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History of Rishon LeZiyyon


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Rishon LeZion was founded on July 31, 1882 by ten Hovevei Zion pioneers from Kharkov, Ukraine (then the Russian Empire) headed by Zalman David Levontin. Reuven Yudalevich was also a member of the group. The pioneers purchased 835 acres (337.91 ha) of land southeast of present-day Tel Aviv, part of the town land of the Arab village of Ayun Kara (literally ' fountain of the crier').Ayun Kara was the scene of a bloody battle between Turkish and New Zealand troops on November 14, 1917. A stone cenotaph was erected by the people of Rishon LeZion to the memory of the New Zealanders who fell that day, but it has since been destroyed.

The founders faced numerous difficulties. The soil was sandy, water was scarce and the settlers had no agricultural experience. After a well was dug and more pioneers arrived – the Biluim – the colony slowly took shape. Notable members of this group includeFani Belkind, Israel Belkind, Shimshon Belkind, Yoel Drubin, Dr. Haim Hissin, and David Yudilovich. When Baron Edmond James de Rothschild took over, sending in his administrators, major progress was made in the spheres of agriculture, citrus and viticulture. Under Rothschild's patronage, the Carmel-Mizrahi Winery was established in 1886.

David Ben-Gurion was head of workers' union at the winery before later becoming Israel's first Prime Minister. The first Hebrew school in the country opened in Rishon LeZion in 1889. Dov Lubman Haviv taught there and Mordechai Lubman Haviv was an educational inspector. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, known as the father of modern Hebrew, was a teacher in Rishon LeZion. In 1890, Rishon LeZion had a population of 359. Five years later, the figure had risen to 380, and by 1900, to 526. In 1911, 4,000 dunams of land in Rishon LeZion were planted with grapes and 254 dunams with other fruit orchards.

Development was hindered by the lack of a water source. Baron Rothschild brought in experts who located water at 42 meters below ground. The groundwater
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