The Lord giveth and taketh away... or is it Danny who does that?

So, there are so many things that I want to share about my time in Ofakim so far but there is one day that sticks out and I need to write about it.

The farm has involved many different types of work so far and really, I love all of it.  Some days we cook, some days we do physical labor... pretty much whatever we can do to help them, we do.  So, 2 weeks ago we get to the farm and find out we will be working in the dairy area.  They have a lot of cows.  A LOT of cows and also a lot of baby cows.  Danny, who runs the farm and is Yona's husband, is a bit insane and doesn't speak any English.  After shoving chicken berekas down our throats at 10am he showed me what I needed to do.  Pretty simple really.  Wash out the baby cows buckets for water, milk and food and refill them.  So, I set about my work washing buckets.  

Richard and Danny

A couple of hours and many many buckets later, Danny approaches me.  He says something about lunch and preparing it and asks if I want to come.  Sure, I say.  "למה לא?’ he looks at me and says "את לא פוחדת?’ (You're not scared?)  Why would I be scared of making lunch?!?   Well, as I slowly put together what was about to happen I realized why he asked.  I heard the words "עף" and "טרי" (chicken and fresh) and started to think maybe I had made a mistake, but didn't want to back down.  

Yep, that's chicken blood 

So, Richard and I follow Danny a shed.  He takes out a knife, sharpens it and runs it along his thumbnail, ensuring that it is sharp enough to do the job properly and in a kosher manner.  Next thing I know, he is holding a white chicken by the neck.  Before I even register anything, he cuts its neck and puts it upside down in a weird triangular cylinder thing (I am sure there is a real word but whatever) and lets it bleed out.  He starts to get out another chicken and before I know it, that chicken is bleeding out on the floor too. 

He makes quick work of cleaning the first chicken.  Even though it is not a cold day out, after he removes the skin and the feathers, the body of the chicken is still steaming.  The breast muscles are also twitching, even though the chicken has been dead for a few minutes.  He swiftly removes the head, legs and starts gutting the chicken.  As he is pulling out the entrails, he is pointing out each part of the chicken and explaining to us what it is.  It was very interesting to see it all and how all that fits inside that little chicken.  After the first chicken is done (maybe 4 minutes after he started, and he is taking his time for us) he heads over to clean the 2nd chicken.  I ask him to wait a minute.  

I run around the corner back to the dairy farm and grab my camera.  I don't know why, but I feel like this opportunity is picture worthy.  Danny, being the showman that he is, is more than happy to wait.  He even gets out another live chicken when I come back for a staged "before" picture.  What is about to follow is a series of pictures of what happened.  I know it can be tough to see and when Danny was surprised that I didn't mind I explained to him "עם אני רוצה לאכול בשר, אני צריכה לראות".  If I want to eat meat, I need to see.  If you don't want to look, don't.  But don't complain about the pics being up here.  

Freshly butchered chicken on the grill

After the chickens were cleaned and salted, Danny took them out to the fire that the had started a few minutes before.  We watched and talked with him while he cooked the chicken over the fire.  As each piece was cooked, he handed it to us... sometimes burning our hands.  The first thing he gave me was the heart.  It was a bit intense for the first thing I was going to eat and it was really really hot.  I bounced it around in my hands for a minute waiting for it to cool and before I could eat it I had a kidney in my hands as well.  Now, I am a very picky eater.  I do not like many things and if someone had told me that I would eat a fresh chicken kidney in Israel I would have asked them who they buy their drugs from.  With that said, it is hard to say no to a crazy man yelling at you in Hebrew to eat the chicken that he just killed for you.  I ate the kidney and tried the liver as well but accidentally dropped the heart.  I am actually kind of upset about that in retrospect.  Wish I had tried it as I have since heard that it is the best part.  The kidney was gross and I liked the liver but the texture was weird.  Also found out that fresh chicken is tougher than chicken that has been frozen and thawed.  Who knew?

So, as if I hadn't done enough that day, we were getting ready to leave when Danny pointed out one of the big female cows to me.  She had something hanging out of her rear-end and he explained to me that she was about to give birth.  I asked if it was possible for me to stay and watch... He didn't want to get in trouble for keeping me late but I explained that I wouldn't get in trouble, I didn't have anything to do before 4 o'clock and I had plenty of time... so I stayed and waited for the cow to give birth.

It took several hours for real progress to be made.  Danny slaughtered some more chickens and I watched and we talked as he cleaned them.  He showed me how to make the chickens Kosher, which involves two separate dips after a soaking in salt and water for a while.  I told him about how I am adopted and how my parents converted me to Judaism by dipping me in a mikvah, which is how he decided to explain what he was doing to the chickens.  I told him that I hoped that I looked better than the chickens did when I went into my mikvah.

After a little while and a bit more work in the milking room, the cow was trying to find a place to nest and it looked like it was having some trouble.  Danny decided to step in to see if he could help.  So, I watched as he reached his arm inside the cow, City Slickers style, to see if the baby cow was on its way out.  Indeed, it was close and so he went and grabbed the appropriate tools to help.  Next thing I know, he is yelling "בוא, בוא!" and wants me to come into the stall with the cow.  In a matter of seconds, my hand was partially inside the cow, holding the leg of her baby.  Danny wrapped something around the legs while I held them and then handed me the handle and told me to pull.  We each pulled on one leg as hard as we could.  We were actually using our own body weight, crouching down on the ground trying to get this cow out of the other cow.  All of a sudden, "POP" and then "SLAM" and there was a baby cow on the ground.  I couldn't believe how big that little thing was.  I also couldn't believe that I had just had my hand inside of a cow.

Unfortunately, because my hands were covered in a cows amniotic fluid, I couldn't get pictures of the actual moment of the cow being born.  But, I have some pictures of the little guy after he emerged.  I have to admit, when I came to Israel I was hoping to practice being a doula... but I didn't really have helping a cow give birth in mind!  It was awesome though... and I think one of the best days that I have had so far in אופקים!!!'