Carob silliness :)

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ABC Wednesday, and C is for CAROB!

I finally found one single carob tree during my evening desert roamings and it was such a nice surprise!

The tree is also know as St. John's bread.
A translation error had John the Baptist eating locusts, but more likely the word in the Bible meant carobs. I hope so!
I gathered some fallen carobs from the ground, brought them home in my pocket, washed them, and ate the pod.
They taste good, some say like chocolate!

The advantage to walking solo in the desert just outside my town is that you can get silly and take silly selfies.
You can even sing and there is no one there to hear you.

To see how to eat, drink, and understand carobs please see my three earlier posts.
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Carob tree full of fruit

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Have you ever eaten from the carob tree?

It is fun to chew the chewy carob pod, avoiding its big seeds.

Some say it is almost like chocolate.
And even better, it's free!  
The trees grow wild in Israel.
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See more in my earlier posts:
A cold carob drink
and
From carobs to teshuva, repentance
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From carobs to teshuva, repentance

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Please click on the photos to get the big picture.

The new moon set last night, ushering in Rosh Chodesh Elul.
 (To understand how the Hebrew lunar calendar works, please see my post New moon, new month.)

Elul is the month for intense spiritual preparation for the coming year and the High Holy Days (Rosh HaShana, New Year Day, falling on September 30 this year).
 Today Sephardi Jews (like in my village) already began their daily pre-dawn shofar-sounding and penitential prayers, Slichot, in the synagogue that will go on for the next forty days.
 It's all about confession, repentance, and both seeking and granting forgiveness.

I passed an old boxer tree near the spring, many of its carob pods already on the ground.
 And today "by chance" I came across this appropriate midrash in the wonderful book, Food at the Time of the Bible:

"A little known translation of Isaiah 1:19-20 brings us from carob as poor people's fare to carob as a symbol of privation.
The usual translation reads 'If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel you will be devoured by the sword.'
A more accurate reading of the verse results in the translation 'you will devour the carob.'
The words for 'sword' and 'carob' are almost identical in Hebrew, perhaps because of the scimitar-shape of the carob's seedpod.
The association between the carob and privation is also noted in an ancient Midrash, or homily, written in the wake of the Temple's destruction and the period of ensuing want in the land. 'A Jew has to suffer anguish and privation to the point of a menu exclusively of carobs, and only then does he accept the rule of God and repent...'"
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To your health

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Wajdi, a very talented excavator at our dig, brought us this frozen bag of . . . of what??
In the heat it quickly melted and we were treated to glasses of CAROB juice.
My first time to drink carobs! A distinctive, special taste for sure.
Apparently the carob drink is traditional during the month of Ramadan which starts next week.

Today I took home some carob pods that had fallen from the tree on my street.
They are fun to play with as a rattle and fun to eat too.
You chew on the pod and discard the seeds.
Some use carob as a chocolate substitute. 

Last April the pods were pale green and soft.


The charuv (Hebrew name) or charub (in Arabic) tree is also know as Saint John's bread.

John the Baptist lived in caves right here in the Jerusalem Hills and was sustained by carobs, Christian tradition says.
The Talmud has a similar and amazing story about Shimon bar Yochai and his son which can be found here, at the second paragraph under Shabbat 33b.

Israeli bloggers Martha and ModraY have fascinating facts about the carob at their lovely blog "Flowers in Israel," if you still have strength to read more.
 By now you may be needing a sip of carob juice!
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