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Advanced Level – ‫שדרות רוטשילד‬

Akiva Weiss's House

The house of Akiva Weiss stands in the meeting point of Herzl
Street and Ehad Ha'am Street. Who is Weiss? Weiss was born in
Belarus in 1868. His life's dream was to be an architect but due
to his father's death he had to manage the family business and to
give up his architecture dream.

In 1904, he decided to come and visit Israel. There, he saw
people in despair and wilderness. He understood that if one
wants to redeem the land from the wilderness, one needs to
build modern Israelites (Hebrew) cities, like the cities in Herzl's
"Altneuland" – cities that hundreds of new immigrants could
live in. At the end of his visit, he returned to Lodge and told his
wife and children that he has decided to immigrate to Israel and
to build there a new Israelite city.

In 1906, Weiss immigrated with his family to Israel. Their new
house was in Jaffa. On the same day of his arrival, he was
invited to a meeting with the Jews of Jaffa. In that meeting, he
offered the people to buy some land together and to build a
modern organized Israelite city, with streets, running water in
the houses, sewerage system and schools. The people agreed
and that’s how "Ahuzat Bait" association was born. Weiss stood
at the head of the association.

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