A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in
Ottoman Palestine
Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...
, established by the members of the
Old Yishuv
The Old Yishuv ( he, היישוב הישן, ''haYishuv haYashan'') were the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces in the Ottoman period, up to the onset of Zionist aliyah and the consolidation of the New Yishuv by the end of Wor ...
since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist immigration – the
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and
Second Aliyah
The Second Aliyah ( he, העלייה השנייה, ''HaAliyah HaShniya'') was an aliyah (Jewish emigration to Palestine) that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews immigrated into Ottoman-ruled Palestine, mos ...
.
History
In a moshava, as opposed to later communal settlements like the
kibbutz and the
moshav (plural ''moshavim''), all the land and property are privately owned. The first moshavot were established by the members of the
Jewish community
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
already living in, and by pioneers of the
First Aliyah
The First Aliyah (Hebrew: העלייה הראשונה, ''HaAliyah HaRishona''), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (''aliyah'') to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came ...
arriving to,
Ottoman Palestine.
The economy of the early moshavot was based on agriculture and resembled the grain-growing villages of eastern Europe in layout. Farms were established along both sides of a broad main street.
Petah Tikva, known as the "Mother of the Moshavot" (''Em HaMoshavot''), was founded in 1878 by members of the Old Yishuv, as well as Gai Oni, which later became
Rosh Pinna
Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...
with the arrival of the First Aliyah. The first four moshavot of the First Aliyah period were
Rishon LeZion,
Rosh Pinna
Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...
,
Zikhron Ya'akov
Zikhron Ya'akov ( he, זִכְרוֹן יַעֲקֹב, ''lit.'' "Jacob's Memorial"; often shortened to just ''Zikhron'') is a town in Israel, south of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Carmel mounta ...
and
Yesud HaMa'ala
Yesud HaMa'ala ( he, יְסוּד הַמַּעֲלָה) is a moshava and local council in northern Israel. The moshava was the first modern Jewish community in the Hula Valley. Built in 1883, the community was among a series of agricultural settl ...
.
The driving force behind these early settlements was the
Hovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. '' hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russ ...
movement in Europe, whose branches operated as financially independent settlement societies.
The moshava was governed by a charter outlining communal principles that established a covenant or bond between the residents.
Contemporary Israel: New Insights and Scholarship edited by Frederick E. Greenspahn
/ref>
Old Yishuv and First Aliyah moshavot
Chronological list by year of establishment.
* Rishon LeZion (1882)
*Rosh Pinna
Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a local council in the Korazim Plateau in the Upper Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the Northern District of Israel. It was established as Gei ...
(1882, taking over and renaming the colony of Gei Oni established in 1878 and down to three families by 1882)
*Zikhron Ya'akov
Zikhron Ya'akov ( he, זִכְרוֹן יַעֲקֹב, ''lit.'' "Jacob's Memorial"; often shortened to just ''Zikhron'') is a town in Israel, south of Haifa, and part of the Haifa District. It is located at the southern end of the Carmel mounta ...
(1882)
* Petah Tikva (1882; reestablished after first attempt in 1878)
*Mazkeret Batya
Mazkeret Batya ( he, מַזְכֶּרֶת בַּתְיָה) (lit. "Batya Memorial") is a local council in central Israel located southeast of Rehovot and from Tel Aviv. Mazkeret Batya spans an area of 7,440 dunams (7 km²). In it had a pop ...
(1883 established as "Ekron")
*Ness Ziona
Ness Ziona ( he, נֵס צִיּוֹנָה, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a town in central Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams ().
History Early history
Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of an Arab vi ...
(1883; began as "Nahalat Reuven")
*Yesud HaMa'ala
Yesud HaMa'ala ( he, יְסוּד הַמַּעֲלָה) is a moshava and local council in northern Israel. The moshava was the first modern Jewish community in the Hula Valley. Built in 1883, the community was among a series of agricultural settl ...
(1883)
* Gedera (1884)
*Bat Shlomo
Bat Shlomo ( he, בָּת שְׁלֹמֹה, ''lit.'' Salomon's Daughter) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel near Binyamina and Zikhron Ya'akov, it originally was built on 8,068 dunams of land. It falls ...
(1889)
*Meir Shfeya
Meir Shfeya ( he, מֵאִיר שְׁפֵיָה) is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in northern Israel. Located near Zikhron Ya'akov, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In it had a population of .
...
(1889)
* Rehovot (1890)
*Mishmar HaYarden
Mishmar HaYarden ( he, מִשְׁמַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, lit. ''Guard of the Jordan'') is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Korazim Plateau, on Highway 91 between Mahanayim and Gadot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mevo'ot ...
(1890)
*Hadera
Hadera ( he, חֲדֵרָה ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5&nb ...
