Fall in Israel: Ending and Beginning

Does Israel have a fall? If we're thinking of forests of red and gold, and nature winding down to a quiet dormancy-not really.

Fall in Israel is much more complex. There is an ending, a closing, as we bring in the last of the year's harvest-the grapes, figs, pomegranates, and dates that ripened during the summer. Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, which comes in September or October,  is the "Holiday of the Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the results of your work from the field" (Exodus 23:16).

But at the same time, there is a joyful and much-awaited renewal that comes with the first rains in at least half a year. These first drops bring the parched earth to life, and the first wildflowers begin sprouting. We plow the fields and sow the wheat, praying that the rains will co