Four photographs documenting the attempt of Agudath Israel to settle in Emek Jezreel, portraying the Machaneh Yisrael colony and its settlers. [Emek Jezreel, 1925-1926].
These photographs relate the forgotten story of the first pioneering attempt of Orthodox Jews to establish an agricultural settlement in Emek Jezreel.
One of the photographs depicts the entrance gate of the colony, bearing the sign: "Machaneh Yisrel - Colony of the Agudath Yisrael Organisation". The second photograph portrays a guard of the colony, riding a horse. In the third photograph, the houses of the colony are seen in the distance, one of the settlers is tilling his field, and Mount Tabor is seen in the background. The fourth photograph depicts members of the colony studying in the shack that served as synagogue.
In the first Agudath Israel Knessia Gedola in Vienna, 1923, decisions were reached regarding the encouragement of settlement in Eretz Israel. Approximately a year later, Agudath Israel purchased some 4000 dunam of land in Emek Jezreel, north of Afula, near the Arab village Iksal. The land was divided into small portions and sold to Orthodox buyers, primarily from Poland. In July 1925, the first group of settlers immigrated and began the settlement named Machaneh Yisrael. Within a few month, thorough infrastructural work was done, a carpentry was set up, residential huts were built, wells were dug, a road was paved and work began to prepare the land for agriculture. Later that year, the Agudath Israel center in Frankfurt published a printed album with photographs of the new colony, in order to encourage potential buyers. At the end of the year, the colony was home to some 90 settlers, mostly Chassidic young men from Poland, yet various problems relating to lack of training and resources led to the official closure of the place in October 1926. Following a second unsuccessful attempt, the land was leased to Arabs, and eventually the place was abandoned in 1932. Subsequent years saw further attempts by Agudath Israel to resettle the place, the last one being in 1938, by the Chafetz Chaim group from Gedera and the Agudah Youth Kibbutz in Kfar Saba. It was Shemittah year, and due to internal disputes and various difficulties, the place was finally abandoned. The huts, barn and stable were dismantled, and only one stone structure remained standing. (See enclosed material: Yosef Kopolowitz - "Agudath Israel Olah BeChomah - HaYishuv Machaneh Yisrael BeEmek Yizre'el", Et-Mol, issue 227, Adar-February 2013, pp. 21-24). These photographs are from the first settlement attempt in 1925-1926.
4 photographs. Approx. 11X16 cm. Good condition. Official Hebrew stamp on verso: "Machaneh Yisrael near Afula - colony of the Agudath Israel organization".