118 steps to a pioneer’s house

Original Article

When Yehoshua Hankin purchased the Jezreel Valley in 1920, he added a codicil that gave him the right to both live and die somewhere in its midst. What made this rider to the contract so strange was the fact that, at the time, there was absolutely nothing in the valley except swamps, mosquitoes and malaria – and beyond the swamps desolate, barren land. Yet somehow Hankin had known that one day this region would be fertile and full of life. Continue reading