Israel and You Spaces and Places in Israel
Mikveh Yisrael is the first agricultural school in the Land of Israel pioneered in all fields of Zionist activity: agriculture, education, defence and absorption of new immigrants. Alliance was founded in 1860 by Adolphe Crémieux in France to safeguard world-wide Jewish human rights and to promote the Jewish self-sufficiency through education. The first schools were established in North Africa and soon afterwards in the Ottoman Empire near Jaffa. Designed as a pastoral “French” village of the late 19th century by “Kol Israel Haverim” (Alliance Israélite Universelle) movement in Paris, the Mikveh Yisrael school was founded in 1870 by Karl Netter.
Overview of the Agricultural School
Mikveh Israel Tour
The Botanical Garden was founded by the institution’s principal Mr. Eliyahu Krauzer in 1924. Krauzer collected Lebanese cedars, conifers, eucalyptus, strawberries, legumes and spices from different nurseries in Israel and abroad. As you walk through Mikveh Yisrael you will note that every tree is numbered. Isn’t that amazing?
The Mikveh Yisrael wine cellars were dug out of the Kurkar calcareous sandstone ridges of the coastal plain. In the 19th century it was obvious that a Jewish school must have a synagogue. Even today Mikveh Yisrael enrolls students from both Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jewish homes.
The Jerusalem Gate was the original entrance to Mikveh Yisrael. The architect planned that the palm lined boulevard to lead up to the synagogue which stands on the highest point in the village. This is where the most famous photo-montage of the famous meeting between Theodor Herzl and the German Kaiser Wilhelm II was photographed. A statue of the meeting stands near the Jerusalem Gate. You can walk down the lovely road and relive the meeting. Note how the Kaiser and his horse have been sliced into two pieces – symbolizing how Herzl cut through bureaucracy and red tape to get a Jewish state. I don’t know what the Germans think about this statue.
The Mechanical workshop is where the famous “Davidka”, the first Israeli mortar, was invented in 1948. But this is another story.
Mikveh Yisrael Synagogue
The synagogue stands at the end of the palm lined boulevard from the Jerusalem Gate. Don’t forget to check out the banyan trees in the garden nest to the synagogue.
Groups: Guided pre-coordinated tours in Hebrew, Arabic & English
Visitors and families: Tours
For children: Experiential and educational guidance for groups, from kindergarten children to youth
Location: Mikveh Israel School (entrance from Mikveh Israel St.)
Opening hours:
- Sunday-Thursday 08:30-16:30
- Friday 08:00-12:0
Tel: 03-503048
Email: orly@shimur.org.il
