Youth Aliya, which began as a movement to rescue Jewish youngsters from Nazi Germany and restore them to the soil of their ancestral home, is returning to its roots with a new project to bring a vast, sparsely settled expanse of the Negev desert to flower.
The project, headed by a near-legendary figure in the settlement of Israel, Arie (Lova) Eliav, recalls the spirit of Zionism’s pioneering days in Palestine when the foundations of the future land of Israel were being laid, Eli Amir, Youth Aliya Director-General, told more than 2,500 delegates here at the recent 73rd National Convention of Hadassah.
Its goal is to reclaim a barren, one million acre tract of the Negev — whose population of 2,500 is spread across ten settlements — by introducing a new generation of Jewish youth to the soil, Amir said. In October, the first group of Youth Aliya youngsters will move into an abandoned kibbutz called Nitsana. Around them a new settlement will spring up, dedicated to teaching young Israelis about desert agriculture and their nation’s origins.
Eliav, who built the town of Kiryat Gat and its 55 surrounding settlements and the town of Arad overlooking the Dead Sea, said that he was inspired to undertake the Nitsana Project after touring 40 Youth Aliya villages and installations. Most of the unique program’s charges were born in Israel — about 13,000 of the current Youth Aliya population. Most of the remaining 2,000 are Ethiopian.
“I thought that we could attract them to the ideal of redeeming the desert,” Eliav has been quoted as saying. In practical terms, this means the first group of 100 boys and girls will sleep three to a room in prefabricated cottages hastily built seven years ago and attempt to make the settlement bloom as they study the region’s history, topography and climate, Amir told the Hadassah convention delegates.
Water is a rare and precious commodity in Nitsana, he pointed out. It is at the very end of existing lines for treated water, which will be used solely for drinking, cooking and hygiene. The natural underground water supply is highly saline. But Amir believes that with a little ingenuity–and the help of genetic engineering — the kibbutz will be able to grow fruits or vegetables.
The Youth Aliya youngsters in the project–most of them 15 and 16 years old — also will undertake afforestation and recreational park projects in the region for the Jewish National Fund.
Amir said Youth Aliya would like to see Nitsana grow to a permanent settlement for 1,500 youths who would visit for periods of two weeks to a month. Plans call for construction of permanent housing, classrooms, a soccer field, basketball courts and other facilities.
Youth Aliya sprang up in 1933 to rescue Jewish youth from Germany and resettle them on the agricultural communes of Palestine. In the early years of the State of Israel, Youth Aliya helped thousands of refugee children rebuild shattered lives and shattered minds. Today it is recognized worldwide for its innovative programs which provide immigrant youth and youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds with the skills for life and work.
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