The Myrrh and Frankincense plants were huge hits in the ancient world. They were mostly known as perfume and incense plants but were also famous for their healing abilities. Although they are not originally indigenous to Israel and were brought in from Yemen and Ethiopia, the gospel of these wondrous plants was spread from the holy land.
"The Jews were engaged in the cultivation of the plants, and also in the production and brewing of the products," explains Prof. Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University, a researcher of the flora and fauna of the Land of Israel in ancient times.
"It was a highly desirable crop that only the Jews specialized in, and it is a fact that the Romans after the destruction of the Temple allowed the Jews to grow crops because they had the expertise and a reputation in the field. There is even evidence that the Romans, after the destruction of the Second Temple and the subsequent scorching and salting of the fields, headed from Jerusalem towards Jericho, where they waged another war, this one over every Myrrh plant because the Jews wanted to leave the land burned, to preserve the secrets"
The origin of these plants is in the region of the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa "The Jews were the only ones who succeeded in taking a wild plant," explains Prof. Amr, "cultivating it agriculturally and turning it into a useful plant. This is the Jewish mind, like in high-tech. They saw a plant that had potential and until now has not been cultivated and they do so."
The plants needed to make frankincense and myrrh haven’t been cultivated in the Land of Israel since the Middle Ages. One farmer is bringing them backhttps://t.co/sfD19UJta3 pic.twitter.com/9VA2j2Zhal
— Mosaic (@mosaicmag) December 24, 2019
Adi Lobel and his two partners Dotan Bunen, his childhood friend, and the late Giora Shamshi all from Kibbutz Yagor, have been busy growing the ancient Myrrh plant, something that hasn’t been done in Israel for thousands of years.
Two and a half years ago, Lobel and Bunen were infected with Myrrh madness when they happened to encounter it in the ornamental beds of Kibbutz Ein Gedi. They concocted an experimental cure for COVID from its fruits, began to try and grow it for the first time as an agricultural crop and now they are already distributing the oil commercially under the name "Dvir" as a medicine that "contains unique values ​​that contribute to the health of the body and mind and has also been found to be effective in relieving a wide range of symptoms." They have hope to further use Myrrh for curing other diseases, even cancer.
After the outbreak of COVID, Lobel and Bunan began distributing the concoction to patients and they firmly claim, even if it is far from being scientifically proven, that their oil was able to show relief in a short time among those who ingested it.
#Frankincense and #Myrrh and other treasures in old city #Jerusalem #Israel https://t.co/Ouu8waWHvf pic.twitter.com/MySk94bjlA
— Pilgrimtraveler.com (@KarenGentry99) December 25, 2015
"People have reported an increase in breathing within a few days," Lobel claims. Bonan added that he: "gave (the oil) to someone in the US who was sick with COVID and we saw very impressive results. Within 48 hours of her having trouble breathing and being bedridden, everything opened up and she got up from her bed."
Last May, the two had to say goodbye to the third part of their partnership - Giora Shamshi, who died of cancer. According to the two other partners, unfortunately, Shamshi’s type of cancer could not be cured with modern medicine or their oils.
