‘Kehilat Ya’akov’: The Attempt to Purchase the Hartuv Estate, 1882-1883

Abstract

The article deals with the almost forgotten attempt by entrepreneurs of Jerusalem’s ‘Old Yishuv’ to purchase land in the Hartuv (Artuf) area between 1882 and 1883. Two members of the community, aware of the local real estate situation and the aspirations of many Jewish refugees from Russia to become farmers in Palestine, entered a transaction with the Spanish vice-consul in Jerusalem, who owned land in the tiny Arab village of Artuf (in the hills west of Jerusalem). They put down a deposit, advertised their initiative in the Jewish press, composed a set of regulations for the future community, and named it – Kehilat Ya’akov (Jacob’s Community). They hoped to attract as many buyers as possible, repay their debt to the vice-consul, and transfer ownership to the settlers. The idea, however, was greeted disparagingly by many Jewish communities overseas who viewed the initiative as opportunism and land speculation. The plots went unsold. Attempts were made to sell the land to two well-known pioneer groups: the ‘Lovers of Zion’ organization that was brought to Palestine by Yehiel Brill on behalf of Baron de Rothschild in order to found a ‘model colony’ (the colony was eventually set up in Ekron-Mazkeret Batiya); and the ‘Bilu’im’. Unfortunately, all these efforts came to nought. The entrepreneurs lost their investment, and the Spanish diplomat sold the land to the British Mission Society which established a Christian-Jewish village on the site in 1883. The attempt at land acquisition and settlement of the Artuf area casts the role played by Jerusalem’s Orthodox community in the early stage of modern Zionism in an unfamiliar light.