Written and photographed by Nahum Eisenstadt
These pictures show some of the experimental trees, herbs and plants that Dr. Elaine is domesticating and studying for their medicinal properties. The top picture shows the Medicinal herb section where research is done for Hadassah Hospital and Tufts University in Boston for molecules of various plants that have medicinal value. In the background you can see some of the over 3000 date trees of the Majole or Dekel Nur varieties that are so profitable due to their ability to be irrigated with extremely salty water. They also serve as a windbreaker for th stong winds that blow in the Arava Valley. The lower picture shows an endangered tree specie from the Ficus family called the Ficus Psuedo Sycomorous. Its bark is a known remedy for gangreen(sp) that was ground up and mixed with honey and applied to aflicted body part. The middle picture shows the tree from the Joseph story in the Book of Exodus, called “Nataf “in Hebrew or a Lalob tree in English, its Latin name is Balanides Aegypticus and it contains an antiproliforation chemical for Leukemia and will kill the bacteria in the Nile that causes Sistosimiasis.