Hanukka is a time of year when we enjoy many delights, including culinary pleasures. Therefore, this is the perfect time to attend the second annual Banana Festival, which will take place on Hanukka in the Jordan Valley and around the Kinneret. There will be a farmers' market at Kibbutz Deganya Alef, a Poike King contest for teens, workshops, gourmet food (including a variety of banana dishes) for sale, heritage tours, a Kick the Banana contest with famous soccer players, and a runners' group that will make its way through the banana fields. The festival will continue through December 31. Here are some of the highlights. Menahemya There's a charming guest house in Menahemya called Beinot Tmarim. Among the fruit trees and gorgeous views, siblings Doron and Noam Friedman split their time between agricultural and tourist ventures. Beinot Tmarim offers a heated swimming pool, and Doron leads a 90-minute tour in electric cars throughout the Jordan Valley and old Menahemya, the first Jewish village in the region. The first stop is the doctor's house, an ancient structure that currently functions as a museum. A pharmacist who worked there would offer medical services to local residents. Another famous structure is the old school, which in its heyday served 100 pupils from first to eighth grades. Next, the tour passes through the Lavi Forest, and Doron takes advantage of this time to tell the adults and children anecdotes about how people used to live in the area. During the 10-km. trip, Doron offers participants dates and herbal tea, and talks about what it's like to be a farmer. He has seven cars that can hold up to 35 people. During the festival, tours cost NIS 250 per car (up to six people) for the first car and NIS 200 for each additional car of four people. Tel: Doron: 052-297-5053; Noam: 052-449-5197. Valley Railway If you're interested in hearing about how the Jordan Valley was settled, there will be guided tours (for only NIS 15) led by students who are majoring in Land of Israel Studies at the Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee. Tours begin at the old Tzemah railway station on Road 92, which has undergone renovation and been nicely preserved. It was originally constructed in 1905 by Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid, who dreamed of building a railway from Damascus to the Holy Land and then on to Mecca, which would grant him religious and economic control over Muslim believers. Abdul Hamid never actually realized his dream of reaching Mecca, however, since he ran out of money. The station did serve as an important strategic location that was used for many years for shipping bananas to neighboring countries. In collaboration with the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites, the newly renovated station has a room that is used for seminars. There's also a large basement and on the outside wall you can see a hole where a shell hit it and exploded. Next to the building, there are train tracks with an inscription engraved in the metal wishing the sultan great success. Nearby there is a water tower that was built in 1903 with a visitors' center where tourists can watch a five-minute film about the station. During the Banana Festival, there will be guided tours. Pre-registration required: (04) 665-3728. Naharayim If you'd like to connect with the period of the pioneers who settled the land, you can take a ride in a carriage driven by Yisrael Barkai. Barkai and his horse, Lupio, will be more than happy to take you on a journey around the roads that wind through the valley. The celebrity animal made his way to Israel in 2005 when Amit Weisberg took a trip with his wife and daughter to the French Alps from which they set out on a journey in the Peace Carriage that ended in Jerusalem. At first, Lupio lived in Kibbutz Nir David, but soon after Barkai bought him and brought him to Kibbutz Ashdot Ya'acov, where they lead eclectic joint tours until this very day. There are three options for tours. The first one is a 30-minute ride around the kibbutz. A second is a 90-minute trip during which guests also get to blow up balloons near Mount Gilad, ride a horse, and go down towards the Naharayim hydraulic power station, cross the border and catch a glimpse of Jordanian soldiers. As you pass by the date and banana groves, Barkai talks about what it's like to work the land and what it was like for the pioneers to work in agriculture. The third option is a 2½-hour trip around the region that passes by the Red House and the statue garden, which functioned as a reconnaissance spot overlooking the border with Jordan. Prices: Short tour: children: NIS 45; adults: NIS 55. Medium tour: children: NIS 55; adults: NIS 70. Long tour: children: NIS 60; adults: NIS 80. During the Banana Festival, a special 29-minute tour will cost NIS 30 per person. Cemetery You may think it's a bit macabre to visit a cemetery, but you'll soon realize that this is far from the reality when Amiram Edelman is leading your tour. Our visit to the Kinneret Cemetery was funny, sad and filled with interesting historical anecdotes and bits of gossip about the famous people who are buried there. Originally, the cemetery belonged to the socialist movement, and veteran kibbutz members and community leaders are buried there, including Berl Katznelson, Moshe Hess and Ben-Zion Yisraeli. Two of Israel's most important poets, who had a great impact on Israeli culture, are also buried here: Rahel the Poetess and Naomi Shemer. Edelman focuses on these two great women during the tour. Edelman, who was lucky enough to have been a pupil of Shemer, tells about her unique personality and how she touched his life. Shemer was born in 1930 and grew up on Kibbutz Kinneret. At the age of six, she already showed signs of being a gifted musician. In 1948, during the War of Independence, she requested permission from the kibbutz to leave to study music. The members held a meeting during which they formally agreed to her request. When she graduated, she enlisted in the IDF music troupe, where she met her husband and then returned with him to the kibbutz. She worked as a music teacher for many years at Kinneret. She composed most of her famous songs later when she was living in Tel Aviv, as she yearned to return to the kibbutz. Rahel the Poetess, on the other hand, was not born on kibbutz, but was greatly impacted by it later in life. She was born in Russia to non-Zionist parents. After her mother died and she did not get along with her new stepmother, she and her sister set off across the Black Sea to Italy. The boat stopped en route at Jaffa Port, at which point Rahel and her sister decided to stay in Palestine. She settled at Kibbutz Kinneret, where she studied and worked in a women's agricultural school and continued writing poetry. She decided to travel to Toulouse to study agronomy and drawing, but was sick with tuberculosis by the time she returned, which had no cure at the time. After being rejected from the kibbutz due to her contagious disease, she rented a room in Tel Aviv where she wrote poems about Kinneret. Like Shemer, Rahel returned to the Kinneret only after her death. The two artists are buried near each other and thousands of people visit their graves every year. Price of 90-minute tour: NIS 300 to 350 per group (between 10 and 30 people). NIS 250 for a couple. Details: Nurit: 050-727-9234, 050-727-931 When your stomach begins to rumble, I suggest making your way to Tzel Hatamar, an eclectic restaurant that opened in 1999 and is run by Lior Avirana and Danny Ze'evi. With seating for 250 people, which usually fills to capacity on weekends (open Shabbat, not kosher) you will find an assortment of seafood, meat and dairy dishes. During the Banana Festival, they've promised to offer an incredible banana crème brûlée and other fruity surprises. If you're planning to eat there during the festival, I recommend making a reservation in advance. Translated by Hannah Hochner.
Yisrael Barkai and his horse, Lupio, will be happy to show you around the Naharayim area(photo credit: MEITAL SHARABI)