Israel and India: A Shared Cuisine

When one thinks of Israel's and India's cuisine, similarities between the two are not necessarily the first thing that come to mind. The reality, however, is that there is an impressive shared culinary history between the two regions and more commonalities and overlap between the two cuisines than one might think.

The Incense and Spice Route

Israel's and India's shared food history goes back at least to the famed incense and spice routes dating back to the beginning of the first millennium C.E. Spices, grown and processed in India were sent over various routes on their way to their main market in Europe. One of the most popular routes was through the Arabian peninsula and the Nabataean empire that extended into what is now Israel on its way to the ancient Gaza port where they were shipped by boat to Europe. Today only the ruins of cities such as Petra, Avdat, Shivta and Mamshit (amongst others) bear testament to the once impressive trade that provided much of the western world with the spices for their food.

More than history, there is shared food between the two countries. Sabich, considered to be one of the most "Israeli" foods, owes part of its origin to India. Sabich is a dish considered by most of Iraqi origin, consisting of fried eggplant, hardboiled egg and various vegetables in a pita bread. Sabich cannot be complete without its signature amba sauce. Amba, a spicy mango sauce, is of Indian origin and was introduced to Iraqis and Iraqi Jews via India. Hummus/Chickpea/Garbanzo is a staple of both Israel and India and there is no shortage of dishes with this ingredient in the two countries.

 Sabich (www.herbavacious.com)

Finally, since the creation of the state of Israel there have been thousands of Jewish-Indian immigrants contributing their culinary cultures to the foods that comprise Israeli cuisine. There are dozens of wonderful Israeli restaurants everywhere there are Indian communities from Shaked in the North to Tel Aviv and Ramle in the central region and Moshav Nevatim in the Negev.

LeadEarth

Israel and India: A Shared Cuisine

Israel and Oil Spills?

As the world watches the disaster that is taking place in the Gulf of Mexico, there are a few events happening closer to Israel that are worth taking note of.

In the last week its been reported that there has been an oil spill in the Egyptian Red Sea that was not as contained as the Egyptian authorities initially claimed. While the spill does now appear to have been stopped, the Egyptian government has most likely not been entirely honest about the amount of oil spilled in the pristine coral reefs and marine areas of the Red Sea. With such close proximity to Israel this is an issue that should be of more concern to Israelis.

In recent years Israel has found enormous gas deposits in its northern waters. While a potential economic boon to the economy, I would hope that the Gulf and Red Sea spills would serve as a warning to the government about the potential ecological disasters that can happen. There needs to be strong safety regulations in place so that we don't have to read similar headlines in Israeli papers to those all over the US for the past few months since the Gulf spill began.

LeadEarth

Israel and Oil Spills?

The World Cup and Development

The World Cup is in full swing right now and as the world turns to South Africa to see the best football players in the world there is another, non-sports related, side to the global spectacle. South Africa has invested billions of dollars to prepare the country to host the event, and there are many long term benefits and potential drawbacks to this investment.

In Cape Town alone one stadium cost US 600 million dollars to build to international standards. Infrastructure projects have can have a positive impact on a country, but with the World Cup most of the money goes towards sports stadiums that have little impact on the country's economy after the event. Beyond that, in a country as poor as South Africa it can be easily argued that there is a better use of the money in a myriad of different projects.

The Olympics, not only the World Cup, has its detractors. Brazil will host the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. One third of Brazilians live on just more than a dollar a day and to think of the billions that will be invested can lead to a lot of second guessing as to how wise the money is being invested.

On the other side of the coin, there are many infrastructure projects that are performed that do have lasting impacts. Roads and transportation are built and improved. Energy projects are beefed up, and millions of money is poured into cities to clean them up. All of these things can improve the lives of the citizens in the long term. It is also difficult to measure the impact that the pride of hosting the World Cup has on a population.

