph Patrich of the
ture, grew our first ancient date tree,
Institute of Archae-
Jewish Methuselah, in 2005,” explained Mir- ology at Hebrew
University.
iam May, CEO of Friends of the Arava
“Prof. Patrich let
Community Institute. me choose whatever A tour for the forever
“He came from a 2,000-year-old
I wanted. I chose the
seed found in excavations at Masa-
1 STEP ONE da; his growth was an unprecedented best seeds I could young at heart and mind
success that no one was expecting.
find, in extraordi-
Hourly However, because he is a male tree, he Dates growing on Hannah, a tree germinated from ancient seeds narily good condi-
tion,” says Sallon.
could not produce fruit.”
in Israel (photo by Marcos Schonholz)
Social Media: While we don’t always But then Solowey succeeded in founded the Louis L. Borick Natural “I gave some to Elaine and lo and
post hourly, we do post often. What do we
post? Time-sensitive news, alerts, items of germinating six more ancient seeds, Medicine Research Center at the hos- behold, up came Methuselah,” named
interest, and more. Follow us on Facebook, one from Masada and five from the pital in 1995. For the past 15 years, she for the oldest-living human in the Bi- By Matt Bernstein, CFP, JNF Chief Planned Giving Officer
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and more! caves of Qumran, home of the Dead has focused full time on how plants ble.
Find us by searching for “JFEDSRQ.” Sea Scrolls written between 150 BCE could be used as medicine. Methuselah, grown from a seed
2 STEP TWO and 70 CE. plants, how and where they grew, and radiocarbon-dated to the first century
“I was very interested in ancient
CE, was the oldest seed ever grown
One of the Qumran trees, Han-
nah, was pollinated by Methuselah and
into a living plant, and was the sub-
what is happening to them with climate
Daily JFEDSRQ.org grew dates that ripened at the begin- change, pollution and development,” ject of papers published in the journal
Whether you’re on your desk- Science in 2008 and 2009.
top, laptop or smartphone, the Six of the 32 additional seeds
Federation website, has everything above and chosen by Sallon sprouted under
below (and more) right at your fingertips. Keep Biography
our event calendars in your bookmarks bar for Solowey’s care. They were warmed
event information in a click. • Ambassador Ross is a fellow at The and hydrated slowly and gradually,
Washington Institute for Near East
fed a growth-promoting plant hor-
3 STEP THREE Policy. mone and an enzyme fertilizer. They
• He is also an esteemed professor at
Georgetown. grew into healthy date palms dubbed
Adam, Hannah, Judith, Jonah, Boaz
Bi-Weekly • For more than twelve years, and Uriel.
Federation Eblast: Ambassador Ross played a leading role Last February, a paper published
Receive timely Federation in shaping U.S. involvement in the
news, topics, and more, Middle East peace process. about the germination of the seeds in
in your email every Friday Science Advances, led to hundreds of
by subscribing to the bi-weekly • Ambassador Ross is the inquiries, says Sallon.
newsletter, the Federation eBlast. author of five books on the In early 2019, Adam, Jonah and
4 STEP FOUR and international relations. Hannah were moved out of their green-
peace process, the Middle East,
house to the Arava Institute’s Daniel
Fischel & Sylvia Neil Research &
Monthly FEDERATION NEWS L ’Shana Tova! Visitors’ Park.
FROM THE BOARD AND STAFF OF
The Jewish News: The Celebrating Years The Jewish A M B A S S A D O R D E N N I S R O S S Nature doesn’t give up
50
Celebrating Jewish Life in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, Israel and the World
P U B L I S H E D B Y
Federation
OF SARASOTA-MANATEE
publication that brings the 25 Jewish Happenings Staff Report programming for the 2020-21 season “It was so remarkable to bring these
THE LARRY & MARY GREENSPON
FAMILY CAMPUS FOR JEWISH LIFE
13 Community Focus
20 Jewish Interest
September 2020 - Elul 5780 / Tishrei 5781 www.jfedsrq.org Volume 50, Number 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Federation to offer all virtual
39 Commentary
43 Focus on Youth
he Jewish Federation of Sara-
Jewish community right to your Where your dollars go: 4 cases that continue to climb in Flori- would have to be in effect to feel ‹ ‹ event. All answers clearly showed
sota-Manatee has made the dif-
47 Life Cycle
38 Israel & the Jewish World Tficult decision that all programs
door event for the coming Fall-Winter
2020-21 season?
for the 2020-21 season will be virtual.
As you can see, an overwhelming
Chief Executive Officer Howard Tev-
majority would not feel comfortable
reluctance on the part of the com-
munity.
lowitz says, “In an effort to keep the
tell.
attending or thought it was too soon to
community safe, we feel we have no
lightening. Here are a few:
choice but to make this decision. The
important!”
Many of the comments were en-
health of our Federation family is too
Other questions included at
In addition to the Coronavirus
what capacity one would attend an
I will not be attending in the fore-
in-person event, what conditions
seeable future. Very glad you are
asking, but no, no and NO!!!
comfortable to attend an in-person
American Friends of
door every month with news, taken to a new level 12 answered by more than 550 re- event (i.e., masks, sanitizers, etc.) 4.0 % 9 .5 % sider, no indoor events should be November 5, 2020 trees back from the dead – they were
da, Tevlowitz points to the results of
With an older population to con-
our recent event survey, which clearly
Leket Israel
and when would you see yourself
showed the community is not ready to
attend in-person events for the foresee-
planned until there is a vaccine.
and films you’ve provided.
able future. “We have heard you loud
Appreciate the varied programs
ready to come out to an in-person
and clear,” says Tevlowitz.
The event survey sent out
continued on page 2
via email and social media, was
LEVEL OF COMFORT TO ATTEND INDOOR EVENTS
3 .2 %
SURVEY RESULTS
feedback about our current virtual
spondents. They were asked for 57 .2
Lechlechallah – Challah baking
.2 Percent Will avoid attending in-
programming and questioned about
%
events, and more. Get your FREE Temple Beth Sholom Catering: 16 time to let us know their thoughts. 26.1 26 soon to tell 3 attending indoor events .2 Percent Have no concern about really just sleeping,” says Sallon.
how comfortable one would feel at-
57door events for the foreseeable future
tending in-person events this com-
ing season. We are so grateful that
so many in our community took the
.0 Percent Would be nervous,
4 but may still attend indoor events
The pie chart at right shows the
answer to the main question: What is
your level of comfort attending an in-
%
9federal/state guidelines are strictly followed
.5 Percent Will attend so long as CDC/
.1 Percent Think that it is too
Keeping connected and
kosher with Shabbat meals
subscription today! reflect the views of, or serve as endorsement 46 gramming, including helping a number was overwhelming. The committee mittee focused its efforts on fulfilling 7:00 pm via Zoom “To see them grow several meters
Federation awards 2 nd phase of COVID-19
assistance to area Jewish organizations
n April of this year, The Jewish
Federation of Sarasota-Manatee
Ibegan raising funds to provide
By Kim Adler, Chief Operating Officer, and Stacey Gillman, Stronger Together Granting Chair
to provide virtual ser-
visual systems in order
COVID-19 relief to Jewish organiza-
vices and programs for
our community mem-
tions in our two-county area. As of
bers, many of whom are
and safe school year
this printing, our generous community
has contributed more than $330,000 to
The Gan plans an exciting
isolated and alone due to
our Stronger Together effort, including
the pandemic.
PAID POLITICAL
a $100,000 matching grant from our
board-restricted fund.
In July, the Stron-
ger Together Granting
ADVERTISEMENT
uted close to $70,000 of those dollars
DISCLAIMER
Committee met to re-
5 STEP FIVE Annual voluntary subscription: $25 NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE MANASOTA FL PERMIT 167 PAID fall. After much deliberation, the com- See our ad on page 3A for $157,660 in grants for the follow- T h r e i s no charge e f o r i n t i h a d e a v c e n e , o b n t h a l l T p B r t i we a s t n i t e s a r t e high and have babies was a ray of light
Readers may recall that we distrib-
This issue of The Jewish News contains a paid
view applications for the second phase
to eight Jewish organizations and syna-
of the granting process. The response
gogues in early June to support Food
political advertisement. The ad does not
by, the staff or leadership of The Jewish
Security and Health/Wellness pro-
Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.
those grants that address Food Secu-
of synagogues make much-needed up-
received requests totaling more than
was available to distribute, which was
concerning as the plan was to make a
grades to their technology and audio-
for this phase. The committee recom-
rity and Health/Wellness programming
mended and received Board approval
A publication of The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee
third phase of grants available in early
The Larry & Mary Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life
ing programs:
Klingenstein Jewish Center, 580 McIntosh Rd., Sarasota, FL 34232
continued on page 2
BUY • SELL • CONSIGN • REPAIR
u
a
s
e
a
p
t
t
c
i
required
at a time like this when people are wor-
1484 Main Street | Sarasota FL 34236 | 941.312.5566 | www.zemil.net

