“A leafy olive tree, fair with beautiful fruit: thus God has called your name”
Jeremiah (11:16)
זַיִת רַעֲנָן יְפֵה פְרִי תֹאַר קָרָא יְ-הוָה שְׁמֵך
ירמיהו יא: טז
ZA-yeet ra-ah-NAHN ya-FE toe-AHR ka-RA ah-doe-NIE sheem-KHA
Israel’s Seven Species: Olives
The first time the Olive appears in the Bible is after the flood when Noah checked to see if the water had receded. When the dove returned with an Olive branch in her mouth, Noah knew that the water has receded sufficiently and life had begun anew. Genesis (8:11, 21). Pure Olive oil was the fuel source for the lighting of the golden Menorah in the Temple and was also used to anoint priests and kings as part of their initiation. One lesson we can take from Olives is that just like an Olive only yields oil when pressed, so too, when we are pressed between the millstones of life, our best selves often emerge when we rise to the occasion to meet life’s challenges.
