Petah Tikvah
The name of this city, located
east of Tel
Aviv means “Gateway to Hope.”
Religious Jews from Jerusalem established it in 1878. Three entrepreneurial
families initially established the settlement,
one of which was Rabbi Moshe Yoel Salomon's
family, from Jerusalem. Additional families
joined them in 1880.
Its name was chosen from the prophecy of
Hosea (2:15),
"And I will give her vineyards from thence,
and the Valley of Achor for a door of hope:
and she shall sing there, as in the days of
her youth, and as in the day when she came
up out of the land of Egypt."
The settlers' intention was to establish
a new settlement in the Achor Valley - near Jericho.
They purchased some land there, but the Turkish
Sultan cancelled the purchase and forbade
them from settling there. They retained the
name Petah Tikvah - as a symbol of their aspirations.
Located in what was a swamp area near the
source of the Yarkon River - the land was
purchased from the village of Mulabbis. For
a time, the settlers had to move to a nearby
location (site of modern day Savyon), until
the swamps were dried, with the help of Baron
Edmond de Rothschild.
Like Degania Alef, which was known as the
"Mother of the Kevutzot," Petah
Tikvah was known as the "Mother of the
Moshavot" - or small cooperative villages.
It was really the first modern agricultural
settlement in Israel.
Many settlers from the First and Second
Aliyah found their way to Petah Tikvah,
where they established the foundations of
the Israeli Labor movement.
While you can still see remnants of Petah
Tikvah's agricultural roots, (primarily in
the form of orange groves), today, the city
is one of Israel's largest industrial centers.
Sources: Copyright © 2001 Gems
in Israel All rights reserved. Reprinted
with Permission. |