Saluts de Mikveh
Israel
Postcards from the Alexander Collection
"Had Mikveh Israel not been
established - it is doubtful whether the State of Israel would have
been established." David Ben-Gurion
Mikveh Israel, the first agricultural school in Eretz Israel, is
etched upon our collective memory as the venue of the 1898 meeting
between Theodor Herzl and the German Emperor Wilhelm II, later to
become a symbol of the Jewish settlement and its development. It
was established as a small agricultural village prior to the
establishment of the first moshavot (rural settlements) by Kol
Israel Haverim - Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU), which is
currently celebrating its 150th anniversary.
AIU was founded in France
against the background of the emancipation and the idea of Shivat
Zion (return to Zion). Its slogan "All Israel are responsible each
for the other" reflects its chief objectives: to assist in
attaining equal rights for Jews in their countries of domicile;
mutual help and activity toward educating children for study and
work. The organization founded hundreds of schools throughout the
world, in which the children studied general and Jewish studies in
French.
Carl Netter, the organization's secretary and later its first
principal, was first sent to Eretz Israel in 1868. He recommended
establishing an educational framework that would offer agricultural
training and eventually a source of income. To this end he worked
vigorously to raise money, even going to Constantinople to obtain a
franchise for purchasing land for the school.
Founded in May 1870, Mikveh Israel met with a great deal of
hardship in its early years, and only with the immigration of the
First Aliya and arrival of the expert agronomist Joseph Niego, did
the school become a modern farm, renowned throughout the world.
After World War I the language of teaching was changed to Hebrew
and the agricultural 
school of Mikveh Israel became a
source of inspiration for intellectuals and a breeding ground for
the halutzim (pioneers), defenders and leaders of the Yishuv.
The letters and postcards displayed in the Alexander Collection
were sent to the principals of Mikveh Israel in the first decades
of its existence. The exhibit comprises documents, stamps, and
first day covers. All these reflect the story and uniqueness of the
pioneering school.
Curator: Kineret Palti
Opens: March 7
Closes: October 22, 2011