Masu'ot Yitzhak ( he, מְשּׂוּאוֹת יִצְחָק, ''lit.'' Yitzhak's Beacons) is a moshav shitufi in southern

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 near Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. The original

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 ...

in Gush Etzion was destroyed and depopulated in the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, and a new settlement was established in 1949 in a different location. In it had a population of .

History

Kibbutz Masu'ot Yitzhak was founded in 1945 in Gush Etzion, midway between

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...

. The settlers were young pioneers from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

who arrived before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The kibbutz was named for the

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

of Mandatory Palestine, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog. File:The four kibbutzes of the Gush Etzion Bloc (Kfar Etzion, Ein Zurim, Massuot Yitzhak, Revadim) overlaid on the 1943 Survey of Palestine map of Beit Fajjar.jpg, The four kibbutzes of the Gush Etzion at the time of the 1948 war ( Kfar Etzion,

Ein Zurim Ein Tzurim ( he, עֵין צוּרִים, ''lit.'' Rock Spring) is a religious kibbutz in southern Israel. Located south of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council and is a member of the Religious Kibbutz Moveme ...

, Massuot Yitzhak, Revadim) overlaid on a 1943 Survey of Palestine map File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026762.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak founders October 1945 File:"משואות יצחק" - קבלת פנים לאורחי "המזרחי" מחוץ לארץ ומתן שם לישוב שיהיה קשור עם שמו של הרב הרצוג.-JNF045163.jpeg, Musu'ot Yitzhak. 31 October 1945 File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026761.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak fencing 1945 File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026764.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak first buildings 1945 File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026767.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak celebrations 1945 Image:Masuot Yitzhak 1947.jpg, Mas'uot Yitzhak, 1947 The settlers of Masu'ot Yitzhak rose to the challenge of living in the Judean Mountains, building homes and planting orchards. In 1948, Gush Etzion was captured by the

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...

. The residents of Kfar Etzion were massacred, and all other inhabitants of Gush Etzion, including the residents of Masu'ot Yitzhak, were captured and imprisoned in Jordan. After their return from captivity in 1949, the Masu'ot Yitzhak pioneers established a new moshav of the same name near Shafir, a region inhabited by the

Philistines The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek ( LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, whe ...

in biblical times. Shafir had served as a base for the southern front of the Israeli army during the 1948 war, and the land on which the new Masu'ot Yitzhak was founded had until shortly beforehand belonged to the depopulated Palestinian village of al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya. Tzahali, a military preparatory program for religious girls, is based in Masu'ot Yitzhak.

Economy

The moshav economy is based on agriculture and industry. A reservoir was built 40 years ago to harness the winter flood waters of Nahal Lachish for farming. The water is used to irrigate of avocado trees.Mas'uot Yitzhak reservoir
Jewish National Fund

References

External links

Village website

Memorial for Masu'ot Yitzhak in Gush Etzion
Etzion Bloc *Orit Segal (2006)
Massu’ot Yizhaq Final Report
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 118. {{Jewish villages depopulated during the Israeli War of Independence Moshavim Populated places established in 1945 Populated places established in 1949 Former kibbutzim Jewish villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1945 establishments in Mandatory Palestine 1948 disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine 1949 establishments in Israel Czech-Jewish culture in Israel German-Jewish culture in Israel Hungarian-Jewish culture in Israel Slovak-Jewish culture in Israel

History

Economy

References

Further reading

External links