The Children of Eretz Yisrael 90 Years Ago

Original caption: "Zionist colonies on Sharon.
Ben-Shemen, Kindergarten. Children at play"
circa 1920

The Moshav Ben-Shemen was established in 1905 in central Israel on the Sharon Plain. It was one of the first villages built on land purchased by the Jewish National Fund.

Original caption: "Ben-Shemen, two
young pioneers. Two healthy kiddies."



Original caption: "Ben-Shemen, a
youthful agriculturist. Child with
spade."



A youth village was etablished in Ben-Shemen in 1927 for orphans from the pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe.  After World War II, the village adopted orphans from the Holocaust. In the 1950s, the youth village assisted in the absorption of Jewish youth from Arab lands.  Today 1,000 students study at the village.