The World Cup is no doubt an incredible event and the South Africans have put on a great show so far. These events are important for a country, but maybe there needs to be planning done to see how to maximize the event for the long term benefit and development of the host country, especially when countries in the third world host these events.

LeadEarth

The World Cup and Development

Social Entrepreneurship Sustainability

A few weeks ago on the roof of a building in Tel Aviv overlooking the entire city skyline a group a dozen former participants in Adam LeAdam's Backpackers program met for a reunion. The Backpacker's program is designed to give Israeli travelers in India a way to contribute to the communities they view primarily as a tourist. They spend a few weeks in Tamil Nadu helping the community through programs they in part design themselves, so that the volunteerism is more personal and meaningful.

 Adam LeAdam program participants

The reunion was a chance for old friends to meet up again, have a drink, watch a slideshow, but there was one other aspect I think was the most important part of the evening. At one point one of the participants asked Uri and Yarden, Adam LeAdam's founders, "what's next!?" One of the tenets of the program is sustainability and it wasn't clear to her what they're supposed to do now, having all returned to Israel, to continue and sustain the work they had done in India. One of the goals of the program is not just to set up program in India that the local communities can continue once the volunteers have left, but rather to have the Israeli participants continue to be social entrepreneurs back in Israel. Yarden and Uri went on to explain that they want the Backpackers participants to continue to meet in Israel and design their own sustainable social entrepreneurship program in Israel.

Tamil Nadu, India

It was a light bulb moment, where the participants realized that it was in fact their own personal growth, and not necessarily the the environment and educational projects they had implemented in India, that was the key to the Backpackers program. It will be interesting to see what the group implements here in Israel and what the LeadEarth participants are able to continue in their home communities upon returning. This social entrepreneurship sustainability is one reason that LeadEarth is really a step above in terms of innovation in the volunteer world.

Finally, John Wooden passed away yesterday. I grew up, and am still, a huge UCLA Bruins basketball fan, and have an enormous respect for the man and his accomplishments. Here's a very good article that touches at the core of who he was.

- LeadEarth

Social Entrepreneurship Sustainability

Sustainable agriculture is big business and What's on the roof?

This blog focuses on the phenomenon of solar panels to heat water in Israel and the increasing interest from venture capital firms in sustainable argiculture...

Its nice to see Israel get some credit worldwide for its technological innovations, let alone environmentally friendly ones as well. This interesting article points out how South Africa can adopt Israel's use of solar panel technology to heat water to save on energy costs. The "dud" or solar panel driven water heaters is becoming something of an iconic image for Israel. Almost every building is littered with solar panels and water tanks on the roof, and its a source of pride for the country.

The state of almost every roof in Israel

How can Israel help export the adoption of solar panel heated water heaters elsewhere in the world, especially places that are not connected to electricity grids or are not sufficiently connected to the grid? Its a project LeadEarth can potentially invest in the Sadhanna Forest location in Tamil Nadu, India.

“Sustainable agriculture is a space that looks as big or bigger than clean tech"

That's quite a statement, yet that's what one venture capitalist thinks and many are starting to take notice. The New York Times profiled one such venture that is is linking those in the sustainable agriculture field to venture capitalists. NewSeed Advisors is scouring the market trying to help those with ideas for products to advance sustainable agriculture find the funding they need.

Israel is actually a pioneeer in sustainable agriculture technologies with companies such as Netafim creating some of the first irrigation systems and fertilizer propogration systems that enable proper irrigation and enable the farmer to save water in the process. These technologies, that are relatively inexpensive, can have a huge impact on developing world farmers and agriculture. Another thing for the LeadEarth participants to think about when they build their projects.

A Netafim irrigation tube helps this vineyard properly get water and save water at the same time

Finally, remember check out the new Masa LeadEarth website!

Sustainable agriculture is big business and What's on the roof?

New Website Design is Live

The brand new LeadEarth website is now live! Check out the great new design and please let us know you think.

