אוסף חוות הלימוד ו'משק הפועלות' של רחל ינאית בירושלים

Rachel Yanait (originally Golda Leshinski), was the wife of the second President of the State of Israel. They married in 1918. In 1919 Rachel, with the help of Avraham Herzfeld, one of the founders of the General Jewish Worker's Union in Israel, started a nursery to prepare plants for re-forestation. The first nursery was in the yard of a building on Hachabashim Street. There was a cistern in the yard. The work was primarily gathering seeds for planting. The workers in the nursery were mostly war orphans. Meir Yonah Leshinski, Rachel Yanai's father, helped her with the work in the nursery. Due to high rental fees, they moved the nursery to the Yissacroff courtyard in the Bucharan neighborhood. In December 1921 a Company from the "Worker's Battalion" arrived in Jerusalem and agreed to work in the nursery. In 1924 The Jewish National Fund (JNF) bought land near the Retisbon Monastary in Rehavia. Rachel Yanait requested to move the nursery to the outskirts of Rehavia from its present location in the Bucharan section of Jerusalem. She was given permission to make the move for a few months only, until she could find another location to rent. Having no other choice, Rachel Yanait agreed and signed a binding contract. The nursery continued to function during the time of the 'Workers Farm' in Talpiyot. It was the first of nine such farms that were founded throughout the country. Rachel's hope was to train pioneer agricultural workers, who would specialize in planting trees and flower growing, in this nursery. Pine seedlings that were grown in the nursery were eventually planted in Sha'ar Hagai, by the Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet. The flowers were sold to passers-by in the Rehavia neighborhood. In 1928 the Women's Worker's Farm moved to the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood, east of Talpiyot. After a number of years the farm was converted into a 'teaching farm' for girls. Rachel Yanait believed that the project which started as a training program for the new immigrant pioneer women and continued as help for working mothers, needed to redefine its goals to function as a training program for young women and to mold their image as future pioneers. The nursery in Rehavia continued to function and served the farm in Talpiyot as well. The farm in Talpiyot was 50 dunam. It was purchased by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). In 1933 a 'Learning Farm' was founded on this same land. It was a dormitory for young girls. They were trained to work the land and to prepare for the occupation of the country. In her memoirs Rachel Yanait wrote, "…I want to train these girls, while they are still young, to work the land; to give them a general education and an agricultural one as well; providing them jobs and responsibility to develop a sense of independence; to socialize them by providing work ethics…" Chicken coops, to raise chickens were built there and fruit trees and vineyards were planted. A vegetable garden was planted, water holes dug, and later a central building was erected. In the pogroms of 1929 the farm was destroyed, but later was re-opened. The main building was made by combining two buildings together. The first house, the southern one, which was designed by the architect Ricard Kaufman, was built in 1930-1931. The second house, the northern one, was built in 1936 and was designed by Leopold Krakover. Later on young survivors of the holocaust, girls and boys, who came to Israel through the Aliyat Hanoar, were housed in the building. In 1948 the farm was relocated to an abandoned building in the village of Ein Kerem. Later in was again moved to the Community School in Ein Kerem. During the British Mandate period Rachel Yanait actively sought contributions to build and maintain the nurseries and the worker's farm. She turned to the Yishuv organizations as well as going abroad to raise funds for these projects. The photographs in this collection were used for public relations in general and on her trips abroad to raise money. The photographs were saved by Rachel Yanait, and given to the archives of Yad Ben-Zvi upon its establishment. Recommended readings: Rachel Yanait-Ben-Zvi, The Children in the Forefront: The Learning Farm in Jerusalem1928-1948, Ramat-Gan, Masada Publication, 1975. Zohar Van-Lubin, The Learning Farm in Jerusalem, Jerusalem December 1999. اقرأ أكثر