Another ” Once upon a time in Jerusalem”, and this time –
Beit Yalin in Motza, 1895.
Beit Yalin is the first house built by Jews in the Valley out of Jerusalem, which later will be called Emek Motza. The house is located on the old central road between Jaffa – Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, situated on agricultural land acquired in 1860 by David Tavya Yalin and Shaul Yehuda from the nearby Arab village.
The visionary Yalin, came from Poland in 1834, and Shaul Yehuda was the son of Sir Shlomo Yechzkel Yehuda, who came to Eretz Yisrael from Baghdad in 1857 and contributed to the business sense and financial knowledge.
This purchase was driven by a passion for settling the Land of Israel after the long years of exile. It was the first private land purchase in the Land of Israel during the Ottoman rule, part of the move from the walls of the old city and the development of Jewish settlement in the country.
In the acquired plot, there was a cave in the rock that yielded sweet water, and three springs that flowed in the vicinity. In the purchased area, an ancient Byzantine structure was also located.
In 1871, Yalin built an additional floor on the Byzantine structure, renovated the building, and turned it into a wayside inn for travelers to and from Jerusalem.
It was the first Jewish building constructed in the area during the modern era, marking a new phase in Jewish settlement in the land.
Travel during that time from Jaffa to Jerusalem took about 16 hours, not due to traffic jams, but because the journey was made on horse-drawn carts. The inn also served as a resting place for the livestock that pulled the carts before ascending the challenging journey to the city, as the carts had a horsepower equivalent only to a few tired and exhausted horses.
The inn, located next to what would later be paved as the main road to Jerusalem near the “Tnuva Turn” – a name given after many trucks overturned in the narrow turn of the old road to Jerusalem after pressing and heating their brakes downhill from Mevaseret.
In 1890, Yehoshua Yalin built behind the inn his family residence, planted a vineyard, and created a large and spacious garden. Yalin continued to assist and promote the purchase of additional land in the area for the Jewish settlement. Additional plots were acquired in the area, and the Bnei Brith organization would settle in a new settlement called Motza.
In the photo from 1895, one can see the Jewish farmers of the region with Yalin and other families at the inauguration ceremony of the worker’s house in Motza, with the first house proudly standing behind them.
The house was the Shull of the area for long year.
The family lived in the house until World War I, and then abandoned it after the Jews of the area were expelled to Jerusalem by the Turks in preparation for the battle against the British who came to conquer the land.
In 2006, the Yalin family donated the building and land to be used as a center for heritage and the legacy of pioneering and Zionist values, With the help of good Jews from around the world and KKL-USA, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel restored the building and the ruined cellar, and since then, Beit Yalin has served as a historical visitor center.
Today, during the weekdays, a quality and intimate café operates in the restored building, serving visitors alongside the garden and the ancient synagogue of Motza, built on the ruins of the old Byzantine structure.
So, worldwide fame passes —
The Byzantines who ruled Eretz Israel between 325-638 join the long list of empires that came from all corners of the earth to conquer and rule the Land of Israel. This time, attempting to impose Christianity on the land, kill Jews who did not convert, and establish their rule over the land.
The conquerors changed over the 3,000 years that have passed over our land, but the concept of conquest, religious conversion, exile, and killing Jews remained preserved with horrifying persistence among the changing conquerors.
Much Jewish blood has been shed on the soil of the Land of Israel throughout the generations only because we are Jews living in our promised land.
Since than the empires rose and fell, glorious empires have risen and vanished, changed their costumes, or disappeared from the world.
After 163 years since the land was purchased by Yalin, after hundreds of years of Jewish exile from the Land of Israel, and 75 years since our independence as a Jews state, there is one home that belongs to us.
The shedding identity of Jewish blood over the centuries has only changed their name, as a fate that cries out and hopes for a change and Geulla.
We build an amazing state, and we continue to bleed and ache.
but we are here. Forever.
Shabbat Shalom to the far and near and B’sorot Tovot from Jerusalem.
Photo – The Zionist Archive.
