By Phil Blazer

Edited by Shelley Portnoy

Sketches by HeNing

     For centuries, spiritual leaders, scholars, and Bible purists have been studying and teaching the intricacies of the Bible and the origins and history of the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael. Deeply embedded in this history and tradition was the creation of the new nation of Israel, born from the blood and resilience and invincible will of a few thousand early pioneers.

     Pioneers in Eretz Yisrael struggled and persevered to lay the foundation for their new country. The State of Israel has been reborn in the modern era to provide a refuge for millions of persecuted Jews determined to reclaim their homeland. In their fight for independence these early settlers gained the respect and awe of millions of people worldwide who witnessed the pioneers’ commitment to establish a safe and secure country in which Jews could cherish their freedom and their heritage.

     Pioneers of Israel reveals the stories of many of the well-known figures that assumed leadership in the development of the new nation. These few are meant to represent the thousands, later the tens of thousands of pioneers who participated in the building of the country—many of whom remain anonymous. Some of these unnamed pioneers are included in photographs in the book and archival film throughout the documentary. They are the people who worked the soil, developed business and industry, educated young people, raised families, provided innovation in scientific research and technology, and brought culture and socialization to the fledgling nation. This project is a tribute to these unheralded modern-day heroes.

     The many paths of the Diaspora Jews—from Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia and the Slavic countries, South Africa and Ethiopia, are traced in Pioneers of Israel. These heroes struggled valiantly against seemingly insurmountable odds to establish the State of Israel. The courageous and unyielding early pioneers relentlessly carried on their quest to conquer the desolate and arid land. While they farmed and built communities, they also were forced to defend themselves from the many enemies surrounding them, enemies who were fanatically committed to their annihilation and who pledged to drive them into the sea. The pioneers’ biographies coalesce poignantly and dramatically to depict the historic saga of a developing nation. These stories, pieces of the modern history of the Jewish people and their inspired battle for independence, must be understood by today’s generation and preserved for all generations to come.

     The creation of the modern State of Israel has been achieved in a little more than 100 years, a mere blink of an eye in the vast millennia of time. Israel, a nation brought forth virtually without resources, was created with the hearts, souls, and willing hands of an inspired group of men, women, and children. In the documentary, Pioneers of Israel, we dramatize the stories and visualize the courage, desperation, ingenuity, fortitude and indomitable will of the women, men, and children who built the State of Israel beginning in the mid-1800s, witnessed its declaration as a nation in 1948, and contributed to the development of the country in the years that followed.