Masu'ot Yitzhak (, ''lit.'' Yitzhak's Beacons) is a

moshav shitufi A moshav shitufi (, lit. ''collective moshav'', pl. ''moshavim shitufiim'') is a type of cooperative State of Israel, Israeli village, whose organizational principles place it between the kibbutz and the moshav on the scale of cooperation. Ideolo ...

in southern

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 near

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

, it falls under the jurisdiction of

Shafir Regional Council Shafir Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shafir'') is a regional council in the Southern District of Israel near the city of Kiryat Gat. The council is bordered on the north by the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, on the east by Yoav Regional ...

. The original

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 ...

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion (, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural villages that were founded in 1943� ...

was destroyed and depopulated in the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, and a new settlement was established in 1949 in a different location. In it had a population of .

History

Kibbutz Masu'ot Yitzhak was founded in 1945 in Gush Etzion, midway between

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

. The settlers were young pioneers from

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

who arrived before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The kibbutz was named for the

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of Mandatory Palestine,

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (; 3 December 1888 – 25 July 1959), also known as Isaac Herzog or Hertzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936. From 1936 until his death in 1959, he was Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of th ...

. File:The four kibbutzes of the Gush Etzion Bloc (Kfar Etzion, Ein Zurim, Massuot Yitzhak, Revadim) overlaid on the 1943 Survey of Palestine map of Beit Fajjar.jpg, The four kibbutzes of the

at the time of the 1948 war (

Kfar Etzion Kfar Etzion (, ''lit.'' Etzion Village) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a religious kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, established in 1927, depopulated in 1948 an ...

Ein Zurim Ein Tzurim (, ''lit.'' Rock Spring) is a religious kibbutz in southern Israel. Located south of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council and is a member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement. In it had a population ...

, Massuot Yitzhak,

Revadim Revadim (, lit. "terraces") is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the southern Shephelah (Judean foothills) region, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Revadim was founded on 14 ...

) overlaid on a 1943

Survey of Palestine The Survey of Palestine was the government department responsible for the survey and mapping of Palestine during the British mandate period. The survey department was established in 1920 in Jaffa, and moved to the outskirts of Tel Aviv in 19 ...

map File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026762.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak founders October 1945 File:"משואות יצחק" - קבלת פנים לאורחי "המזרחי" מחוץ לארץ ומתן שם לישוב שיהיה קשור עם שמו של הרב הרצוג.-JNF045163.jpeg, Musu'ot Yitzhak. 31 October 1945 File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026761.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak fencing 1945 File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026764.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak first buildings 1945 File:משואות יצחק - עליית קיבוץ "משואות יצחק" לאדמת חביילה בהרי חברון-JNF026767.jpeg, Masu’ot Yitzhak celebrations 1945 Image:Masuot Yitzhak 1947.jpg, Mas'uot Yitzhak, 1947 The settlers of Masu'ot Yitzhak rose to the challenge of living in the

Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills (, or ,) are a mountain range in the West Bank and Israel where Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron and several other biblical sites are located. The mountains reach a height of . The Judean Mountains can be div ...

, building homes and planting orchards. In 1948, Gush Etzion was captured by the

Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army, of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an independent state, with a final Ar ...

. The residents of

were massacred, and all other inhabitants of Gush Etzion, including the residents of Masu'ot Yitzhak, were captured and imprisoned in Jordan. After their return from captivity in 1949, the Masu'ot Yitzhak pioneers established a new moshav of the same name near

Shafir Shafir () is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Shephelah near Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Shafir was founded on 15 August 1949 by immigrants from H ...

, a region inhabited by the

Philistines Philistines (; LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philistines origi ...

in biblical times. Shafir had served as a base for the southern front of the Israeli army during the 1948 war, and the land on which the new Masu'ot Yitzhak was founded had until shortly beforehand belonged to 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 al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya. Tzahali, a military preparatory program for religious girls, is based in Masu'ot Yitzhak.

Economy

The moshav economy is based on agriculture and industry. A reservoir was built 40 years ago to harness the winter flood waters of Nahal Lachish for farming. The water is used to irrigate of avocado trees.Mas'uot Yitzhak reservoir
Jewish National Fund

References

External links

Village website

Memorial for Masu'ot Yitzhak in Gush Etzion
Etzion Bloc *Orit Segal (2006)
Massu’ot Yizhaq Final Report
''Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel'', No. 118. {{Authority control Moshavim Populated places established in 1945 Populated places established in 1949 Former kibbutzim Jewish villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Populated places in Southern District (Israel) 1945 establishments in Mandatory Palestine 1948 disestablishments in Mandatory Palestine 1949 establishments in Israel Czech-Jewish culture in Israel German-Jewish culture in Israel Hungarian-Jewish culture in Israel Slovak-Jewish culture in Israel

History

Economy

References

Further reading

External links