Retreating into health
Midbary holds weekend retreats in the Negev dedicated to holistic nutrition and removing toxins from the body.
Hanita Herskovici was a senior banking executive when, as so often happens in life, illness struck her family. When her mother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer, Hanita turned to Transcendental Meditation as a coping mechanism. This led to her exploring other alternative treatments -- and eventually, to discovering her true passion. She took early retirement and embarked on a mid-life career as a counselor in integrative medicine.
She opened clinics in Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv, and in 2008 founded Midbary (combining the Hebrew words midbar and bari, meaning desert and healthy, respectively) in Kibbutz Ruhama in the Negev. “I find the energy of the desert calm and healing,” says Herskovici, “and it was new territory for health retreats, compared to the Galil.”
After several years in Ruhama, Herskovici, who lives in Ashkelon, recently moved her base of operations in the Negev to Teva Habsor vacation cabins and rooms in Moshav Ein Habsor. Recently, I participated in the first Midbary retreat at Teva Habsor, which is also a large, thriving organic farm owned and managed by Amnon Uziyahu and his sons.
The participants gathered on Thursday afternoon for a welcome drink: a smoothie of greens (kale, lettuce, mangold, spinach, and spirulina) plus apple (for extra nutrients and a touch of natural sweetness.) We appreciated the improved taste provided by the fruit, and Herskovici acknowledged that it is a concession she made as a way of easing into a weekend designed to detoxify the body.
In her introduction, Herskovici stresses that all the juices and food served at Midbary retreats are made with organic fruits and vegetables, many of the latter picked fresh from the nearby fields. (The apples, however, were imported, since, as we were informed, no organic apples are grown in Israel.)
She goes on to explain that the weekend will proceed along two tracks: participants may choose either a modified fast, consuming only liquids; or a combination of juices and raw food. (Other Midbary retreats include a modicum of cooked foods.) Herskovici selects foods known for their cleansing properties. Approximately one-third of the group opts for the stricter regimen, while two-thirds choose to eat solids as well.
The purpose of the weekend, Herskovici continues, is to constitute a break from ordinary routine -- and especially overeating. There will be yoga, lectures, tiyulim, special guests and evening activities.
She also presented some supplements that are helpful while ridding the body of toxins, including one that was especially intriguing: patches containing Asian herbs that are applied to the soles of the feet overnight. Several repeat participants testified that the white patches turned black; I bought one set to put to the test that night.
Following a rest break, we reconvened for supper, and discovered what our meals were to be like: small plates piled modestly with two salads. That first evening, one was a lentil salad and the other a cabbage salad, so there was protein but negligible carbohydrates. A clear vegetable broth -- heated but not to the boiling point, and therefore uncooked -- was served to those who wanted something warm to eat
After dinner we had our first guest: Efrat Cohen, a naturopath who proceeded to diagnose each of the participants by examining irises. She then gave each one an individualized diet tailored to ameliorate his or her condition.
It was an early night, as yoga class was scheduled for 8.00 the following morning. I returned to one of the rooms in the new wing of Teva Habsor; even though our rooms had been made ready hastily for our arrival, and lacked some of the finishing touches, there was a whirlpool bath that worked very well indeed, with plenty of hot water. During my soothing soak, I scrubbed the soles of my feet clean in order to apply the detox patches. When I awoke in the morning and peeled them off, they were mostly black -- and clearly not from dirt. Indeterminate as those excreted “toxins” were -- and the mystery still remains -- it was good to be rid of them.
The yoga instructor led us in poses that she said were beneficial for detoxing, and the stretching was indeed good for getting the blood flowing and starting the day off fully awake. Breakfast consisted entirely of a thick smoothie, again mostly vegetables.
The morning activity was a visit to the Teva Habsor greenhouses to pick vegetables for our lunch. The first stop was the tomato hothouse, where several varieties grow. There truly is nothing to match the taste of a fruit or vegetable eaten straight after being plucked.
After loading plastic bags with tomatoes, it was off to pick greens and herbs, then back to the kitchen with our bounty to prepare lunch. Waiting for us was Efrat Cohen, to lead a class on creating imaginatively with raw food. Everyone got to work on two “pasta” dishes: “ravioli” fashioned out of wafer-thin slices of kohlrabi that could be folded into half-moons encasing an extraordinary cashew paste (a “cheese” of sorts) filling, and julienned zucchini “spaghetti” with an exceptional pesto sauce. Together with a salad starring our freshly harvested tomatoes -- plus almonds, greens and goji berries -- this veritable feast was far and away the best meal of the retreat.
We had the afternoon free until Friday night kiddush and a light dinner, after our larger than usual lunch. After dinner, we had a very unexpected special guest for the evening: Liora Simon, the singer who had represented Israel at Eurovision. She was there to lead us all in “laughing yoga,” a group exercise in laughter, which has proven benefits for health and well-being. The session certainly turned out to be an enjoyable ice-breaker -- especially the second half, when she had us dress up and belly dance. The evening concluded with Liora singing a few numbers.
There was no yoga on Shabbat morning; instead, after our smoothie breakfast, we had a tiyul with a local guide to get to know the immediate Habsor area and the crops grown there. It was perfect weather for the outing, and everyone appreciated the opportunity to walk in the fresh air and learn more about this part of the country.
We returned for lunch and shabbat menuha, then gathered again for a discussion on healthy eating when we are back home. That is not to say the entire topic of diet and nutrition was left until Saturday afternoon: truth be told, we had been learning about proper eating habits all weekend long. During and after most meals, we would talk about what we had just consumed; and the conversation would carry on to related topics.
Our wide-ranging summary discussion touched on many important issues, such as the benefits of eating raw food (containing enzymes nutrients not leached away by cooking); the proper balance between raw and cooked foods (Herskovici recommends a diet comprising 60-70% raw food, and the balance cooked foods, for their warm energy); the best cooking methods (steaming, for example, and avoiding using microwave ovens); and proper food combinations (no protein together with carbohydrates, while fruits should be eaten separately from all other foods).
Herskovici had also prepared a handout for the group, with a list of what she called “Superfoods” for optimum health (these include, inter alia, spirulina, wheat grass, goji berries, and more). She detailed their healthful properties and demonstrated some products for sale.
There were plenty of helpful tips, relating mostly to nutrition (like the need for a more alkaline and less acid diet), but also to other matters, such as how to deal with headaches (try drinking water and putting your feet up; a headache is generally symptom of something else going on).
Also present at the discussion was our host Amnon Uziyahu, who discussed the issues affecting agriculture in Israel in general and organic farming in particular. He stressed that pesticides were not the only culprits in our food supply: hormones are also a problem, as well as the preservatives into which produce is dipped by retailers after fruits and vegetables are picked
Uziyahu described his operation, which is quite impressive: his Teva Habsor farm employs 40 workers, and six vehicles deliver freshly picked organic produce -- and other basic goods -- directly to customers’ homes as far north as Raanana, for only a NIS 25 delivery fee. Customers may place orders over the Internet or over the phone and save by cutting out the middlemen.
Dinner was served following the talk, and afterwards an inspirational movie was shown: The Shift, featuring Dr. Wayne Dyer (in English, with Hebrew subtitles).
On Sunday morning there was a yoga class once again, then our final breakfast smoothie. Most participants purchased a carton of organic produce to take home, and many also joined Herskovici for a walk through the flowering meadows of the Pura Nature Reserve, which was in on the way of the drive back home.
Midbary (052-610-9797) offers a variety of retreats, ranging from the sort of extended weekend described here to longer and more intensive detox fasts.
