Yesod HaMa’ala: Foundation of the Ascent

Yesod HaMa’ala, founded in 1883 on the western edge of the Hula Valley, is one of the oldest Jewish agricultural settlements in the Galilee. Like its neighbor Rosh Pina, it was established by First Aliyah immigrants who came to farm a land they barely knew. The settlement’s name means “Foundation of the Ascent,” reflecting both the physical climb into the Galilee and the spiritual aspiration of returning to the Land of Israel.

Early Struggle – Yesod HaMa’ala

The founders, mostly religious Jews from Romania, faced the same brutal conditions as other early settlements: malaria from the nearby Hula swamps, rocky soil, hostile neighbors, and chronic lack of funds. Baron Rothschild‘s financial support was essential to the settlement’s survival, as it was for most of the First Aliyah colonies. Despite these hardships, the settlers persisted, establishing one of the earliest Jewish agricultural communities in the Upper Galilee and laying the groundwork for the network of settlements that would eventually transform the region.

The Hula Connection

Yesod HaMa’ala’s location on the edge of the Hula Valley meant that its farmers were among the first to work the valley’s rich but malaria-plagued land. The draining of the Hula swamps in the 1950s transformed the area from a death trap into one of Israel’s most productive agricultural regions.

Today, Yesod HaMa’ala is a quiet moshava with a small museum documenting its founding and a view of the Hula Valley that its founders would recognize, minus the malaria.

Dubrovin Farm

Near Yesod HaMa’ala stands the Dubrovin Farm, a beautifully restored homestead that tells one of the more unusual stories of Jewish settlement in the Galilee. The Dubrovins were Subbotniks, Russian Christian peasants who converted to Judaism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Persecuted in Russia for their adopted faith, groups of Subbotniks emigrated to the Land of Israel in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, settling alongside the Jewish colonists.

The Dubrovin family arrived in the Hula Valley and built a farmstead that has been preserved as a museum by the Jewish National Fund. The stone house, the agricultural buildings, and the surrounding gardens recreate the life of a pioneering family on the edge of the Hula swamps. The museum tells the story of the Subbotniks alongside the broader story of Jewish agriculture in the valley, and the combination of Russian folk architecture with Galilean landscape gives the place a character that is unlike anything else in Israel.

Subbotniks at the Edge of the Swamp

The Subbotniks (from the Russian word for Saturday/Sabbath) were groups of Russian peasants who, beginning in the 18th century, rejected Christianity and adopted Jewish practices: keeping the Sabbath, following dietary laws, and studying the Hebrew Bible. They faced severe persecution from the Russian Orthodox Church and the Tsarist government, and many eventually underwent formal conversion to Judaism. Some emigrated to the Land of Israel, where they joined the Jewish settlements and were absorbed into the emerging Israeli society. Their descendants live in Israel today, fully integrated, carrying Russian surnames and a story that connects the villages of rural Russia to the farms of the Galilee. The Subbotniks also settled in Sejera (Ilaniya), where they were part of the founding community.

Visit with Hoshen Tours

Hoshen Tours includes Yesod HaMa’ala in pioneer-themed itineraries that trace the story of Jewish settlement in the Galilee, from the first colonies to the modern communities of the north.

Visitors exploring the upper Galilee often combine Yesod HaMaala with nearby destinations such as Hula Valley, Rosh Pina, and Tel Hai, each offering its own distinctive perspective on the region’s layered history and landscape. A broader itinerary might also include Safed and Nahal Amud, both within easy reach and rich in their own right.

Every Hoshen Tours itinerary is private and fully customizable. Contact us to begin planning your journey through the upper Galilee.