September 3rd-5th 2018 – On seeds, dreams and time

Over the week of Rosh Hashanah:

♦ No Monday deliveries (for some of you, we will unfortunately be unable to deliver your vegetable box that week at all). Monday deliveries to Modi’in, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Bikat Ono, Rehovot, Nes Ziona, Rishon L’Zion, Mazkeret Batya, Beit Shemesh area, Kfar Bin Nun and some of the Tel Aviv neighborhoods will be transferred to Thursday, September 13th. A message will be sent to all of you on the Monday line who will be receiving on Thursday.

♦ All Wednesday deliveries will take place Thursday, September 13th.

Over the week of Yom Kippur: ♦ Monday deliveries as usual (Sep 17th). ♦ Wednesday deliveries will be moved to Thursday, September 20th

During Chol HaMoed Sukkot: There will be no deliveries, thus no boxes on Monday and Wednesday, September 24th and 26th.

Over the week of Simchat Torah: ♦ Monday deliveries move to Tuesday, October 2 ♦ Wednesday (October 3) deliveries as usual.

Back to normal schedule after Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

If you wish to increase your vegetable boxes before the holidays, please advise as soon as possible.

Open Day at Chubeza In keeping with our twice-yearly tradition, we invite you for a Chol HaMoed “pilgrimage” to Chubeza to celebrate our Open Day. The Sukkot Open Day will take place on Thursday, September 27, the 18th of Tishrei (third day of Chol HaMoed) from 12:00 noon – 5:00 PM. The Open Day gives us a chance to meet, tour the field, and nibble on vegetables and other delicacies. Children have their own tailor-made tours designed for little feet and curious minds, plus special activities and a vast space to run around and loosen up. (So can the adults…) Driving instructions are on our website under “Contact Us.” Please make sure you check this before heading our way. Wishing you a Chag Sameach and Shana Tova. We look forward to seeing you all!

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Dora, a longtime Chubeza client and professional vegan cook, invites you to attend a pre-holiday cooking course. Ideal for all of us who are busy searching for recipes and tips to enhance our holiday menus! With that in mind, we’ve prepared a new mini-course to teach you healthy, professional cooking. The course will help you make your dishes healthier and tastier, provide practical tools to improve the aesthetics and quality of food, adhering to professional rules of cooking and health. Throughout the course, ongoing support is provided via whatsapp from Chef Rosa Azran and Dora Levy who specialize in teaching how to lead a healthy lifestyle with delectable menus.

To join (at no cost!), click here

____________________________________ A message from the Ish Shel Lechem Bakery: There will be no bread-baking on Monday, September 17 and Thursday, September 20th. Those who wish to increase their order of baked goods, please inform us or do it yourselves via the order system. Shana Tova and happy holidays!

__________________________________________ In honor of the new schoolyear and Hebrew year, I turn the podium over to a woman who has intertwined her life with the seasons of the year and calendar for some years now: the wonderful and talented Ilana, creator of the Shana BaGina calendar.

On Seeds and Dreams – Ilana Stein

We all started out as seeds. I, too, was a mere seedling; all my dreams, my body and emotions were a mere potential, a tiny seed.

The seeds of a plant cradle infinite opportunities which will ripen in due time, rousing the seed to awaken, shoot out roots, sprout a tiny stem, and upon releasing its first leaves (cotyledons), to embark upon the empowering photosynthesis process and set out on a bold, independent path.

~ ~ ~ The story of the Shana BaGina calendar began with the seed of an idea: Nine years ago at the end of my pregnancy, I prepared an illustrated calendar as a holiday gift. I made a limited amount of printouts and distributed them to friends and close relatives for Rosh Hashanah.

Then came requests from friends of friends, so that one year later I printed a second and third edition (one of which was a collaboration with talented friends) and made 100 copies! But then I had to deal with marketing, customer service and other bureaucratic issues which gave me cold feet.

