Milk Factory and Winery Tiyul

David Leshaw

Last Wednesday, Eretz HaTzvi took a trip to the Tnuvah dairy factory in Alon Tavor.  Braving warm weather and sunny skies, the boys toured the extensive factory and learned a great deal about the cheese manufacturing process.  They learned about Tnuva’s product lineup – milk, yogurt, pudding and cheeses – and sampled some of the products.  One student was quoted as finding Tnuvah’s products “Good, but not as good as our school catering.”  Still, the experience was an informative one.  The mashgiach of Tnuvah lectured the boys on the factory’s stringent and thorough Kashrut procedures, from inspecting individual cows to monitoring the assembly lines.  It was both a delicious and educational experience.

In the afternoon, the yeshiva toured the Tishbi Estate winery in Zichron Ya’akov.  There, the boys studied the grape-picking process, saw the bottling room and sampled the wine.  While most students were used to poring over Gemara and Rashi, at Tishbi they poured over glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc and Merlot in their quest to learn about Kashrut and obtain an alarming number of wine samples.  “I find the Cabernet Sauvignon a bit dry” observed one student/oenophile “however, the Merlot certainly has tangible echoes of raspberry, oak and cherry wood.  It reminds me of a cool New England evening on the campus of some Ivy League university.”  And while only a few students suddenly found themselves in possession of a surprising number of superlatives, all greatly enjoyed their time at the winery.