By Shlomo Suchovolsky
From: Our Sharon Plain – The Tel Mond Bloc, published by the Hefer Valley Regional Council, 1972
The “Tel Aviv Agricultural Organization” was the name of a group of members whose goal was to establish a settlement. At first, they thought to work in the city as laborers, but to live outside the city so that each home would have a small farm. The group had hoped to acquire land near the Yarkon River, but since the purchase never materialized, the members registered for agricultural settlement.
The area surrounding Tel Mond appealed to the members, but at the time the land was still in Arab hands. The members hoped that the Jewish National Fund (JNF) would purchase the land, and in the meantime, they dispersed to various nearby settlements in the Sharon region. Members of Kfar Hess and Herut were preparing for settlement, and at that point, the Tel Aviv group decided to purchase land in Ein Vered with their own money. Seventy dunams (around 17 acres) were purchased for the price of 2.80 lira per dunam. After the purchase, they approached the JNF to claim their right to work and settle the land. The approval was delayed, but the members decided to take initiative and create facts on the ground.
In the winter of 1932, it was my turn to move to Ein Vered. I brought over my hut and my cow. The winter was difficult - it rained heavily for an entire month. All the huts stood in one yard surrounded by a fence. Water was brought in barrels. The situation for the members was tough: there was no work, and not enough water to develop agricultural plots. Nevertheless, we decided to prepare a citrus nursery for planting orchards, and we began digging a well. The well was dug by hand. At a depth of 24 meters, we found water. The joy was immense. Gradually, more members joined. The orchards began to grow. We held a lottery to divide the land into plots.
1. Where did we get food? Bread was brought from Kfar Saba twice a week. Other groceries were brought in turns by different members. The purchases were sparse - we had very little money.
2. Another hardship was transportation. There was, of course, no bus. Transportation was via a truck that traveled through Kfar Saba and Tira. The nearest doctor was in Kfar Saba, and only years later did a medic come to Tel Mond.
3. Ein Vered grew and expanded. Two new areas were added: “Across the Jordan” (named for the deep wide wadi that separated it from the center of the village), and “Birobidzhan,” so named because it was far from the village center - just like the remote Jewish settlement area in Russia of the same name.