Sukkot – My Favorite Trees

January 23, 2024

Episode 94: The Myrtle

The Myrtle is a small Mediterranean tree with significance tied to just about every culture of that region–due in large part to how fragrant the plant is. It enlivens Jewish holidays, protects one from curses, and is a display of love and beauty so powerful that it can start wars. Help me ring in the Jewish Tree New Year by learning how this fragrant tree can be so significant and how it shows up in our lives today.

Tons of bonus content is available on my Patreon! (patreon.com/MyFavoriteTrees)
Music is by Academy Garden (academygarden.bandcamp.com)
Cover Art is by @boomerangbrit on Instagram
Script Editing and Social Media is by Laurie Hilburn (lhilburn.journoportfolio.com)
Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @MyFavoriteTrees and on Instagram @treepodcast

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/plant/myrtle

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9933039/

https://www.uicnmed.org/nabp/database/HTM/PDF/p47.pdf

https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2018/06/28/myrtle-the-provenance-and-meaning-of-a-plant/

https://www.neot-kedumim.org.il/index-plant-of-the-month/the-myrtle/

https://reformjudaism.org/sukkot-diversity-and-unity-how-each-us-four-species

https://aqua-oleum.co.uk/2022/02/14/myrtle-symbol-of-love-and-beauty/

October 4, 2022October 4, 2022

Episode 60: The Date Palm

Dates are among the earliest tree crops cultivated by humans and retain cultural significance throughout the Middle East and the surrounding Arabic world. Date Palm trees are especially important in Jewish faith and see prominence in multiple holidays, like the upcoming Sukkot. Hear about the long history of these trees, the variety of uses and symbols associated with them, as well as why America turned its back on the fruit in the last century. Music is by Academy Garden. Cover art is by @boomerangbrit on Instagram. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter @MyFavoriteTrees or on Instagram @treepodcast.

Sources:

https://books.google.com/books?id=R0XjojWqfqcC&pg=PA13#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/many-dates-one-palm-tree-produce-101844.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-13-sci-methuselah13-story.html

https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/date-palm-history

https://allmesopotamia.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/dates-in-mesopotamia/

https://iranicaonline.org/articles/date-palm

http://www.rahamasha.net/uploads/2/3/2/8/2328777/da.pdf

https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijhcs/v6-i2/1.pdf

https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Tamar.html

https://www.learnreligions.com/palm-branches-bible-story-summary-701202

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/why-date-is-so-important-to-muslim-world-180962011/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/7328?seq=13#metadata_info_tab_contents

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/06/10/320346869/forbidding-fruit-how-america-got-turned-on-to-the-date

https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/date.html

https://www.statista.com/statistics/960247/dates-production-worldwide/

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/history-of-sukkot/

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4457/jewish/How-To-Celebrate-Sukkot.htm

September 21, 2021October 5, 2021

Episode 34: The Citron

In this part of my fruit tree series, I discuss the origin of citrus fruits. The citron is one such tree that has influenced multiple religions and has sired many of the modern citruses we know today. Music is by Academy Garden. Cover art is by @boomerangbrit on Instagram. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @MyFavoriteTrees.