Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Ingenuity and Necessity

Ingenuity is rampant here in Israel, for as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.
If you can't find it, make it, sew it, invent it. That seems to be the motto here.
And it has spawned some of the most amazing ideas I've ever seen.

No place to have a garden since you live on the third floor?
No problem, plant in pots, plant on the roof, build yourself your own little dirt patch to place on a mirpeset- and watch those carrots and peppers enjoy themselves.

Water for the garden a problem?
For those who want it badly enough, Mother in Israel came up with all these absolutely brilliant ideas to reuse water in order to create a garden! (I mean- we do live in a desert here!)

No dresses for a wedding?
Sew them yourselves- I recently attended a gorgeous wedding, in which the mother of the chasan added fantastic details to her own plain black suit, making it stunning, and all the sisters sewed beautiful gowns for all their little children.

Need ways to make money?
You'd be surprised at how creative Israelis can get. From the cake selling by major yeshivos every day, to the small gift packages created specifically for the American seminary girls- Israeli families have found small ways to maximize their income.

Some may call it dealing with a more frugal society. I say- brilliant. It's pure ingenuity to save every scrap item and turn it into a fun filled time for your kids. (This isn't just unique to Israeli's though- Juggling Frogs is an entire blog on a truly inventive mother's ideas!)

Necessity may be the mother of invention- but some of these inventions are what keeps the society afloat- so they become the necessities.
Kudos to all those inventive people out there- keep it coming!

3 comments:

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I do love inventions, really cool what people think of!

One interesting one, is that if you bring sandwiches in plastic bags to work or other places that have a public fridge, and find people are stealing it, then take a green marker and color the bag a little so that it looks like mold, and then people don't take it. I thought it was a brilliant idea.

Then there's using ice cube trays as paint pallets, so kids can paint their own stuff neatly. So many cool stuff out there, it's amazing what the mind is capable of thinking of.

nmf #7 said...

Babysitter- Green mold? I think I would be revolted as well!
The ice cube tray is brilliant though! Thanks.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

yea, it does sound gross, but if you know it's not real then at least by me it doesn't seem to be that bad.