Rehovot

History of Rehovot

On March 6, 1890 (5650 according to the Jewish calendar or Taran, for short) a group of Jews from Warsaw founded the city of Rehovot. The Menuchala V'Nachala Society raised funds in order to purchase land in Palestine. The first crops were grapes and just after the turn of the century they started growing citrus fruits.

Photo by Leo Kahan, a photographer sent to Palestine by the Viennese Yiddishe Zeitung newspaper in 1912.

The Bell

The original moshava was bounded by what is today Yaakov on the south, Menucha V'Nachala on the east, Binyamin on the north, and Herzl on the wSest. A structure was built where the original bell was situated in 1891.

First House

The first house in Rehovot was built on what is today Rechov Yaakov. It is called Beit Yosefson and was built in 1890.

Tree

One of the founders of Rehovot was Aaron Eisenberg. In 1896 he was the proud father of a son. To mark the occassion of his first-born child, he planted a tree. This tree was the first tree planted in Rehovot. The Ficus tree stands tall today on Rechov Yaakov, towering above the nearby shops, a living testimony to a man who helped build a city.

Vestigages of the British

There are a few things that are left over from the period of the British Mandate in Palestine. Besides the police station that was built on Rechov Herzl just north of Rechov Weizmann, there is an old British style mailbox that sits at the corner of Achad Ha'am and Yaakov. The mailbox (like the police station) is still in use today.

Chaim Weizmann Museum

The Weizmann home was designed by leading Bauhaus architect Erich Mendelsohn. 08 934-4500

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Nearby

• Hulda Forest
• Beit Herzl
  
• Mazkeret Batya
  
• The Weizmann House
  
• Barkan Winery 08 944-7777 is scheduled to open in 2007
  
• BILU Museum in Gedera
• Mini Israel -Latrun
• Tank Museum - Latrun
• Palmahim Beach
• Ramle Flea Market
• Beit Rishonim Museum - Nes Tziona
  
• Early Settlers’ House - Palmahim
• City Museum - Ramle