This stone building, which recently opened as a
small museum lies in the Herzl Forest, more
commonly referred to as the Hulda Forest (so named
for the nearby kibbutz). One would think from its
name, Herzl House, that this in fact was the house
of one the great leaders of Zionism. However, that
is not the case. Theodore (Binyamin Ze’ev) Herzl
never lived in the house that bears his name. In
fact, he was never even here. Nevertheless, there
is a connection. The Herzl House and surrounding
forest are a great place to learn some history and
enjoy a leisurely picnic
In 1905, the Anglo Palestine Bank purchased
2,000 dunam from the Saidun tribe in order to
establish a Jewish settlement near the
Jaffa-Jerusalem rail line. The Jewish National
Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – JNF- KKL) redeemed
the land from the bank and turned it over to the
Eretz Israel Office, which was responsible for
settlements. In 1909, an agricultural farm was
established on the land. It was named Hulda. The
building known today as Herzl House served as the
residence for the manager of the farm and later
for members of Hulda. New groups of pioneers who
trained at Hulda would later go on to establish
Ein Harod, Kfar Yehezkel, Ginegar and other
settlements.
The surrounding land would soon be known as the
Herzl Forest. A forest was planted here to
commemorate Herzl, who died, in 1904. In fact,
this was the first forest planted by the
relatively new JNF-KKL, which was established in
1901. Most of us picture pine trees when we think
of JNF-KKL forests. However, the truth is that the
first trees that were planted were olive trees.
Establishing the Olive Tree Donation Society and
soliciting donations from German Jews enabled the
planting of these first trees. The olive trees did
not fare well and were ultimately removed. Today
the forest is comprised of a variety of trees:
pines, china berry, cypress and pepper trees,
casuarinas, sycamores, plums, tamarisks, carobs
and dates.
During the 1929 disturbances, the farm was
attacked by Arabs and destroyed. Although the
fighting was fierce, during the battle the
settlers continued to defend the settlement from
within the Herzl House. Finally, a large
contingent of British forces arrived on the scene
and required the settlers to evacuate. During the
evacuation, the British did not allow the settlers
to take the body of Ephraim Chizik, the Haganah
commander who was killed during the battle. A
memorial sculpture commemorating Chizik (whose
sister was killed defending Tel-Hai), made by
Batia Lichansky is only a short walk from the
Herzl House.
In 1931, the Gordonia group resettled
Hulda.During the 1936-1939 disturbances, Hulda was
once again attacked a number of times. In 1943,
the British conducted a massive search of Hulda,
for Haganah arms. By this time the settlement was
at its present location, about mile/1.5 KM west of
the original farm. During the War of Independence
Hulda was the last stop for the convoys on the
their way to Jerusalem (see the April 2000 issue).
Herzl House was renovated in 1996, but there
were no exhibits. A new donation by John Sereny,
of Toronto, Canada, made the current changes to
the house possible. The official opening of Herzl
House is scheduled for February 7, 2000. The
museum, whose day-to-day operations is run by
members of Kibbutz Hulda, features a small exhibit
and a ten-minute film (as of this writing only in
Hebrew) about the history of Hulda and the Keren
Kayemeth LeIsrael. A restaurant is planned for the
premises, in the future.
Directions: From Route # 3 turn to Route # 411
(toward Rehovot). Entrance to the Herzl Forest
will be on the right.
08/941-4083 TEL
02/990-5737 FAX (temporary
number) – ATTN: Nisim Luke
Visiting Hours:
Herzl House – Sunday –
Friday 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM, Saturday, 10:00 AM –
4:00 PM
Herzl Forest – all day
Entry fees: Free
Tip: You can combine a visit at the Herzl House
with points of interest in Rehovot or Philistine
Ekron (see the 10-11/99 issue).
Learn more about
Batia Lichansky.
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