Ness Ziona

Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of the Arab village of Sarafand al-Kharab, formerly known as Ṣarfān (צרפאן), but called in Hebrew Ginnot Tzarifin (Hebrew: גִּינּוֹת צָרִיפִין), not to be confused with the IDF base Tzrifin (Hebrew: צְרִיפִין).[3] A story is related in the Babylonian Talmud about Ginnot Tzarifin, that during the time of the Second Temple it was customary to enquire where the first of the barley harvest and wheat harvest (Omer) were reaped when they were brought to the Temple, as it was not permissible to bring them from outside the land of Israel. Once, when the Omer was brought to Jerusalem, they knew not whence it had come. They enquired of a deaf-mute who knew where it had come from and who, mimicking with his hands, pointed to makeshift booths (Heb. "tzarifin"), and pointed to rooftops (Heb. "gagot"), the only word that he could find that rhymed with the word "gardens" (ginnot). The sages, asking if there was such a place called Gagot Tzarifin (Lit. Rooftops of the booths), were hard-pressed to recall such a place, until at last they remembered that there was a place called Ginnot Tzarifin, and accepted of the man's offering of the Omer.[4]

Ness Ziona, 1934

Ness Ziona was at one point known as Wadi Chanin after a local Arab village, and Nahalat Reuben (lit. "Reuben's Estate") after Reuben Lehrer, who owned the land and started the Jewish settlement there in 1883.

In 1878, the German Templer Gustav Reisler purchased lands in Wadi Hunayn, planted an orchard, and lived there with his family. The name "Wadi-Chanin", with its German orthography, became the standard Western name for the place for several decades to come. After losing his wife and children to malaria, Reisler returned to Europe. He travelled to Odessa in 1882 and met Reuben Lehrer, a religiously observant Russian Jew with Zionist ideals, who had his own farmland there. Reisler traded his parcel of land in Palestine for Lehrer's land in Russia. Lehrer made aliyah (emigrated to Palestine) with his eldest son Moshe in 1883, bringing his wife and another four of his children over the following year.[5][6][7]

Lehrer placed advertisements near Jaffa port asking others to join him offering plots in his land for a small amount of money. The pioneers that arrived established a neighborhood named Tel Aviv (the city of Tel Aviv did not yet exist) although the area was still known as Wadi Chanin, from its Arabic name, Wadi Hunayn.[6] In 1888, Avraham Yalovsky, a blacksmith, was killed defending his workshop from Arab gangs.[8]

In 1891, Michael Halperin bought more land in the wadi. He gathered a group of people on the Hill of Love and unfurled a blue and white flag emblazoned with the words Ness Ziona ("Banner to Zion") written in gold. The name is based on a verse in the Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 4:6. This flag was similar to the official Flag of Israel adopted at the First Zionist Congress seven years later.[5][6]

Ness Ziona first communal building 1907

Eventually, the two Jewish settlements - the old Wadi Chanin/Nahalat Reuben and the newer Ness Ziona - grew into one larger village, together with the Arab Wadi Hunayn across the Jaffa-Jerusalem road. Until the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, it was the only mixed Arab-Jewish village in Mandatory Palestine. The coexistence was, on the whole, a peaceful one.[9]

According to a census conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Ness Ziona had a population of 319 Jews.[10] By the 1931 census it had increased to 1,013 inhabitants, in 221 houses.[11] In 1921 a pump and a system of water pipes were installed. In 1924 the British Army contracted the Israel Electric Company for wired electric power. The contract allowed the Electric Company to extend the grid beyond the original geographical limits that had been projected by the concession it was given. The high-tension line that exceeded the limits of the original concession ran along some major towns and agricultural settlements, offering extended connections to the Jewish settlements of Rishon Le-Zion, Nes-Ziona and Rehovot (in spite of their proximity to the high-tension line, the Arab towns of Ramleh and Lydda remained unconnected).[12] The Great Synagogue of Ness Ziona was built in the 1920s, during the period of the Third Aliyah.[13]

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  Bedouin encampment Ness Ziona 1934
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  Ness Ziona (Nes Tisyona) 1945 1:250,000
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  Ness Ziona (Nes Tsiyona) 1948 1:20,000

Lehrer Square

Ness Ziona was attacked by Arab forces during the 1936–39 Arab Revolt, and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The outlying villages of Kfar Aharon and Tirat Shalom (now part of Ness Ziona) frequently exchanged fire with the Arab villages al-Qubayba and Zarnuqa (now western Rehovot).[14] Most of Ness Ziona's youth joined the Haganah to fight off these threats. On May 15, 1948, Sarafand al-Kharab was evacuated of Arab inhabitants, and on May 19, al-Qubayba and Zarnuqa were conquered by the Givati Brigade. Much of the territory abandoned by the fleeing Arab residents of nearby villages was added to Ness Ziona, increasing its size from 8 to 15.3 square kilometres (3.1 to 5.9 sq mi) immediately after the war.[14]

Ness Ziona City Hall

During the war, Ness Ziona's population almost tripled to become 4,446 (according to an October 23, 1949 survey), and until 1950 the local council absorbed 9,000 olim, most of whom were housed in ma'abarot. In 1952 a new industrial zone was approved for the town on an area of 70 dunams. In 1955, a second industrial zone was approved.[14]

Ness Ziona is composed of a central core and villages that came under its municipal jurisdiction over time. The city also has two industrial zones and a high-tech park, Kiryat Weizmann.

Until 1961 there was only elementary school in Ness Ziona. In 1961 (שנת הלימודים תשכ"ב), Ben Gurion High school was opened.

there are 20 schools in Ness Ziona

• Elementary: "Rishonim", "Eshkol", "Savionim", "Ben Zvi", "Hadar", "Shaked", "Nizanim", "Argaman", "Lev HaMoshava", "Irus", "Sadot" and "Shibolim".
• Religious: "Reut", "Habad".
• High Schools: "Golda", "Ben Gurion", "Eliezer Ben Yehuda", "Park HaMada".
• Special Education: "HaTomer", "Dklaim".

The following youth organizations have chapters in Ness Ziona:

• Bnei Akiva
• HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed
• Maccabi youth movement
• Hebrew Scouts Movement in Israel
• Krembo Wings
• Moadonchik
• Israel Gay Youth