The moshav was founded on a site once occupied by the Arab village Khirbet esh Sheikh Mohammed ("The ruin of Sheikh Mohammed").[2][3][4] Kh. esh Sheikh Muhammed became settled during the rule of Ibrahim Pasha, either by Egyptians or by hamulas (extended families) from mountain villages.[5] In 1882, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine found that it consisted of a few adobe huts among ruins.[6] Ancient glazed pottery has been found there.[3]
Although Yemenite neighborhoods had been established near many agricultural settlements, it was not until 1930 that independent Yemenite settlements were approved.[7] After a prolonged struggle by the Yemenite Workers Federation in Palestine, three moshav ovdim were established: Marmorek in 1930, Tirat Shalom in 1931, and Elyashiv on 13 November 1933.[7][8] Of these, Elyashiv was the largest and the only one that survived as a moshav.[7] The original fifty families were Yemenite Jews who had been in Palestine since the 1920s.[7] They belonged to an organization of Yemenite Jews called "Shabazi", founded in Petach-Tikva in 1931.[9] It is named after a high priest in the time of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 3:1).[10]
The land for the moshav was provided by the Jewish National Fund, which had purchased a very large tract from a Lebanese Maronite in 1929 with the help of a bribe paid to the seller's legal representative.[11] Agricultural instructors were provided by the Jewish Agency.[12] However, unlike with other moshavot in the Hefer Valley, no financial assistance was provided by the moshav movement.[13] The first decades were marked by continual conflict with the Jewish Agency.[14]
The population was 310 in 1945 and 460 in 1952.[8][15]
Elyashiv 1939
Elyashiv 1939 1:20,000
Vicinity of Yemenite moshav Elyashiv in 1941, with location of modern roads added in green
Adler (Cohen), Raya (1988). "The Tenants of Wadi Hawarith: Another view of the Land Question in Palestine". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 20 (2): 197–220. doi:10.1017/S0020743800033936. S2CID163346325.
Denys R. Pringle (1986). The Red Tower (al-Burj al-ahmar): Settlement in the Plain of Sharon at the time of the Crusaders and the Mamluks A.D. 1099–1516. Jerusalem Monograph Series no. 1. London: British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem.
Sharaby, Rachel (1998). "Farming and Ethnic Identity: Yemenite Settlers Confront Modern Agriculture in Israel". The Journal of Israeli History. 19 (2): 21–37. doi:10.1080/13531049808576127.
Sharaby, Rachel (2001). "Conflict, Adjustment, and Compromise: The Case of a Yemenite Moshav". The Jewish Journal of Sociology. 43 (1–2): 37–52.
