My great-grandfather, Reuven Lehrer (a.k.a Reuven Zangvil Patchornik) was probably the first and only individual to build, by himself, a settlement that went on to become a flourishing town in Israel. The town was Ness Ziona (a.k.a. Nes Tziyona).

Reuven Zangvil Patchornik was born in 1833, in the Czarist Empire. As happened with many Jewish youngsters at the time, he was press-ganged into the Czarist army at the age of twelve. With the aid of a cousin he escaped, dressed as a woman, and went into hiding on the 11,000 acre estate of a wealthy German (non-Jewish) family named Lehrer. He quickly worked his way up to become manager of the estate, and adopted his benefactor's family name Lehrer. (Some of his descendants would later revert to the original Patchornik.)

Having become a rich man, in 1881 he met a German Templar who had unsuccessfully tried to cultivate a tract of land in what was then called Wadi El-Khanin. (The place was infested with mosquitoes and the Templars dropped dead like flies from malaria.) On the spot, he agreed to a land exchange with the Templar and left Odessa for Eretz Israel. "Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house, unto the land I will show thee..." (Gen. 12:1)

A German priest named Benselberger introduced Reuven Lehrer/Patchornik to the craft of beekeeping. As a result, my great-grandfather became the first Jewish beekeeper in Eretz Israel, starting a family tradition that continues to the present day.

Being a very religious Jew, and needing a community,Lehrer/Patchornik decided he could not farm on his own. He advertised in the town of Yafo/Jaffa offering cheap, fertile land to ten Jewish males, so he would always have a "minyan" (quorum) for prayers. And thus in 1883, the town of Ness Ziona was born.

Presently, Ness Ziona is a flourishing town that is home, among others, to a bustling hi-tech industrial park and to the Israel Institute for Biological Research.

I am presently editing a book about the story of Reuven Patchornik-Lehrer and his descendants. The book will also include other stories from the first aliya (immigration wave), as well as my own life story. Stay tuned to this website for updates, and perhaps previews! Avraham Patchornik