……   I am working on creating the one and only wool mill in Israel. It will be kosher, which means only wool will be processed on the machines, no linen or other materials.  And it will be closed on Shabbat and holidays.    It will, b’h,  have a store and learning center on site for the purpose of education, classes and demonstrations.

What is a wool mill?    It is a family owned,  small factory set up, where we take the raw fleeces, after the sheep have been shorn, and put them through washing, carding, and  spinning to turn them into useable materials such as yarn (for knitting),  roving (for spinning), or batting (for blankets or mattresses).  There can be other processes along the way , if needed, such as dyeing or felting the wool.   These are small machines , enough for our small farms and flocks to bring their raw wool and have it made into workable materials. We only need 2 people to run a cycle, so it’s easily managed.

People are looking for local wool products and despite the fact that we have sheep in Israel, we don’t have a mill to process the wool, so it gets thrown away.  What a waste!  People have been shepherding and shearing sheep in Israel since biblical times, but  for the most part, we’ve stepped away from our heritage and our traditions in agriculture.  I think it’s time to bring it back .  Practicing agriculture in Israel is a commitment to the land, it is a testament to our indigenous  roots.  Each fleece tells a story of the place, traditions and connections to  this land we call home.

I am working hard to obtain the machines, and open a wool mill in our moshav . We have the land to build a small factory with a visitor’s center.  I want to  provide the Israeli population with an opportunity to restore our pride, reduce our dependence from Chinese made products,  and  have our own wool turned into  mattresses, blankets, pillows and yarn for making scarves, sweaters , hats , as well as tzitziot (prayer tassels),  talliot (prayer shawls) , kippot (head covering) , etc.   B’h,  It will provide a creative environment, jobs, community and local resourcing of a much needed fiber.  Eventually involving local artisans, craftsmen, knitters, weavers, shearers, wool  classers and other trades, as well as connecting and working with fellow sheep farmers elsewhere.

Israel has gotten a bad reputation for having only war.  It’s not easy to constantly defend our land, being surrounded by  hostile enemies (inside and out).    But we are a nation that cares for our land and the produce it provides.  We are inventive  and resourceful, but we have been so entrenched in surviving, we have side-stepped  our ability to create.  (Don’t get me wrong, there are many creatives here in our tiny country. You can see my interviews with many of them here.   https://www.nettlesandpins.com/podcast )

However,  the general agenda that has been pushed on us collectively, is the technocratic, WEF, war  kind.  Not the God inspired, Torah, people, community, local,  self –sufficient,  back to the garden  kind.   My goal is to bring back creativity, production and  Jewish  Israeli  pride by building an environment  for community and growth at the grassroots level.

So if you would like to support Israel’s southern communities , agriculture or the sheep industry in general,  please help out in whatever way you feel most connected to.   We will be fundraising and asking you to share the information to reach as far as we can, to get this off the ground and make it a reality.   Are you excited???  I am!!!!