e
S
s
i
g

o
t
e
r
b
n
r
v
t
ried and depressed. It is a sign of the
e

h
t
n
l
/
e
a
o

h
s
n
r
h
Yearly www. t e mp e v b mb o r 3 l o mf l : . 0 r g p e v e . t n p s o c e l i a t l e mi t a e . d T u s d y , remarkable resiliency of nature in the
b
e
No
y
m
a
0
i

t
4
s
e
S

ShalomSRQ: Your resource face of this terrible destruction of spe-
guide to everything Jewish in The Middle East is in a constant state of change. cies. Nature will not give up without a
Sarasota-Manatee. Keep it on Just two days after the U.S. presidential election, struggle. That’s a motif for our times.”
hand to quickly find Jewish
goods, services and organizations. Ambassador Ross will analyze current events in And how do Hannah’s dates taste?
Request to be on the mailing list! the Middle East and will discuss what to expect “Lovely,” says Sallon. “I find Med-
from the next U.S. Administration. joul dates too sticky sweet. Hannah’s
Find and Subscribe at are blander and drier, with a honey af-
JFEDSRQ.org/Media-Channels This event is co-sponsored by: tertaste that makes me think of the land
of milk and honey.”
Deborah & Lawrence Haspel The date experts at Kibbutz
Keturah say they taste like the Zahi-
info@templebethsholomfl.org | 941.955.8121 di species of Iraqi dates. That makes
www.templebethsholomfl.org/events
sense, as Hannah is genetically related
continued on next page