includes index and biblioraphy

Situated in a fertile valley overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Yavneel is one of the oldest farming communities in modern Israel, founded at the turn of the century by settlers from Eastern Europe. Dedicated to the early Zionist ideal of pioneering labor and reclaimation of the land, the old settler families evolved into a unique new Jewish yeomanry with deep ties to agriculture and a strong sense of relatedness to place alien to their Diaspora past. Today, however, this rural village has become a microcosm of Israeli society at large, reflecting its social, religious, economic, ethnic, and ideological conflicts as well as the competing claims to its national history, memory, identity, and founding myths. The dynamic interpretation of the diverse components of this complex society is brought into bold relief in this lively and illuminating book.