H'ar Odem
I stopped in a little liquor store in Ra’anana, while Susan and Franny were shopping, and asked the owner what winery I should visit in the Golan. He said all the wineries were good to visit. “No,” I told him. “If you could go to a single winery, if you had the ability to pick a single winery to visit, which one would you go to?” He suggested H’ar Odem.
A couple days later we were traveling through the north, and after stopping at Tel Dan, to see the mighty Dan River, where one of Israel’s precious water supplies flows with the force of Allens Creek, and then the Banias waterfall, we drove up into the Golan. I had told our driver Ya’akov, the same one who had pointed out the Scotch Hotel in Tiberias, that we’d like to visit a Golan winery. He brought a web page with him, listing perhaps eight or ten wineries, and as I glanced at the page, I made out the name in Hebrew -- H’ar Odem. The road map told us that the winery was only a few miles from where we were, right along our anticipated route. So after only a few minutes we arrived at the H’ar Odem winery, just outside the Druze village of Buqata.
After we entered, and the young owner introduced himself, Susan proudly told him we were from the Finger Lakes area, where there are lots of wineries. I told Susan that he doesn’t care about the Finger Lakes; let’s check out the wines. But to my amazement, not only did the owner know about the Finger Lakes, but his Cabernet had won a gold medal in April 2007, at some Finger Lakes wine competition. Properly chastised, I learned that the guy even had an uncle in the Rochester area, although he had never traveled here personally. We ended up buying several bottles that we gave to Fran and Gidon and their kids. On Shabbat we drank the medal winning cabernet, along with a nice oakey chardonnay, and a sweet cherry wine for dessert. I can’t explain how happy I was to have found this tiny winery, and its wonderful wines, high in the Golan, after having been told it was the one place we should visit if we had the chance.
Later that day, we visited 077, the site of a momentous tank battle in the Yom Kippur war. Facing incredible odds, a small number of Israeli tanks turned back a force of 600 Syrian tanks, preventing the Syrians from advancing down into the Kinneret, while inflicting devastating losses on the Syrians. 077 is a memorial site for the Israelis who perished in that battle, and is named for the victorious Israeli tank battalion. From that site you can look down into Syria, past the town of Kuneitra, and toward Damascus, only 60 kilometers away.
From 077 it’s easy to identify the border, not because of the fence, nor because of any battlements or barriers. In fact, the border with Syria has been Israel’s quietest border in the years since 1973. The border is distinct because on the Israeli side, the land is green; all through the Golan, the land is cultivated. Crops, orchards, vineyards. As we drove from H’ar Odem to 077, I often noticed the H’ar Odem sign in many of the vineyards, probably indicating what kind of grape was being grown in each place. In contrast, across the border in Syria, the land is brown and arid. That’s true all along the northern border. Even when the land isn’t under cultivation, on the Israeli side the hills are green; trees have been planted. Across the border, an occasional grove of olive trees, otherwise, barren ground.
Everyone talks about how the Israelis will have to give the Golan back to the Syrians, even many Israelis seem to concede this. But as I stood at 077, and looked down into Syria, I didn’t see how this was imaginable. From a strategic perspective, the area is simply too important. And from a practical perspective, in contrast to the years between 48 and 67, when the Syrians regularly shelled the villages and Kibbutzim in the Galilee, the area has been quiet and peaceful for the past forty years. Since the war stopped, the Israelis have left the Syrians to live in peace, although Kuneitra is easily in range of Israeli fortifications on the hilltops. But I guess it’s too much of an affront to Syrian pride to look up into the Golan and see all that greenery -- the fields full of crops, the vines heavy with grapes, the wineries, the forests. Better to return this land to Syria, so that it can revert to its natural state, arid and unproductive. I don’t think so.
A couple days later we were traveling through the north, and after stopping at Tel Dan, to see the mighty Dan River, where one of Israel’s precious water supplies flows with the force of Allens Creek, and then the Banias waterfall, we drove up into the Golan. I had told our driver Ya’akov, the same one who had pointed out the Scotch Hotel in Tiberias, that we’d like to visit a Golan winery. He brought a web page with him, listing perhaps eight or ten wineries, and as I glanced at the page, I made out the name in Hebrew -- H’ar Odem. The road map told us that the winery was only a few miles from where we were, right along our anticipated route. So after only a few minutes we arrived at the H’ar Odem winery, just outside the Druze village of Buqata.
After we entered, and the young owner introduced himself, Susan proudly told him we were from the Finger Lakes area, where there are lots of wineries. I told Susan that he doesn’t care about the Finger Lakes; let’s check out the wines. But to my amazement, not only did the owner know about the Finger Lakes, but his Cabernet had won a gold medal in April 2007, at some Finger Lakes wine competition. Properly chastised, I learned that the guy even had an uncle in the Rochester area, although he had never traveled here personally. We ended up buying several bottles that we gave to Fran and Gidon and their kids. On Shabbat we drank the medal winning cabernet, along with a nice oakey chardonnay, and a sweet cherry wine for dessert. I can’t explain how happy I was to have found this tiny winery, and its wonderful wines, high in the Golan, after having been told it was the one place we should visit if we had the chance.
Later that day, we visited 077, the site of a momentous tank battle in the Yom Kippur war. Facing incredible odds, a small number of Israeli tanks turned back a force of 600 Syrian tanks, preventing the Syrians from advancing down into the Kinneret, while inflicting devastating losses on the Syrians. 077 is a memorial site for the Israelis who perished in that battle, and is named for the victorious Israeli tank battalion. From that site you can look down into Syria, past the town of Kuneitra, and toward Damascus, only 60 kilometers away.
From 077 it’s easy to identify the border, not because of the fence, nor because of any battlements or barriers. In fact, the border with Syria has been Israel’s quietest border in the years since 1973. The border is distinct because on the Israeli side, the land is green; all through the Golan, the land is cultivated. Crops, orchards, vineyards. As we drove from H’ar Odem to 077, I often noticed the H’ar Odem sign in many of the vineyards, probably indicating what kind of grape was being grown in each place. In contrast, across the border in Syria, the land is brown and arid. That’s true all along the northern border. Even when the land isn’t under cultivation, on the Israeli side the hills are green; trees have been planted. Across the border, an occasional grove of olive trees, otherwise, barren ground.
Everyone talks about how the Israelis will have to give the Golan back to the Syrians, even many Israelis seem to concede this. But as I stood at 077, and looked down into Syria, I didn’t see how this was imaginable. From a strategic perspective, the area is simply too important. And from a practical perspective, in contrast to the years between 48 and 67, when the Syrians regularly shelled the villages and Kibbutzim in the Galilee, the area has been quiet and peaceful for the past forty years. Since the war stopped, the Israelis have left the Syrians to live in peace, although Kuneitra is easily in range of Israeli fortifications on the hilltops. But I guess it’s too much of an affront to Syrian pride to look up into the Golan and see all that greenery -- the fields full of crops, the vines heavy with grapes, the wineries, the forests. Better to return this land to Syria, so that it can revert to its natural state, arid and unproductive. I don’t think so.
posted by pops | 7:47 AM
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