Page 24 - Issue 23

Mata’im (Orchards)

By Marina Levy

I write this looking out at the Kinneret from Kibbutz Ravid.
Exactly one year ago, what feels like yesterday in a parallel
universe, I boarded a flight from New York City home to
Portland. Like it did for
everyone, COVID-19 turned my
life upside down. I was lucky not
to be touched by direct or
familial tragedy or loss, but I
found myself reevaluating the
role I wanted my career,
community, nature, and the
movement to play in my life. I
finished my thesis and
graduated university on Zoom. I
ran Machaneh Miriam out of
Vancouver Talmud Torah Jewish
Day School in Vancouver. And
My view as I write this when the opportunity arose for
me to come to Israel with my
kvutsah, Garin Tzur, and work
on the Mata’im on Ravid for the year, I decided to take it.
Contrary to what I had expected or planned, in November I
got on a flight to Israel.
Here, like always in life I think, it’s easy to relate to the world
on a small scale. Today we laid a new irrigation pipe or
harvested clementines. Tomorrow we’ll trim avocado trees
or weed-whack in preparation for planting a new area of
trees. But there’s also something about being outside with
the trees day after day, that makes me feel connected to
something bigger. I notice the gentle move into spring, the