Olives in Israel

The olive is a sub tropical plant. It has 35 kinds. The people began to make olives 4000 years ago (AD).

It needs up to 300 millimeter of rain in a year, low temperatures in the winter, and medium heat in the summer.

The tree can stay hundreds of years, and it can renovate itself from its roots. The tree starts to yield after 15 years, and the fruit picking season is in the fall, between October to December. In the old days the olives functioned for the economy.

Its fruits are eaten, and people produce oil from them. The part that stayed after the oil production is used in frying and in preparation of soap. The tree goes to carving of furniture.

The olive has great importance, especially in ancient time.

According to the sources, the olive is one of the "Shivat Haminim" (the 7 kinds).

The olive is used for light. One of the first precepts is to take pure olive oil and make light.

The olive is calculated as a nutritious food. It is used for medicine too.

It has importance to our country because of the trade too. We import olives to other countries.

In "Mashal Yotam" (Yotam's Fable), the olive tree is the first tree that was called.

The olive oil is very important too. In the bible days, when the prophets ruled the king, they ruled him with the olive oil.

To get this oil, there are some ways: drying the olives, for diminution of the water in it, and then, the olives are moved to a special repairer, for the making of the oil.

An old way to make the oil is when the women take a big and heavy stone, and roll it on the olives.  Later, the methods resumed, and new method was invented: a big screw that operates pressure on the olives and the oil's quantity that is received is greater.

There are a lot of places that called in the name of the olives, like:

"Ein - Zeitim", "Beit - Zait", "Kfar – Zeitim", "Neve – Zait", "Ben – Shemen", "Tel – Zait", "Zita", and "Har – Hazeitim" ( the olives mountain).   

Bibliography:

http://lib.cet.ac.il/Pages/item.asp?item=925

 http://www.olive.iwebland.com

http://www.ronkal.net/cgi-bin/noga.pl?action=view&art=5