Draft:Nissim Krispil

Nissim Krispil Writer, researcher and anthropologist. Born in Morocco in the small port city of Mogador (Essaouira) on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Birthdate 1947 is approximate for Moroccan Jews who were born at home, not in hospital. Nissim was born into a large family of humble means; his father was a shopkeeper selling matches and candles; his mother was a seamstress.  Between 1950 - 1970 were the years of the great emigration of Moroccan Jews: Families with financial means immigrated to France and Canada, those without immigrated to Israel. The Krispil family immigrated to Israel in 1954. The prevailing migration route at the time was from Morocco to the immigrant camp in Marseille, France, and from there to Israel by ship.  Arriving in Israel, they settled in Migdal Haemek, in a small wooden hut that had to accommodate a family of ten. After early schooling both secular and religious, Nissim studied at the agricultural secondary school "Kfar Hanoar Hadate" in "Kfar Hassedem", where he completed training to become a nature and agriculture teacher.  Nissim enlisted in the army immediately after the Six Day War in 1967 and finished military service with the rank of Captain. In the next years he honed his skills as an educator and trailblazer teaching his lessons directly in nature. This may have been the first field school of its kind in Israel.  These were the first years after the conquest of Judea and Samaria. Nissim was drawn to the landscapes of the Arab villages, their traditional ways of agriculture and material culture. He saw in the Arab peasants the image of his ancient ancestors. There, for Nissim, the descriptions of nature and agriculture depicted by the prophets of the ancient world were brought to life. Deeply inspired, over many years he inspired others, guiding children and adults, tourists and residents, with the aim of fostering their love of nature, and bringing stories of the Bible to life for them. With this intention he made a comprehensive study of the Arab material culture in Judea and Samaria, and interviewed hundreds of informants.  Nissim focused mainly on the wild plants of Israel and their uses among the Arab peasants. His field research continued for close to ten years. He interviewed folk healers who were working in Judea and Samaria at that time. Part of the research was conducted in collaboration with the Volcani Institute, the Department of Medicinal Plants, under the direction of Professor Zohra Yaniv and Professor Dan Flavitz. With respect for the quality of his field research and trainings, his mentors urged Nissim to document his findings in writing. Working by day as a guide at the field school, and writing deep into the night, he completed the first volume of the encyclopedia, Yalkut Hatsmahim - The Bag of Plants, featuring plants named from A to C.  The success of the first volume compelled Nissim to complete a five-volume comprehensive encyclopedia of the wild plants of Israel. Every featured plant includes a botanical description, its place in the ancient sources of Judaism, its place in folk medicine and folklore, and a section dealing with field resources and uses of that plant in field activities.  Yalkut Hatsmahim – The Bag of Plants became known as the go-to encyclopedia of Israel's wild plants, and continues to instruct generations of gatherers who go out into the field to gather wild plants and learn which are edible and/or medicinal.  Over the years Nissim wrote 15 books dealing with the spice and medicinal plants of Israel. Among these are Field Guide to Medicinal Plants, Medicinal plants of Maimonides, Medicinal Plants According to the Organs of the Body. Most recently

published is Medicinal Plants of Persia, by Nissim Krispil in collaboration with Gidi Gur.  At the conclusion of his field work, Nissim traveled extensively. In Yemen, he documented the remnants of the Jewish community that survived, staying among the community, learning about their way of life, their work, where the main occupation in the community was goldsmithing and making silver jewelry, among the traditional crafts in which Yemenite Jews made a living.  Nissim devoted ten years of travel and research in Morocco. His study focused on the distribution of Jewish settlement in rural districts, visiting every village Jews had settled, and conducted hundreds of interviews with the village elders who had lived among Jews and remembered them in great detail. The research shed light on the coexistence and interdependence that was in place between Jews and Arabs.  His experiences yielded thousands of photographs throughout the years, including important and rare documentation of synagogues, cemeteries, saints, the worship of saints, and pilgrimages to the graves of saints, as well as the Hiloula ceremony, an annual communal celebration at the tomb of the Jewish saint. Images of the Jewish quarter depict where Jews lived and worked, including the traditional crafts learned over the years by Arab apprentices who worked for Jewish craftsmen. Moroccan Jews made an important economic contribution to the rural and urban population. Trade and traditional crafts were in the hands of Jews. The great emigration of Moroccan Jews that took place between 1950-1970 left a huge void and economic challenge for Moroccan residents. It took the local population many years to recover and stand on their own feet again.  To date, three books by Krispil have been published about his experiences in Morocco: A guide for travelers in Morocco, The Magic of Moroccan Cuisine, and Morocco a Personal Journey -an album of Nissim’s photos throughout his research, combined with the musings he wrote. His written documentation encompasses forty research diaries that form the basis for further books about the worship of saints among Moroccan Jews, synagogues, traditional craftsmen, Jewish settlement in the rural districts and Jewish-Muslim coexistence in the Atlas Mountains.  In Cyprus Nissim began a next chapter of his research among village elders to record and document their knowledge of agriculture, and traditional uses of the wild plants in their region worthy as food, spice, and for use in healing. 

Books

• The Complete Guide of Medicinal Plants in Israel and the World, Hed Artzi Or

Yehuda, 2000, 271 pages. The Taste of Life - Everything About Spices, Maariv Library, Tel Aviv 1996, 232 pages. *

• The bag of plants - the medicinal and useful plants of Israel, an encyclopedia - 5

volumes, Kana - Yaara, Jerusalem, 1982-1989, 1955 pages.

• Bread from the earth - Parents and children cook from the field, Yaara, Jerusalem

1989, 256 pages.

• A field guide of Israel medicinal plants, published by the author, Jerusalem, 1985,

265 pages.

Morocco A Traveler's Guide, Yarid Hasfarim , Jerusalem, 1996, 359 pages.* Morocco, a personal journey, Yarid Hasfarim, Jerusalem, 1995, 400 pages.*

• Maimonides' Medicinal Plants, Yarid Hasfarim, Jerusalem, 1989, 256 pages.
• Spices - Taste of Nature, Ministry of Defense-Morag, Tel Aviv 2007, 256 pages
• The Magic of the Moroccan Kitchen - with Chef Guy Peretz, Al Hashulhan

Publishing house, 2004.

• Plant and Healing - Medicinal plants according to body organs - with Yossi Jibri,

2017

• The Ethno-Botanical Persian Medicine Book on the Silk Road, by Gidi Gur and

Nasim Crispil 2023

• Traditional craftsmen in Mount Hebron. The Israel News section of the Kibbutz

Movement, November 1987, 118 pages.

• The milk and its processing methods among the shepherd farmers in Khirbet Susia.

The herd and its produce, The Israel News section of the Kibbutz Movement, 1990.

• The peasants who dwell in the caves - customs, traditions and ways of life The

Israel News section of the Kibbutz Movement,, 1986, 71 pages.