About
Nice to meet you. I am Yonat Mordroch, partner of Gabi, and mother to Nur and Sol. I am originally from Tel Aviv, and a few years ago, after travelling around Israel and the world, I moved to Arad with my family. My life experience and my love of nature and the Judean Desert lead me to start my independent small business.
I have always loved nature... already as a Tel Avivian child I searched for it everywhere, whether playing with ants and cats in the back yard of our building, or splashing in mud at the public garden (☺) For many years I have learned and discovered about nature in different ways.
As of today I live a healthy and Vegan lifestyle. I make my own natural soaps in my workshop that I originally started in my personal kitchen. Today my workshop is located in the Artist Quarters in Arad.
How did I arrive at the world of natural natural care products?
It all started when I was a little girl, and we would travel to my Aunt, who lived in a rural village. I truly loved the fragrances of the fields on the way and driving through these open areas. But more important to me was my Aunt's medicinal herb garden. This always mesmerized me.
As I matured it was clear to me that I would study Biology. Therefore I completed, with honors, a Bachelors and Masters Degree at the Hebrew University, and was on my way to completing a Ph.D. in biology. But despite having loved learning and working in the lab I felt that something was missing. There were a few things that started to bother me. For example; experimenting on animals which I was supposed to perform, despite my feeling that this was unnecessary, leading to nightmares and agony. With the understanding that I was surrounded by dangerous chemicals all the time, I began to realize that this wasn't for me.
First thing I returned to being a Vegetarian and after this I left the University and moved to the village of Shacharut, in the Arava Desert in the very south of the country. There I reconnected to nature and felt like I was being re-born. In continuation of this, I took a long trip to India, Nepal, and Tibet. After this I returned to the desert, this time to Sede Boker, where I began working as a research assistant in the department of Desert Ecology, studying communication between plants. It was interesting and fun but it still wasn't what I was searching for. So I continued to search and again traveled to India. On this trip, I experienced Indian and Tibetan medicine, which cured me of a chronic problem I have had for 10 years. This field grounded me and I discovered a totally new approach to understanding the body (a holistic approach that I was very much lacking in the scientific world I knew of up until then). I suddenly understood how much the chemicals I had been using on a daily basis (for example face creams, commercial soaps, and more) were in fact harming me. I began to realize what I was exposed to at this time, spending large amounts of money in attempting to nurture myself. That leads me to understand that I wanted to work with Nature and in Nature, and to focus on natural care in some way. At that time, a friend of mine mentioned to me the phrase "Ethnobotany" – the research of how cultures around the world use plants, and that had sparked something in me. I knew that from this I would discover my destiny that I had been searching for all along.
Hence I decided to do it, and completed another Master's Degree, this time in Anthropology, researching traditional medicine among the Bedouins in the Negev Desert. For my research thesis, I learned from the Bedouins themselves, as I sat in their tents. I listened to them and was present at their (very different) traditional treatments. Here I was fulfilling my dream - I was in nature, learning about nature truly. In the process of my studies, I learned first hand, from my wonderful friends Assaf and Amber, how to make natural soaps, and from this, I started to make my own soaps for friends and family.
After this, I gave many workshops, most of them as a volunteer, where I have taught about natural care products, medicinal herbs, and soap making. I organized tours and more. I truly fell in love with this field.
One day the organizers of the "open houses" festival in Arad asked me if I would facilitate workshops for soap making for the public. In search of the perfect recipe for these workshops, I found myself addicted to making soap. My house filled up with huge amounts of soap, but I couldn't and didn't want to stop making them. The situation didn't improve when I began distributing the soap to friends and family. So I understood that I needed to start a business for soap making in order to have a reason to continue making more. Soon after I also realized that giving workshops would play a part in this business, so that each day I get to enjoy making the soap and also passing on the knowledge and experience I have acquired, and continue to acquire over the years.
Yonat Midbar allows me to combine all the worlds that interest me, and to learn through excitement, interest, and much love. This is another way of being born again, and despite not knowing exactly where this will lead me, I am open to the adventures and opportunities that are yet to come on this path of growth and pleasure!
Yours with Love,
Yonat