(1891)
*Ein Zeitim
Ein Zeitim ( he, עין זיתים, lit. ''Spring of Olives'') was an agricultural settlement about 2 km north of Safed first established in 1891.
History
Ein Zeitim was founded by members of the Dorshei Zion (Seekers of Zion) society, a Z ...
(1892)
*Motza
Motza, also Mozah or Motsa, ( he, מוֹצָא, ar, موتسا) is a neighbourhood on the western edge of West Jerusalem. It is located in the Judean Hills, 600 metres above sea level, connected to Jerusalem by the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway ...
(1894)
*Hartuv
Hartuv ( he, הרטוב) or Har-Tuv (lit. "Mount of Goodness") was an agricultural colony in the Judean Hills established in 1883 on land purchased from the Arab village of Artuf by English missionaries. It was destroyed in the 1929 Palestine ri ...
(1895)
*Metula
Metula ( he, מְטֻלָּה) is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located next to the northern border with Lebanon. In it had a population of . Metula is the northernmost town in Israel.
History Bronze and Iron Age
Metu ...
(1896)
*Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia ( he, בְּאֵר טוֹבִיָּה, ''Be'er Toviya'', "Tuvia's Well") is a moshav in the Southern District of Israel. Located near the city of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In it ...
(1896 reestablished and renamed by Hovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. '' hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russ ...
; first settled in 1887 as Castina)
*Bnei Yehuda (1898; not identical with the new Bnei Yehuda)
*Mahanayim
Mahanayim ( he, מחניים, מַחֲנַיִם) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Korazim Plateau, around three kilometres northeast of Rosh Pinna, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Galilee Regional Council. In it had a ...
(1898–1912)
*Sejera
Ilaniya ( he, אִילָנִיָּה) is a moshav in northern Israel. Also known as Sejera, after the adjacent Arab village al-Shajara, it was the first Jewish settlement in the Lower Galilee and played an important role in the Jewish settlement o ...
(1899–1902), now Moshav Ilaniya
*Mas'ha (1901), renamed Kfar Tavor
Kfar Tavor ( he, כְּפַר תָּבוֹר, ar, كفر تافور) is a village in the Lower Galilee region of Northern Israel, at the foot of Mount Tabor. Founded in 1901, it was awarded local council status in 1949. In it had a population ...
in 1903
*Yavne'el
Yavne'el ( he, יַבְנְאֵל, ar, يفنيئيل) is a moshava and local council in the Northern District of Israel. Founded in 1901, it is one of the oldest rural Jewish communities in the country. According to the Israel Central Bureau o ...
(1901)
* Menahemia (1901)
* Beit Gan (1903; next to Yavne'el
Yavne'el ( he, יַבְנְאֵל, ar, يفنيئيل) is a moshava and local council in the Northern District of Israel. Founded in 1901, it is one of the oldest rural Jewish communities in the country. According to the Israel Central Bureau o ...
)
*Atlit
Atlit ( he, עַתְלִית, ar, عتليت) is a coastal town located south of Haifa, Israel. The community is in the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council in the Haifa District of Israel.
Off the coast of Atlit is a submerged Neolithic village. At ...
(1903)
* Giv'at Ada (1903)
*Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba ( he, כְּפַר סָבָא), officially Kefar Sava, is a city in the Sharon region, of the Central District of Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-largest city in Israel. The population of Kfar Saba i ...
(1904)
Colonies were also established in the Hauran on lands bought by Baron Edmond de Rothschild
Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (Hebrew: הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין ג'יימס רוטשילד - ''HaBaron Avraham Edmond Binyamin Ya'akov Rotshield''; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French memb ...
in the area of the villages of Sahem al-Jawlan, Jileen and Nafa’a, by immigrants of the First Aliyah
The First Aliyah (Hebrew: העלייה הראשונה, ''HaAliyah HaRishona''), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (''aliyah'') to Ottoman Syria between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave came ...
in a total of nine outposts, but the main five colonies, founded in 1895, had to be abandoned within a short while:
* Tiferet Binyamin (1895)
*Zichron Menachem (1895)
*Nahalat Moshe (1895)
*Achvat Yisrael (1895)
*Beit Ikar (1895).
Later moshavot
* Kinneret (1908, Second Aliyah)
*Binyamina
Binyamina-Giv'at Ada ( he, בִּנְיָמִינָה-גִּבְעַת עָדָה) is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. It is the result of the 2003 merger between the two local councils of Binyamina and Giv'at Ada. In its population was . ...
(1922, Second and Third Aliyah)
References
{{reflist
Further reading
*Ran Aaronsohn, ''Rothschild and Early Zionist Colonization'', Rowman & Littlefield and Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 2000
Rural community development
Agriculture in Israel
Jews and Judaism in Ottoman Palestine
Establishments in Ottoman Syria
Jews and Judaism in Ottoman Galilee