The Truth about the Temple Mount Crisis and Supporting Israel

History
Deep in the Biblical heartland of Israel, up in the Samarian hills, an ancient prophecy has come to pass:

“Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria” (Jeramiah 31:5)
After two thousand years of exile, the Jewish people have come home, and are once again growing grapes and making wine on their ancient homeland.

In the Town Rachelim, located just north of ancient (and modern) Shilo, live Vered and Erez Ben-Sa’adon, founders and proud owners of the award winning Tura winery.

Erez was born in Jerusalem. His father was born in Morocco, moving to Israel in 1953. His mother is Iranian and immigrated in 1965. After serving in the IDF’s paratroopers brigade, Erez felt he must follow his calling to work the
land. Being an entrepreneur at heart, he is a man of dreams and vision who is able to see the big picture but still pay attention to the smallest of details. Erez believes in personally overseeing the entire wine production process, from the growing of the grapes all the way through to the wine marketing.

Vered’s family history is particularly impressive: her Jewish grandmother, Liesje de Vries, was 15 years old when World War II hit the Netherlands. During the war, the family was forced to move from one hiding place to another. At first Liesje was separated from her family and lived for a
while on an island in northern Holland, where she kept a diary – just like another well-known Jewish Dutch girl, Anne Frank. After the war, Liesje married a Holocaust survivor, and the couple had two sons; Vered’s father
and uncle. Vered recalls: ”When my father was 8 years old, his father passed away. My grandmother Liesje remarried, this time to a non-Jewish Dutch widower named Roel Meyer. Meyer had a daughter from a previous marriage, and that girl is my mother.” Liesje’s Jewish son, Joel, fell in love with his non-Jewish stepsister, Els (today Rebecca). It was Vered’s mother, Els, who began to get actively involved with Judaism, and interested in
the cultural and religious past of her husband. They went to a local school for religions, but no one could answer their questions. The Jewish side of the family, some of which were already living in Israel, helped the young couple and finally they found themselves on the way to Israel with their two small daughters – Vered and her sister. After a long period of study, Els and her
daughters converted to Judaism. Vered grew up in Jerusalem, and was considered a very opinionated young girl. She met Erez at the age of 15. By the end of 11th grade they were engaged, and they married during her senior
year. Vered was pregnant when she went to take her final math exam, and by the time she graduated with a BA in education the couple had three children.

Today they are the proud parents of five children, one of whom is currently a combat soldier in the IDF. Half a year after marriage, the two took all their savings and bought 5 acres of arable land in the village of Bracha, located on mount Grizim, where, historically, Joshua blessed (half) the Israelites after crossing the Jordan. Volunteers and friends came to help the young couple plant the grapevines, working non-stop from dawn till dusk.

At first Vered and Erez sold their grapes to other local wineries, but were forced to stop when political elements became an issue as those wineries encountered difficulties stemming from their European customers.

As a result the couple decided to take a winemaking course in order to learn how to produce their own wine. They opened the Tura winery in 2003 and it has since become a great success. In blind taste tests, where politics cannot be a factor, Tura wines have gained vast praise and won many awards. The winery has become a site of pilgrimage for wine lovers from across Israel and
all around the globe. As a partner-founder of the Tura Winery, Vered has become the unofficial “spokesperson of Samaria”. People taste the Tura wine, listen to her personal saga and the story behind the winery, and this sometimes helps change prejudicial views.

Special Status
Tura is a family-run “Estate-Winery”.

The title of “Estate Winery” is granted only when the vineyard is the property of the winery and located in the same geographical area. In addition, the wine must be produced at the winery; fermentation, aging and bottling.

BDS
In recent years the Ben Sa’adon’s have begun to feel the sting of the BDS; the anti-Semetic Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement that singles out the Jewish state.

Just a few kilometers south of the winery is the ancient town of Ofra where about three and a half thousand years ago Gideon was threshing wheat in his winepress for fear of the Midienites (Judges 6:11).

The BDS would have us close our wineries, shut down our businesses and spurn G-d’s gift in returning us home. But our answer is no.

The Ben- Sa’adon’s extraordinary winery illustrates that time has passed where the Jews must hide in their wine presses for fear of their enemies. G-d has returned us to our land, and so our winepresses will flow forth and provide the world with vintages made from grapes grown in the
soil of the Promised Land.

Where to buy
Tura wines are available for purchase all over Israel, and through their website, the world.