New Website Design is Live

India-Israel Cooperation

Israel and India have very strong relations today. This blog will explore different aspects of the cooperation and relationship between the different countries in a variety of sectors. As environmental and agricultural awareness and education is a key element of the LeadEarth program we will examine the environmental and agricultural cooperation between the countries in today's post.

While olives are most closely associated with the Mediterranean region, an Israeli initiative is hoping to make India a major player in the olive industry. Israel is credited with making their Negev desert bloom, and now Israelis are trying to "green" the desert region of Rajasthan in Northern India. Through a combination of irrigation, wastewater treatment, and agricultural technologies the aim is to make India an exporter of olive oil by 2011. 

Can Israeli technologies make the desert bloom again?

  

Israel and India recently signed an agreement to promote increased scientific cooperation and development between the two countries. Not surprisingly, renewable energy initiatives was one of the main focuses of the initiative. Israel is now one of the world's leading developers of renewable energy technologies through a large variety of companies, and India is just one of many markets that can benefit from these technologies. 

Although not related to the environment or agriculture, this fun blog posts relates on tourists experience with Israeli cuisine...in India and is worth checking out!

LeadEarth

India-Israel Cooperation

A Jewish Heart for Africa

From time to time this blog will spotlight other organizations doing humanitarian work very in the spirit of Tikkun Olam. One such group is A Jewish Heart for Africa, an organization improving the lives of Africans through the implementation of electricity and agricultural technologies.

The majority of the small towns and villages throughout Africa do not have satisfactory connections to electricity grids, if at all. A Jewish Heart for Africa (AJHFA) decided to help alleviate this situation by installing solar panels to provide electricity to communities without connection to the primary electricity grids. While Africa lacks many things, one thing they have plenty of is sun. What makes A Jewish Heart for Africa unique is that they use Israeli solar panel companies equipment to bring power to these villages. To date AJHFA has provided over 100,000 people electricity that previously did not have it or only sporadically. This electricity is used to power schools, clinics, and homes.

Personally, it brings me a lot of pride as an Israeli to see technology developed in this country being used to help the less fortunate in Africa. I think AJHFA has a very similar mindset to that of LeadEarth as both organizations' goals are to improve the lives of the local populations they deal with.

LeadEarth

A Jewish Heart for Africa

Jewish Pirates and a lost tribe of Cohenim

I read two interesting articles this week about two Jewish communities that are about as different as one could imagine. The first article was written in the Wall Street Journal and dealt with the past and current Jamaican Jewish Community. After having a good laugh the existence of a Jamaican Jewish community, one learns how prosperous and thriving the community there once was. The community came to Jamaica from Holland during the 17th century and reached a peak of 2000 people towards the end of the 19th century. Not only was the community the largest in the Caribbean many of its members were in fact pirates! Many of the these pirates were secret Jews who converted to Catholicism to avoid the inquisition and fled to the Caribbean, where they picked up a trade that seems about the last one on Earth you think Jews would be involved in. The article is a really interesting read.

Is Johnny Depp Jewish?

The second article I came across this week is a BBC pieces that relates the story of a community in Zimbabwe that culturally as Jewish. The Lemba people in Zimbabwe do not eat pork, circumcise their male children (not a common practice in the region), ritually slaughter animals, and wear kippot with the Star of David. Where the story really gets interesting is that scientist have just conducted genetic testing showing the Lemba people to be of semitic origin and belonging to the Jewish priestly clan of the Cohenim! Check out the article to learn more about this fascinating community. 

The Lemba tribe of Zimbabwe (photo: BBC)

Adam Le'Adam - LeadEarth

Jewish Pirates and a lost tribe of Cohenim

Welcome to LeadEarth

Welcome to the new LeadEarth blog. This blog compliments Adam LeAdam's LeadEarth program, and will discuss issues ranging from the environment and sustainability to Indian and Israeli current events. Be sure to check back often to see the latest posts, and comments are always welcome.

The LeadEarth Team

Yarden in Tamil Nadu, India

Welcome to LeadEarth