Kulanu Ba'aretz: Jewish Pioneers

On Tuesday, we ventured out on our last tiyul with Naama. Thank you Naama for teaching us all about the places in Eretz Yisrael. First stop was the historic city of Zichron Ya'akov, which was founded in December 1882 when 100 Jewish pioneers from Romania, members of the Hovevei Zion movement, acquired land in this area. In 1883, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild, a strong supporter of Zionism, became the patron of the settlement and drew up plans for its residential layout and agricultural economy.

The First Aliyah Museum was our starting point. This museum is dedicated to the immigrants who came to Israel with the First Alliya. While touring the museum, we joined the journey of the courageous men, women and children who laid the foundation of Zionist settlement in the land of Israel.

In the main street of Zichron Ya'akov is Bet Aaronsohn, the house of Aharon Aaronsohn (1876-1917), a distinguished botanist who during the First World War founded an underground organization to fight the Turkish rulers of Palestine. The Aaronsohns were a family of pioneers who immigrated to Eretz Yisrael from Romania in 1882. Their father, Ephraim Fischel, belonged to the founders of Zichron Yaakov and was a talented farmer.

After an amazing lunch, we had a chance to stroll around.

Next we visited Atlit detainee camp. Atlit was a camp for Jewish illegal immigrants seeking refuge in Palestine during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The camp, which operated in the 1930's and 40's, was a detention center run like a concentration camp, surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers. Many of the detainees were Jews who escaped Nazi Europe. The British authorities, succumbing to Arab demands to limit Jewish immigration, refused to allow these Jews to enter the country.

Last stop of the day was Caesarea National Park. Caesarea was named in honor of the Roman patron, Emperor Augustus Caesar. Because of its coastline location, it was a strategic spot for Herod the Great to make a great harbor and seaport for his kingdom, and became the administrative capital of Roman Palestine. Caesarea boasts a 5,000 seat theater built over two thousand years ago that is still used today for concerts. While touring the ruins, we visited a virtual presentation designed to bring the area to life and introduce us to some historical figures.