Gdud HaAvoda ( he, גדוד העבודה) was a socialist Zionist work group in Mandate Palestine.

History

Officially known as the Yosef Trumpeldor Labor and Defense Battalion ( he, גדוד העבודה וההגנה על־שם יוסף טרומפלדור), Gdud HaAvoda was established on 8 August 1920 for the purpose of Jewish labor, settlement and defense.Gdud Ha'avodah
Zionism and Israel It was named after

Joseph Trumpeldor Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (21 November 1880 – 1 March 1920, he, יוֹסֵף טְרוּמְפֶּלְדוֹר , russian: Иосиф Владимирович (Вольфович) Трумпельдор ) was an early Zionist a ...

, who was killed at

Tel Hai Tel Hai ( he, תֵּל חַי [] "Hill of Life") is a name of the former Jewish settlement in northern Galilee, the site of an early battle between Jews and Arabs heralding the growing civil conflict, and of a monument, tourist attraction, and a c ...

by Lebanese Shia villagers, and was joined by many of Trumpeldor's followers who had made

aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

from Crimea; initial membership was around 80. The group drained swamps, paved roads, worked in agriculture and construction, establishing several

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

im, including Tel Yosef (14 December 1921), Ein Harod (22 September 1921), Kfar Giladi and

Ramat Rachel Ramat Rachel or Ramat Raḥel ( he, רָמַת רָחֵל, ''lit.'' Rachel's Heights) is a kibbutz located in central Israel. An enclave within Jerusalem's municipal boundaries and overlooking Bethlehem and Rachel's Tomb (for which the kibbutz is ...

. Many former members left to join the

Solel Boneh Solel Boneh ( he, סולל בונה, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel. History During British rule (1921-1948) Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British ...

construction company after learning their trade in the battalion. In 1923 the battalion split on ideological grounds; the left-wing demanded socialism, whilst the right-wing were more interested in Zionist pioneering. Despite the split, by 1925 the group had over 650 members, including

Israel Shochat Israel Shochat (;1886–1962) was a founder of and a key figure in Bar-Giora and Hashomer, two of the precursors of the Israel Defense Forces. Biography Russia and Germany Israel Shochat was born in 1886 in Lyskovo, in the Grodno Governorate of t ...

Manya Shochat Manya Shochat (1880–1961) was a Russian-Jewish politician and the "mother" of the collective settlement in Palestine, the forerunner of the kibbutz movement. Biography Manya Wilbushewitch (also Mania, Wilbuszewicz/Wilbushewitz; later Shochat) ...

and

Yitzhak Sadeh Yitzhak Sadeh ( he, יצחק שדה, born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. ...

. In December 1926 a communist faction of the battalion was expelled. Some members of the faction returned to Russia, where they formed a commune named Vojo Nova (Esperanto for "A New Way"), which was later liquidated during the Stalinist purges. The following year Gdud HaAvoda stopped work, and in 1929 it was dissolved after Kfar Giladi, Ramat Rachel, Tel Hai and Tel Yosef formed the

HaKibbutz HaMeuhad The Kibbutz Movement ( he, התנועה הקיבוצית, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made ...

movement.

References

{{reflist Organizations established in 1920 Zionist organizations Jewish organizations in Mandatory Palestine Organizations disestablished in 1929 Labor Zionism 1920 establishments in Mandatory Palestine