The Olive Press

We got to press olives on Monday!!

I've learned a lot recently about pressing olives. On Sunday we visited the Garden of Gethsemane and I was reminded of something I learned just this past week. In Matthew 26:36 it says, "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder."

Gethsemane means in Hebrew "olive press" so Christ brought his disciples to an olive press and left them to go pray. It's likely he went to pray in an olive garden nearby though it's never specified in Matthew's account. The interesting thing is that an olive press must be out of the sun so that the oil doesn't turn bitter. They were often placed in underground caves where sun couldn't enter. Christ likely brought his disciples to an underground olive press where they slept and where Christ returned after his suffering. It was there that Judas betrayed him and he was arrested.

There is so much symbolism behind pressing olives! Just as we must be covered by Christ's atonement in order to be pure enough to live with God the olive press must be covered for the oil to be pure enough for culinary use. Also, just as Christ bled from every pore as he was crushed by the weight of the sins and pains of the world, a red blood-like substance is comes out of the olives as they are crushed by the weight of the olive press. Maybe you'll be able to see more symbols as you look through pictures from our olive pressing activity today. 

The olive press at the Jersualem Center is out in the sun since it's main purpose is to give us the opportunity to see the process. 

We rinsed and then soaked the olives in water in this huge blue tub to prepare them for pressing. 

Here we're pushing the heavy wooden lever attached to a heavy stone that crushes the olives as it turns on top of the round flat stone.

Sister Anderson was wanting to see some pain so Jessica and I really tried to milk it in this picture :) 

Brothers Chadwick, Anderson, and Whitchurch taking their turn... They lasted a solid 30 seconds. 

Here is what the olives looked like after crushing them.

We took the crushed olive mix and placed it in these flat and round woven bags that we stacked one on top of the other to be pressed. 

Micah and I using an olive press that has a screw-like mechanism. 

You can see the oil dripping down the stone here - it was a much darker color than I expected.

Here's my Instagram picture! You can see the whole olive press here. The liquid from the olives flows into the containers at the bottom and the oil rises to the top to be skimmed off.

Ashley and I in front of the other olive press.

The log was tied to heavy stones and then it's lifted up on one side so that the other side presses down on the olives.

Here's where the olives are pressed.

One of the JC employees skimming the oil off the top.

We had a great day pressing olives!!