When early summer arrives in Israel, a very lovely time of year begins for me: apricot season.

We’re really spoiled here. The markets aren’t just full of apricots—they come in all sorts of sizes, colors, and flavors. Some are small and wonderfully aromatic, while others surprise you with a subtle tartness. And then there’s this one variety that I especially look forward to every year: large, incredibly juicy, and so sweet that you feel like you can taste the sun itself. Its golden-orange skin has a delicate red tinge, as if it had been soaking up the sun’s warmth all day long.

Unfortunately, the season is much too short.

Maybe that’s exactly why apricots taste so special. You know you only have a few weeks to enjoy them fresh. And so they find their way into the shopping basket almost every day—for a snack, to bake a cake, or simply on their own, still warm from the sun.

I like that idea.

Nature holds on to nothing. It offers its fruits exactly when the time is right. And before you know it, apricot season is already over.

Perhaps that is precisely where their beauty lies. Not everything has to last forever to be precious. Some gifts are so valuable precisely because they enrich our lives for only a short time.

And since the season goes by so quickly, I make apricot jam. That way, a little piece of summer stays preserved in the jar for a long time.