Autumn is the time of a very special harvest for the Holy Land: that of olives. It is the time when they change colour, going from light green to black, to purple, to dark green. And it was precisely in Jerusalem, on the mountain known as the ‘Mount of Olives’, in the convent and vegetable gardens owned by the Benedictine nuns, that we met with ‘solidarity farmers’ full of stories of friendship and interreligious dialogue. YSCA HARANI Jewish researcher on the history of Christianity For me personally, this is a very significant place. Here I practically started my friendship, my relationship through interreligious dialogue. There was a mother superior here who spoke Hebrew and I wanted my students studying Christianity to have an experience. I am Jewish, and I teach Christianity, but I have always said that it is not enough for me to teach Christianity, they must meet a Christian. Sr MARIE Bénédictines de Notre-Dame du Calvaire For us, receiving this help was a blessing on two levels. The first, very concrete, concerns the collection work. This year, because of the war, we lacked the cooperation of French or Italian volunteers and the many pilgrims who are used to coming to us in October/November. And the other blessing is that this difficulty actually stimulated meetings and made friendship grow. So it is a much appreciated good that the Israelis come to help us thanks to our friend Yiska. YSCA HARANI Jewish researcher on the history of Christianity Already during the Covid pandemic, one of the sisters had asked me to come, even with my husband, to help because there were no volunteers. I asked: do you want something more besides my family? So I brought my family but I also asked friends to come. And it became a project because many other Jews came to this place, happy to help the sisters. This year the sisters asked for help for the third time and we came back in great numbers and gladly. But there are problems for us too. Many men have been called up under arms and many of us have to take care of grandchildren. All together, Christians, Jews and Muslims, we pick olives under the rain of missiles and the sound of sirens. On the Mount of Olives, one also finds the oldest and most important cemetery for Judaism. Ysca's great-grandparents are buried there and once, during the Jewish feasts of remembrance of the dead, which coincide with the olive harvest period, Ahmad saw Ysca from afar praying at their grave. He thus discovered that it was very close to that of his loved ones. YSCA HARANI Jewish researcher on the history of Christianity For the mother superior, however, it was important that I also work with the Muslims who attend the convent. And so many other friendships were born, like with Ahmed, their gardener. That day I received an e-mail from the sisters, saying: Ahmad saw you and realised that your great-grandparents are buried there and pray for them. Today is also the Day of the Dead for us. We added your great-grandfather and great-grandmother to the prayer of the souls of all the dead. So there you have it, a Muslim working for Christian sisters praying for the dead and praying for the souls of my Jewish ancestors. After the emotion of these events, which like olives have gone through a process of transformation before the mystery of human history, the question also arises. Where do the olives go after they are picked? Sr. Marie, says that the Cistercian monks come to get them here in the monastery, sort them and then they are processed into the best quality oil, which is then sold in the monastery shops. Sr MARIE Bénédictines de Notre-Dame du Calvaire Our oil is the best, because it comes from the Mount of Olives and has an excellent reputation, and our pilgrims often come for it. We also serve it on the table in our guesthouse and monastery.