Date Palms Progress Report

Psalm 92 says, “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree . . . they shall still bring forth fruit in old age.” As a veteran member of the “King’s Kids”, I ­really like that verse!

A little over a year ago we began the project of planting date palms at Biblical Tamar Park, a little south of the Dead Sea in the Arava Desert of Israel. The Medjool date palms will line the entrance to Tamar from the highway, plus a grove on either side of the stone gateway. The Medjool produces the best dates for harvest.

I wanted to snap my fingers and see the palm trees all lined up and growing! Lesser types of palm trees would have been quicker to plant and easier to obtain had we not promised you we’d plant the best. That was my uneducated promise.

A knowledgeable man. Boaz Dreyer,  working at Tamar recently wrote,  “I have done some substantial work on trying to find Medjool trees for Tamar. In the Galilee area where they grow a lot of dates, the Medjool variety is still in the experimental state and they do not have any to sell. In contacting people in the Arava, I understand that the planting season is at the beginning of summer. We are right at the end of the season at the moment. I managed to find a few isolated trees but quite honestly they are not worth buying. It would be wise to wait until good quality trees can be acquired.”

The ordering of the trees will be in time for the planting season at the close of the winter season. I was also made to understand that if the saplings weren’t planted correctly, and at the right time, they would die! Another hold-up is a sewer system scheduled to be put in for the neighbors of Tamar and will run right under our entrance way. We don’t want our trees to be up-rooted, so will wait  and plant that area after the bridge is built and the sewer system is in. The water is in place and so is the plan. We are looking forward to planting the groves at the entrance and out by the road this Spring! So the good news is:

You have done it!

The project is fulfilled! You have responded well to this appeal of  planting date palms at Tamar! A posting of the donor’s names, along with the names of the honorees will be in view in the dining area of Tamar. (The most popular place!)

So is that the end of us at Tamar? No way! We have begun this planting by a River of Promises that doesn’t run dry. The upright stature and towering height of the date palm, together with its sword shaped frond is associated with victory and triumph. This symbolism is right on with a worldwide enlightening project that is overwhelming with its challenge of being “a light to the ­nations.”
 Please read on!