Torah-inspired garden

OLGA LIVSHIN

According to the Torah, everything started in the Garden of Eden, or Gan Eden, so a garden has always been the beginning of life. But before a garden produces its bounty, it must be planted and nurtured by human hands, and many hands have pitched in to plant and nurture the gan at Or Shalom Synagogue in East Vancouver.

The gan was created by landscape designer Geoffrey Katz in 1998. “I was a member at Or Shalom at the time,” said Katz, who currently resides in the United States. Katz chose to design a “Jewish garden,” which could serve as a memorial to the countless gardens of Jewish Europe that were destroyed in the Holocaust. “A Jewish garden,” he explained, “would be an outdoor place that reflects in some way the Jewish values and symbols. At Or Shalom, the garden is an outdoor place intended to reflect the community’s values, a place for personal and community Jewish activities…. Principle of these [is] Shabbat afternoon, so that people can relax and enjoy each other’s company during Kiddush, after Shabbat morning davening. Other activities that the garden was designed for include classes, play space for children, personal meetings and conversations, and more.”

Katz’s original concept was ambitious and demanding. “We did want to use plants native to Israel, Jerusalem stone, and so on, but the Vancouver climate is just a little too cold and wet for the plants, and the stone was expensive,” he said. “So we had to approach things more thematically. For example, the Port Orford Cypress, which is native to Oregon and Washington states, was planted in the front yard. It has a form similar to the cypresses planted widely in Israel. The fig tree planted beside the ramp at the back recalls the fig [species] mentioned many times in the Torah, but it is a cultivar that does well in the Lower Mainland.”

For a decade, Or Shalom members enjoyed the garden, but not much was done in the way of nurturing until two years ago. In 2009, its cultivation was taken over by the synagogue’s Young Adult Community (YAC). According to Yona Sipos and Ben Harris, a young married couple and enthusiastic gardeners, YAC consists of the young adult Or Shalom members plus those who are “young at heart.”

The ideas started flying during Tu b’Shevat 2009, when YAC volunteers decided to grow organic food. YAC applied for and received a grant from the City of Vancouver’s community garden program and, with some shul funds, Sipos, Harris and their friends set to work.

“We are developing the garden throughout the grounds,” Sipos told the Independent. “There are small herb and strawberry patches, a horseradish patch, a salad bowl area and our ‘chicken soup plot,’ where we grow the ingredients for a chicken soup, [the] ultimate Jewish meal, minus the chicken.”

Last spring, YAC held a garden party. They constructed planter boxes, planted veggies and three different kinds of grapes – another Torah fruit. Later, they harvested the vegetables and cooked their fabled “chicken soup without the chicken.” “It was delicious,” Sipos reported. “We were able to feed about 35 people. We used our greens for approximately 10 more lunches during summer months.”

The gardeners also intend to use the garden as a demonstration garden. “We want to show the kids that it’s easy to grow their own food. The seeds know how to grow. You just have to plant them,” said Sipos.

Besides vegetables, several flowering bushes, including honeysuckle and jasmine, enliven the garden at Or Shalom. Raspberry and blackberry bushes grow along the fence. “We want to share,” said Harris. “We want people to be able to pick berries from the street. The message is: it’s a green space which is utilitarian, requires low maintenance and looks good.”

Of the seven plants in the Torah, the garden has figs and grapes and Sipos and Harris hope to add wheat and barley. “There are not many grains growing in B.C. now,” Harris noted. “Children don’t know what a wheat plant looks like, and it’s such an important food. We think [the situation] should change. Of course, if we grow wheat in one of our planters, the most we could make of the harvest would be, maybe, one matzah ball. But it would be symbolic.”

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She’s available for contract work. Contact her at [email protected].

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