There is no need to travel all the way to Tuscany or Provence to feel like you are part of a landscape painting. The olive and fig trees, the gorgeous color palette of wild flowers, the stillness and the quiet—this is the exact opposite of urban living, which offers even the most jaded of city folk the opportunity to enjoy the simple pleasure of hearing the birds sing. All of this pastoral beauty is just a stone’s throw from the bustling city, in the Ein Kerem suburb of Jerusalem. Even Waze has discovered the Yemenite Valley, so why not leave your troubles behind and revel in the beauty? Taste delicious goat cheese, home-made jams and wine made by the Yemenite neighborhood’s own Efrat Giat.
Efrat’s tasty cheeses are made from milk from her herd of goats, and her jams are made from fruit that she picks herself from the trees.
During the 1948 War of Independence, the area became home to many new arrivals to Israel, including two truckloads of immigrants from Yemen who moved into houses abandoned by Arabs. At first, they objected to its distance from the Holy City, but after seeing its abundant fruit trees, they agreed to stay. As is customary among our “tribes,” most of the Yemenite immigrants chose to stay and settle in one of two valleys in the area, which in turn became known (and is still known to this day) by its official name, the Yemenite Valley.
From an article: “Modern Times: The Mountain’s Daughter” by Shiri Golan