Meanwhile, other seeds were developing. We planted a vegetable garden in an empty lot behind our home that ultimately provided greens for some 20 families in the neighborhood. They grew parallel to our children, as we started noticing the wild plants growing adjacent to our vegetable garden. Our small catering business then took on a gathering vegan twist. As we became busy with marketing, other burdens and dreams, the calendar idea evaporated away. But in truth, the seed was merely taking a rest in the dark, its potential relaxing within, waiting for a sign to awaken. Just like other seeds which only sprout under suitable conditions, this seed, too, was merely waiting for its opportunity to soar.

At this groggy stage, the spirit kept working, and my mind added seasonal recipes and monthly information to the Calendar illustrations: seeding, planting and harvesting schedules, monthly tips and more. Dreams came and went, seeds were planted and fruits harvested. We migrated overseas and returned, we moved from the Moshav to the village, scenery and faces changed, until one night, three years ago, I was sitting in the Ein Karmi studio with two intelligent friends for a rendezvous that transformed the dream into words. Today I can say that I can actually feel those words sprinkling gently over the tiny seed, being absorbed within it, seeing the seed expand and its shell cracking. Processes which had been slow and internal now began accelerating. The seed had sprouted! My gifted friend Nechama identified the tiny sprout and gave it a name: the Shana BaGina calendar (A Year in the Garden). The next day, we received a price quote to print 100 calendars via a digital ecological method, and two weeks later we set up a Headstart Fundraiser with a picture of one page, September 5776.

Like every sprout, this one too needed the right conditions and support, which to my great joy were achieved. My sweet family cleared the home to allow my work, my talented sister Eliraz created a perfect video (I still get teary-eyed when I watch it) and hundreds supported the project to make the dream come true. A month later, the calendar was printed. The sprout grew into a plant.

A year passed, then two, now three. The plant became a young tree, the earth is fertile, generating poignant collaboration, new gardens, and even its own fruit, which harbor a seed in each and every one.

_______________________________________ A word from Bat Ami: Every year I smile when I receive Ilana’s queries in preparation for the new calendar. A few months later, I am excited anew when I see the new calendar and discover that once again Ilana succeeded in creating an interesting, innovative and charming design, integrating helpful tips alongside the days of the year. Plus, there’s information, ideas and thoughts with intricately accurate illustrations that warm your heart, as pleasing and refreshing as raindrops on green leaves:

Make your orders today for the brand new calendar via our Order System under “Chubeza Vegetables and Fruits.”

Wishing you and yours a Shana Tova, a year of health and happiness, growth and breadth, dreaming and conceptualizing, and plenty of time to enjoy them all.

A Wish/Ariana Haran Be good to us And grant us a great deal of time Time to see every one individually And love him perhaps, Time to gaze at the ceiling And wonder what the angels think about Time for many beautiful things That are worth living for, Time for ample nonsense Which brings about wisdom Time to look into eyes And memorize their color And a great deal of time To think about all of these as one.

(From Hebrew: Aliza Raz)

Shana Tova! From all of us at Chubeza: Alon, Bat Ami, Yochai, Aliza and Melanie, Mohammed, Majdi, Ali, Vinay, Thom, Hoth, Montri, Asaf, Eyal, Alon, Melissa, Ruthie, David, Alon, Aharon, Yigal and Amit.

____________________________ WHAT’S IN OUR NEW YEAR’S BOXES?

As is our Rosh Hashanah custom, we try to include as many “brachot” as possible for your holiday table. Wishing you all a joyous chag!

Monday: New Zealand spinach/Swiss chard, corn, pomegranates, cucumbers, tomatoes, slice of pumpkin/butternut squash, Thai yard-long beans/okra, potatoes/sweet potatoes, parsley/coriander, bell peppers. Small boxes only: Leeks/garlic

Large box, in addition: Onions, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, lettuce.

FRUIT BOXES: Mango, bananas, pears, apples.

Wednesday: New Zealand spinach/Swiss chard, corn, pomegranates, cucumbers, tomatoes, slice of pumpkin/butternut squash, Thai yard-long beans, okra/sweet potatoes, parsley/coriander, bell peppers, leeks/garlic

Large box, in addition: Onions/eggplant, potatoes,  lettuce.

FRUIT BOXES: Mango, bananas, pears, apples.

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