Avihayil (, lit. ''Father of strength'') is a
moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
in central
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Located to the north-east of
Netanya
Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...
, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Hefer Valley Regional Council
The Hefer Valley Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק חפר, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Hefer'') is a regional council in the Hefer Valley region of the Sharon plain in central Israel. It is named after an administrative district in ...
. In it had a population of .
Name
The moshav was named after the biological father of biblical
Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
().
History
In 1921, Jewish veterans of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
settled on desert land allocated to it by the
British Mandate government in the northeastern
Negev
The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...
, near
Tel Arad
Tel Arad ( he, תל ערד), in Arabic Tell 'Arad (تل عراد), is an archaeological tell, or mound, located west of the Dead Sea, about west of the modern Israeli city of Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the ...
. However, the settlement was abandoned after no water was found.
As part of the
Settlement of the Thousand
The Settlement of the Thousand ( he, התיישבות האלף, ''Hityashvut HaElef'') refers to two separate Zionist plans to settle Jewish families on farms in Mandate Palestine. The first started in September 1926,Emek Hefer
The Hefer Valley Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק חפר, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek Hefer'') is a regional council in the Hefer Valley region of the Sharon plain in central Israel. It is named after an administrative district in ...
on 19 July 1932 on a stretch of sand dunes on land owned by the
Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
. The founders were veterans of the Zion Mule Corps and the
Jewish Legion
The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers in the British Army, raised to fight against the Ottoman Empire during ...
, battalions of the British Army that had fought under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
John Henry Patterson, a vocal Zionist advocate and the "godfather of the Israeli army". Colonel Patterson visited the moshav in 1937, and in his last years expressed his desire to be buried in Israel with his men.
[Remains of ‘godfather of Israeli army’ buried in Israel](_blank)
/ref>
In 1946 Avihayil merged with the neighboring moshav, Ein HaOved. The founders were immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, as well as several natives
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
of Eretz Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
. In 1947, Avihayil had a population of 600.museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
of the Jewish Legion and clubhouse for veterans.
Colonel Patterson died in California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in 1947, less than a year before the establishment of the State of Israel, and was interred at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery
Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery is a cemetery in Los Angeles at 1831 West Washington Boulevard in the Pico-Union district, southwest of Downtown.
It was founded as Rosedale Cemetery in 1884, when Los Angeles had a population of approximately 28,000, ...
in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. In 2014, Patterson's ashes were brought to Israel and buried at the moshav cemetery, in the presence of Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
and other dignitaries.
Notable residents
* Gabi Neumark
Gabriel "Gabi" Neumark (גבי נוימרק; August 17, 1946 – December 4, 2000) was an Israeli basketball player. He played for the Israeli Basketball Premier League, and for the Israeli national basketball team.
Biography
Neumark's hometow ...
(1946–2000), basketball player
See also
*Sholem Schwarzbard
Samuel "Sholem" Schwarzbard (russian: Самуил Исаакович Шварцбурд, ''Samuil Isaakovich Shvartsburd'', yi, שלום שװאַרצבאָרד, french: Samuel 'Sholem' Schwarzbard; 18 August 1886 – 3 March 1938) was a Jewis ...
(1886–1938), Yiddish poet, soldier, anarchist; buried in the cemetery of Moshav Avihail
References
{{Hefer Valley Regional Council
Moshavim
Populated places established in 1932
Jewish villages in Mandatory Palestine
Populated places in Central District (Israel)