By Michael Hazani
Tzvi Shechterman built a “security house” atop a hill on his lands, overseeing the surrounding area, for the protection of his Jewish workers. There he housed the first pioneering core group that planted the initial stake in the soil. Yaakov (Butzin) ben Shmuel, the group’s leader, warned representatives of the Hapoel HaMizrachi Executive Committee, who had come to visit, that the area was teeming with Arabs and there was no real sense of security. A reinforcement of six veteran pioneers with weapons training was sent, bolstering the morale of the younger members.
The initial idea was to name the place Givat Tzvi, in honor of landowner Tzvi Shechterman. However, Shechterman firmly refused and instead named it Givat Chaim, after his rabbi, Chaim Tchernowitz (“Rav Tza’ir”).
On Lag BaOmer 1932, a ceremonial planting of the first citrus tree was held - an event that paved the way for the future village of Kfar Yavetz. The most prominent leaders of the religious Zionist movement and Jewish community participated in the moving occasion. Among them was the then–Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, later Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, along with leaders of the movement: M. Shapira, S.Z. Shragai, A. Kastenbaum, and others. Even guests from the neighboring Arab villages of Tayibe and Qalansuwa came, as they still viewed the effort to cultivate the land positively. Rabbi Uziel addressed the Arab dignitaries in Arabic, urging them to maintain peaceful and friendly relations with the religious pioneers.
When the ceremony ended and the honored guests returned home, reality set in: the harsh daily life began for the new immigrants who remained, facing the challenge of building something from nothing. The sense of being the first, of turning the virgin soil of the Sharon into a new home, gave them the strength to endure the hardships that laid the foundations for religious settlement in the Land of Israel.
At the end of 1932, Michael Hazani was appointed by the Hapoel HaMizrachi Executive Committee to lead the group. He began long negotiations with the Jewish National Fund (JNF) to receive a 400-dunam tract of land adjacent to Shechterman’s for Hapoel HaMizrachi settlement. In 1933, the group from Givat Chaim officially settled their new land. The JNF’s naming committee decided to honor Rabbi Ze’ev Yavetz, a Mizrachi leader, writer, historian, and one of the first Hebrew educators, and the new site was named Kfar Yavetz.
The group settling the land numbered 15. A total of 120 dunams was allocated for 25 plots, with the remaining land worked collectively.
Chana Rubin was the first woman to agree to come to this remote location and be a support to her fiancé Michael and his fellow pioneers in the founding nucleus of Kfar Yavetz. Later she was joined by her friend Zehava. In an interview with journalist N. Gutkind of HaTzofe, Chana recounted:
“There were no conditions for women’s living quarters. Most of the men had no partners yet, except for Zehava, the fiancée (later wife) of Avraham Ehrlich. There was no water either. The essential liquid was brought to us by Abu Farid, an elderly Arab from Qalansuwa, who carried it in a jara (a traditional clay jug). Water was supplied this way until the first well was dug and fresh water was found.”
Incidentally, it was Abu Farid who turned Michael Hazani into an outstanding laborer.
“Ya Sahbi,” said the experienced fellah to the newly arrived pioneer, “these young men who dig with such speed and enthusiasm think they’re great ‘shatters’ (tough guys). But in two hours, they’ll be exhausted and unable to finish the day’s quota. You - work shwaya shwaya (slowly, slowly), at a steady pace, and you’ll finish first…”
Within days, Michael became the best laborer - thanks to Abu Farid’s wisdom, which Hazani adopted in other areas of life as well. He would later say:
“Not with showiness or bravado, no dramatic leaps - only a slow and steady march on the public path, through relentless and grueling effort.”
Back to Chana. The thought that no one was cooking for the men troubled her. Despite the harsh conditions, she decided to come to the site and be the cook for the pioneers - even though she wasn’t much of a cook. She recounted:
“When I arrived, there was a long shack surrounded by tents. I walked in and found all the guys lying around with terrible stomach pains. What happened? They’d been hungry and decided to cook rice in rusty tin cans. ‘I’ll cook,’ I told them, ‘but not in rusty cans! We must go back to the city and buy proper pots.’”
From then on, the members of Kfar Yavetz became Chana’s “test subjects” in the kitchen.
“There was an Arab from Qalansuwa named Abdallah who used to bring vegetables. Once a week we’d get sardines or bread from Tel Aviv, and sometimes even meat. When there was no bread, I’d fry doughnuts in a pan… One day we were hungry, and there was no bread or flour. I decided that we had no choice but to harness the mules and go to the nearest village - Harutz - to buy bread. It was winter. I remember wrapping myself in Michael’s leather coat - the same one his father had bought for him before we made aliyah - and we set off. We reached Harutz and bought bread. On the way back, it poured rain, and the mud made travel difficult. Our wagon driver, Moshe Weiss, couldn’t manage the mules. He got angry with me and said, ‘Chana, what have you done to us? I don’t even know the way back. We’ll get stuck in the mud!’ He threw down the reins, and we entrusted ourselves to the mules. They brought us safely back. The only problem was that not only were we soaked - the bread had turned to dough…”
Chana continued, telling of the first wedding in Kfar Yavetz - hers and Michael’s:
“It was something special. The entire Hapoel HaMizrachi headquarters came from Tel Aviv in three buses, along with sacks of bread and oranges… It was considered a historic event. Arabs from nearby villages came in droves, played their music, and we danced late into the night. After the celebration, we returned to our normal routine. We moved into half a room. On the other side of the wooden partition lived Yosef and Rivka Zilberberg. I also learned how to bandage wounds and became the village nurse. During the day I helped Michael in the orchard. He’d do the grafting and I’d tie the branches. What else do I remember? The great joy we felt when the electric company installed our first transformer, the long, difficult months of pregnancy before our firstborn, Elitzur, arrived, and the awful boils (furuncles) that plagued all our members that year - especially the new immigrants.”
From: Shaul Meislish, “Father of Religious Settlement – The Life Story of Michael Hazani”