The “Settlement of the Thousand” PlanPrehistoric SitesThe First Water Reservoir in Moshav HerutCooling and Egg Storage Facility, Moshav HerutThe Secretariat House in Moshav HerutA Bit of History…Yitzhak Magali - Visionary and Founder of the “H̱erut” Settlement GroupThe “Herut Yehuda” OrganizationLand AcquisitionA Brief History of TimeAgriculture in Kfar H̱erutThe “Bull House”Yulianka the cowEducation and Culture in HerutThe Orange Dance: 1980–2016The way to schoolTo school and backThe Hut in Herut Can SpeakThe Story of the Road”Expansion of the MoshavHerut's Archaeological Site

The “Herut Yehuda” Organization

The Herut Yehuda organization was founded in 1927 and consisted of approximately 120 members, most of whom had already worked for several years in the citrus-growing colonies and had gained expertise in the field. The organization was among the first to set out with the clear intention of settling in the orchard regions.

As early as 1925, when the entire Working Settlement Movement still envisioned its place solely in the Jezreel Valley, based on the model of a mixed farm, members of Herut Yehuda dared to speak of a new vision - settling in the orchard region based on an intensive and diverse agricultural model. With great determination, the members began raising funds to finance land acquisition.

After the organization’s first attempt to establish a settlement near Herzliya failed (in 1928), the members chose to relocate to the Tel Mond area. Together with members of the “Chai” organization, who joined them, they founded Moshav Herut in 1931. True to their original plan of settling in the orchard region, the organization surpassed many others in its preparation for settlement. As early as 1928, the members had established a citrus nursery in Kfar Saba with over 150,000 seedlings and had acquired draft animals and various agricultural tools.

Immediately upon receiving part of the land designated for them, the group moved their camp of wooden huts to the Tel Mond area. They plowed 600 dunams of land, commissioned a topographic map (from surveyor Peper), developed an irrigation plan, and ordered a site plan from architect Richard Kauffmann. The organization drafted a detailed settlement plan and opted for a dispersed settlement model.

Due to delays in completing the purchase of all the land required for all members, only part of the group initially settled the land, while the rest waited their turn and supported the pioneers. The settlers dug a well and prepared cement pipes for irrigation.

By the end of 1930, the organization — by then numbering 200 members - had invested approximately £E12,000 (Palestine Pounds), averaging about £E60 per member. When it became clear that full land acquisition would not be completed in the near future, some members left the organization and moved elsewhere, leaving 120 members who remained committed.

According to the original plan of the Agricultural Center, three settlement organizations were to be included under the “Settlement of the Thousand” project. However, since the representatives of the Economic Company refused to begin work before the plan was approved by company leadership in London and Berlin - and even the previously agreed-upon map and building plan preparation was delayed - the organizations had no choice but to undertake the mapping, topographic surveys, and planning themselves. It was agreed that all such expenses, if within the budget later approved by the Settlement of the Thousand project, would be recognized by the company and deducted from each settler’s required personal contribution (£E30).

The Herut Yehuda members established a camp of wooden huts, housing ten members who worked in the Tel Mond orchards, and another twenty members who collectively planted on the organization’s land. Later, members began settling gradually, by lottery, with mutual aid and support from the entire group.

 

(Source: Tel Mond Documentation Museum Archive; Rina Idan, 1999. “Jewish Settlement in the Central Sharon Region, 1929–1939.” Doctoral dissertation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.)