Moshav Azri’el, the youngest of the Tel Mond bloc settlements, was established in 1951 by immigrants from Yemen. It forms the third side of the triangle alongside Ya’bez and Porat.
In 1948, Yemeni Muslims massacred Jewish immigrants who were staying in a transit camp in Aden. This horrific event served as a wake-up call for Yemen’s Jews. Many began abandoning their villages and property, making their way - often on foot or in long caravans - to the immigrant camp in Hashed. From there, they were airlifted to Israel as part of Operation Magic Carpet. The journey was arduous, and they endured many hardships at the hands of local Arabs. After more than a year of travel and waiting in the transit camp, they finally reached Israel.
All of Azri’el’s founding members arrived in 1949. They were first sent to the Ein Shemer transit camp, where they encountered unfamiliar Israeli foods - bread, jam, margarine, tea, and occasional meat. They adapted these ingredients to their traditional cooking styles.
After a few months in Ein Shemer, they were offered the opportunity to establish a moshav near Kefar Ya’bez - a place they came to refer to as “the Garden of Eden.” They walked there by foot to see the land and agreed to settle.
In 1951, a group of immigrants moved to a temporary camp of tin huts and tents in the southern part of Kefar Ya’bez. There, they began gathering family members from across the country. Surrounded by jackals and neighboring Arab villages, their conditions were extremely basic. The entire community shared a single outdoor water tap, which frequently sparked disputes. One tin structure served as a communal shower, where young boys mischievously tried to peek at bathing girls.
The residents began working as agricultural laborers in nearby moshavim and on a vineyard confiscated by the military administration from surrounding Arabs. Every morning, the Arabs would come to work the land, and the people of Azri’el would chase them away.
While still living in the southern Kefar Ya’bez camp, the pioneers began building permanent housing. They made their own cement blocks, transported them by cart, dug foundations by hand, and built homes themselves.
In 1953, they moved into their new homes. Each family received half a dunam (500 m²) of land on which they grew vegetables. Every two families were given a mule. Over time, land allocations expanded to 10 dunams around each house, plus additional agricultural plots outside the moshav. The settlers cultivated vegetables, orchards, poultry, and even shared a 300-dunam tobacco field. In the moshav’s early years, they suffered violent harassment from nearby Arabs, sometimes paying with their lives.
To stop the Arab shepherds from grazing their flocks on moshav fields, the settlers once stole seven healthy sheep, slaughtered them quickly, and distributed the meat. When the police came to investigate, the sheep were already fully consumed. Only the smell of the cooking lingered - but, as the saying goes, scent is not admissible evidence in court.
On another occasion, when a herd of calves wandered into their fields, the men corralled the animals into a makeshift pen in their orchards. A police investigation followed, but the residents remained silent. The district police commander, frustrated by the failure to recover the herd, eventually negotiated a deal: the animals would be returned if the Arabs promised to stop their harassment. The agreement held.
The moshav’s founders were young, and their social life flourished. Every Sabbath, residents gathered in a different home for “j’ala” - a spread of nuts, seeds, and pickles. Weddings were week-long communal events, with all families contributing to the food preparation.
Middle-generation members such as Tzadok and Naomi Reuven, Aharon Shalom, and Reuven Ratzon recall wedding ceremonies held in the village clubhouse as exact replicas of those in Yemen. They also remember the diwan - a traditional gathering room based on the meeting place of Rabbi Shalom Shabazi in Yemen - where men gathered in the afternoons to study Torah and chew qat.
This tradition continued in Azri’el until about 15 years ago and is now gradually being revived.
Aharon Shalom arrived at the moshav at age 15 with his parents. Like many Yemenite Jews, he had long, curled side-locks (peyot), but shaved them off after being mocked by Israelis.
In the early years, Azri’el’s children studied alongside children from Kefar Ya’bez in a single classroom that included students of all ages. At the time, the moshav had more boys than girls, leading to fierce male competition. Due to the rivalry, Aharon pursued his beloved with determination, commuting daily from his distant army post. He married her immediately upon completing his service.
Tragically, the couple’s first two children died of pneumonia at one month old, as there was no medical clinic nearby. When his daughter later became ill, Aharon transported her on a tractor through the rain to Dr. Egozi in Kfar Hess. A neighbor later brought them home by car.
Every afternoon, the boys studied in the synagogue under the guidance of a mori (traditional Yemeni teacher). Lessons began even before they entered formal schooling, so the children entered first grade already literate. Discipline was strict: the mori would sometimes strike the boys’ backs with a whip or a hitri - a thin, flexible branch.
Rahamim Salem, head of Azri’el’s local council, reported that the moshav now has 70 agricultural farms, most of which are still active. The leading industry in Azri’el is flower cultivation, particularly gerberas. The current trend is toward expanding and mechanizing flower farms.
Azri’el is also undergoing residential densification. An additional 70 families are expected to settle there, while the existing infrastructure will be renovated. Planned upgrades include new roads, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, and public buildings, including a new basketball court.
Plans are also being reviewed to build a local industrial zone for the Ya’P moshavim cluster, which would relocate small businesses from private yards and make room for new enterprises. All of these developments are supported by the Lev HaSharon Regional Council.
Azri’el also benefits from the Social Strengthening Project of the council’s Welfare Department. Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak Taizi has recently begun working in the moshav, and Rahamim extends his blessings and wishes him success.
Source: Orna Rositzky-Hadas, “Shabshavt Lev HaSharon,” Issue 12.