By Zehava Eiland
In 1932, I arrived at a desolate place ruled only by wild weeds, scorpions, snakes, and howling jackals. In this barren spot, a flourishing village slowly grew - Kfar Hess.
At first, each family built a small shack in what is now known as Gal Street, the western street. Our family’s shack was so small that I, a seven-year-old girl, had to sleep in a neighbor’s shack - a family without children. Going to sleep without my mother, as a small child, in the dark and muddy winter evenings - it was difficult and sad, but I had no choice.
Later, when the plots were allocated by lottery, each family moved to its own piece of land, bringing their family shack with them. Over time, permanent houses were built, and the shacks were repurposed as storage or farm structures.
The Kaplan family, after moving into their new home, donated their shack to become a youth club. It was a true celebration. We were so grateful to the Kaplan family. Finally, we - the youth - had a home, a place to gather. We decorated the shack as best we could with the few resources we had. On weekdays we played outside, of course, only during the free time we had after helping at home. On Friday evenings we gathered at the club for Shabbat celebrations. These evenings included communal singing, reading short satirical pieces we had written, or reading appropriate literature. But the main part of these evenings was dancing - folk dancing, until we were completely exhausted.
Back then, there was no radio - only one at the moshav’s secretariat. Television was unheard of, and two generations would pass before computers and video games came into our lives. So, we needed each other. We truly were a very close-knit group, and the original ten - the first graduating class of the regional school - still keeps in touch and holds reunions to this day. Sadly, some of that group are no longer with us.
The youth club at the entrance to the village was built in 1946. Compared to the Kaplan shack, the new club was a real palace. It was filled with the vibrant life of the Moshav youth movement, but adults also enjoyed it. In the winter, it served as a cinema on Saturday nights. In the summer, films were projected on the wall of the old supply warehouse - part of which still serves as today’s supermarket storage. The films were provided by the Histadrut Cultural Center, and a projector operator from the moshav handled the screenings. All the public had to do was bring chairs - both in winter and summer. The cost was included in the moshav’s budget.
Now, we are laying the cornerstone for a new youth club. Indeed, we have come a long way. I would like to wish all the young people of the village - today’s youth:
May you be as happy in it as we were in the Kaplan shack, may you love one another as we still love our friends to this day, and may you remember now and then that this wonderful place called Kfar Hess was built by brave pioneers whose devotion to the Zionist cause brought them to this place.
From the cornerstone-laying ceremony for the new youth club in Kfar Hess, January 11, 2004.