Olive Processing

For eight weeks we have viewed Jerusalem from beneath the branches of a lovely young olive tree on our patio.  Up until last week we were content to just look at its silvery-green thin leaves and sweep up the early fallen fruit.  Then the first rain of the fall signaled the olives were ready, so we climbed a ladder and used our fingers to comb the green and purple fruit from its branches.  The olives rained down among our roses, demonstrating exactly why experienced olive pickers spread a tarp first.  Our small tree yielded maybe a quart of olives.  The students gathered many buckets full, and these sat for a week and then were rinsed and soaked. 

Today we helped strain the olives out of a huge tank of water, pour them into the circular stone trough, and rotate the crushing stone by pushing on a beam.  Continuous shoveling helps move the unmashed olives under the stone. The object is to crush the pit of each olive, for this is where the most oil is located.

Hanni, our guide in this process, estimated the stone probably weighs over half a ton.  Hanni is on the left in the photo above.

If the words "Child Labor Laws" are crossing your mind right now, don't worry.  The grimaces in the photo are staged.  The beam is heavy, but three or four people can keep it going for 5 to 10 minutes.

And if you can't keep up with the big kids, you can just take a break.

After about 45 minutes of crushing, Hanni decreed that greenish-brown mush was ready..  Careful not to splatter our clothes, we scooped the fragrant mush into donut-shaped baskets. The baskets were stacked into a press, and everyone took turns twisting the screw. 

Screw-based presses have been in the Holy Land dating back1200-1500 years.  This technology influenced Johannes Gutenberg when he designed the printing press.  The other press on the property is a weights-based press, using technology twice as old.  For more photos and more commentary on the Jerusalem Center's olive presses, visit Chad Emmett's blog, Beit Emmett .

As the press forced the baskets to flatten, the oil and juice ran reddish brown onto the stone, then into the basins below.  After settling, the oil can be easily skimmed off from the top of the watery juice. 

Historically, olive oil was a source of light, nourishment, flavor, and healing. The mash left over in the baskets was used for fuel and food for animals.   Because our olives were exposed to sunlight, the oil will be bitter and not suitable for cooking, so it will instead be used for healing as consecrated oil used for anointing the sick. 

As the red liquid poured down, we talked about the symbolism of the olive press or Gethsemane ( "Gat Shemanim" means oil press in Hebrew).  One of our kids took the perspective of the workers in an olive press--having put in a lot of effort to help make the oil, they could imagine better how much work it took for the Savior to atone for our sins.  Through this experience, we hope our children can imagine the Savior voluntarily placing himself beneath the great weight of justice in our place and feel solemn gratitude that Jesus suffered for us, so that we might not have to suffer if we will repent.