Local sandals and craftsmenship

I have a thing with sandals. They represent simplicity and naiveté to me. In summer I wear sandals made in Israel (Source Sandals) in Tirat Carmel. I take care to buy their sandals since I visited the place and was favorably impressed.
For my wedding, I looked for (and found) biblical sandals, the old style – simple.

Last week I visited with my daughters and Roman the shoemaking workshop of Mush Harel from Ayelet HaShahar. We discovered a new (or rather old) and fascinating world.

Mush’s stepfather was the last shoemaker of the kibbutz (Ayelet HaShahar). As a boy, Mush worked in the workshop and helped the best he could. When the workshop was not operating anymore and the dust was piling up, it was left intact. Thus, when Mush came back to the kibbutz he could start afresh, using the old methods. The Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites and the kibbutz supported him in studying and researching, and then reconstructing the “Shoemaker’s Workshop” (“Sandlariya“). The work is done in the same way it was done years ago – the same machinery, the same materials and the same love for the craftsmanship and creativity. Mush is bringing all this into the workshop.

When we visited, Mush showed us a Wissotzky Tea parcel that has been there for years, with the tea bags still intact.

He also opened a drawer where he has the list of all the children who started school in 1954 – and their shoe sizes!

We spent a wonderful day there. The girls (and the adults) studied the machinery, the tools and the methods. We made miniature sandals of leather using wooden hammers, big scissors and a hole-puncher. The girls made leather bracelets. We enquired about the machines and the leather. For a historian like me it was like walking in an archeological site that is still operating!

We learnt again how important local economy is. We learnt about a craftsman working and creating in his community, for the community members, and he earns a living. We heard stories of the past and Mush’s story, bringing back to life a disappearing craftsmanship.

The workshop in Ayelet HaShahar offers tours, workshops, talks – and sandals, of course, biblical style, hand-made.

For me – it strengthens the motivation to push forward our efforts to encourage local economy and local craftsmen – not only those who grow food.

We have ordered sandals for the girls and myself, hand-made to measure. Our sizes were taken and we could choose the leather and thread colors.

Since then, Noga, our youngest, keeps demanding to have tools and materials, saying that she intends to be a shoemaker and she has to practice.

Children who see craftsmen in their community may develop a wide range of abilities, and learn about the origins of the things they use. They may learn how to make everyday objects. But most important – they will grow into a reality in which craftsmen are an integral and meaningful part of the community and the economy.