Kfar Mordechai () is a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

in central

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located about 30 kilometers south of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, between

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

Gedera Gedera, or less commonly known as Gdera (), is a town in the southern part of the Shfela region in the Central District of Israel founded in 1884. It is south of Rehovot. In , it had a population of . History Gedera is in the Book of C ...

and

Yavne Yavne () is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. In 2022, it had a population of 56,232. Modern Yavne was established in 1949. It is located near the ruins of the ancient town of Yibna (known also as Jamnia and Jab ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Gederot Regional Council Gederot Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Gderot'') is a regional council in the Central District of Israel. It is located between Ashdod, Yavne and Gedera and covers an area of 13,000 dunams. Founded in 1953, it was named after a biblical to ...

. In it had a population of .

History

The village was established in 1950 by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and South African Jews and by some ex-

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

members, on the lands of the depopulated

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of

Bashshit Bashshayt (), also Beshshayt, was an Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine, Ramle Subdistrict, located southwest of Ramla about half a mile from wadi Bashshit. Archaeological artifacts from the village attest to habitation ...

. It was named after Mordechai Eliash (1892-1950), who was born in Ukraine, educated at universities in Berlin and Oxford, immigrated to Palestine in 1919, was a lawyer and the first

Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom The ambassador from Israel to the United Kingdom is Israel's foremost Diplomat, diplomatic representative in the United Kingdom. The Ambassador is based in the Embassy of Israel, London. Ambassadors *1949–1950: Mordechai Ali'ash *1950–1959: ...

.Jewish Virtual Library: Kfar Mordechai
/ref> When the first residents arrived, they discovered that the houses had not yet been built and they were housed in semi-detached huts (tzrifim) consisting of one large room, one kitchen and one toilet located about a kilometer from their allocated farms. After waiting for a year for Rassco to build their new homes, an agreement was reached with Rassco to supply the materials for residents to build their own homes. In the 1950s the members of the village engaged in agriculture and field crops. In the sixties, many orchards and plantations were planted and a small part of the residents found their livelihood outside the village. In 1959, the first swimming pool in the Shfella region was established in Kfar Mordechai. This pool was an attraction for all surrounding towns and cities. In order to increase the sources of income, the members of the village opened a camp for learning English in the summer months. The summer camp children were hosted in the residents' homes in the evenings. Today the village has about 56 farms and about 150 private houses. A small part of the villagers are still engaged in agriculture, which mainly includes orchards and chicken coops. Most of the residents find their livelihood outside the village.

Notable residents

Agi Mishol Agi Mishol (; born October 20, 1947) is an Israeli poet. Mishol's work has been published in several languages, and has won various awards including the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award, the Horst Bienek Prize for Poetry and the Ye ...

References

{{Authority control Moshavim Agricultural Union Populated places in Central District (Israel) Populated places established in 1950 1950 establishments in Israel British-Jewish culture in Israel South African-Jewish culture in Israel