While I'm waiting for the new house to be sorted out I've returned to the volunteer housing in Talmei Yosef so I can start working for a farmer named Ben in Moshav Yevul.
Ben has a few dozen dunams of citrus fruits and avocados. He is a father of three and a grandfather of I'm-not-sure-how many. He speaks with admiration about the agricultural work of the religious communities to the South in Nave, Shlomit and Bnei Netzarim, and with scorn about Democrats.
Yesterday was my first day with him. He picked me up from Talmei Yosef and we drove to the warehouse behind his home. We sorted equipment and cleaned up a bit before driving to one of his orchards. We had help for a few hours that day; I managed to instruct a group from a Mechina on how to pick clementines. We'll have another group each day for the rest of the week, but normally Ben is by himself, maybe with a grandson or son-in-law.
In between tasks, Ben and I exchange biographical details, and he teaches me a few things about his business.
Before the war he had one employee, a Palestinian from Rafah. Ben doesn't tell me his name, but he says he employed him for years and thought they were good friends.
Ben is on his phone about a third of the time, talking to his neighbors to borrow and loan equipment, managing expectations with the wholesalers who buy his fruit, and confirming schedules with the person in charge of the Mechina group. He still works while he's on the phone, driving a tractor with the phone tucked in his shoulder.
Ben’s granddaughter is ill. His fruit weren't cared for during the beginning of the war, and are misshapen and discolored (though still delicious). His daughters and their families moved back into their homes in Yevul only last week. He is mourning an old friend he may never see or hear from again. And he is old. It hurts him to sit, so he stands until it hurts to stand, and then he sits again.
Maybe Ben doesn't have a choice, but he already trusts me to a remarkable degree. I don't feel like I've earned it yet, but I will soon.
אתה מלאך אמיתי עידן ♥️