Rehovot, situated 21km/21mi southeast of Tel Aviv in the coastal plain, lies in the center of an orange-growing region. Its industries include pharmaceuticals and glass, and it is famed as the seat of the Weizmann Institute (named after Israel's first President), a large scientific complex of international repute.
History
Rehovot was originally a farming settlement founded in 1890 by Polish Jews, who dug a well and named the village Rehovot after the place of that name in the Negev where Isaac dug a well which he called Rehoboth (Genesis 26,22). The settlers originally grew vines, but at the turn of the century they switched to citrus fruits.
In 1909 Yemeni Jews who had come to Israel in the second Aliyah established the suburb of Sha'araim. When at the end of the First World War Rehovot was linked up with the Lod-Gaza railroad line the rising town became an intermediary between the coastal plain and the Negev desert to the south. Its economy benefited as a result: the exports of citrus fruits increased, the orange- processing industry expanded and pharmaceutical factories were established. Chaim Weizmann, born in Russia in 1873, studied chemistry at a number of European universities and in addition became deeply committed to the aims of the Zionist movement. Attracted by the pleasant surroundings, fragrant with orange-blossom, he settled in Rehovot in 1920 and established an agricultural research station. On the occasion of his 70th birthday in 1944 his friends and admirers established the Weizmann Institute. Weizmann died in Rehovot in 1952 and was buried near the Institute.
5km/3mi southeast of Rehovot is the kibbutz of Givat Brenner, founded in 1928. It is named after the writer Joseph Chaim Brenner, who was murdered by Arabs in Haifa in 1921. One of the largest kibbutzes in Israel, it produces canned foods, irrigation equipment and wood products. This was the home of the sculptor Jacob Loutchansky, whose work, inspired by events in the history of Israel, can be seen in squares and gardens in the kibbutz. In the cemetery is the grave of Yizhaq Sadeh (d. 1952), writer and officer in the Haganah, the Jewish underground movement.
On the northern outskirts of Rehovot, near the Weizmann Institute, is the house in which Chaim Weizmann lived from 1949 to 1952. The building, which is open to the public, was designed by Erich Mendelsohn (1937). In the garden is Weizmann's grave.
Address: Weizmann House, Weizmann Institute PO Box 26, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
The Weizmann Institute in Rehovot covers a broad spectrum of research in the natural sciences. It has several departments (biology, physics, chemistry) and a number of sub-departments (e.g. plant genetics, microbiology). Lectures are given here by scientists from all over the world. Some 1,800 people work in the Institute, including some 500 students working for their final examinations.
Address: Weizmann Institute, Herzl Street, 76100 Rehovot, Israel
Hours:
9am-4pm; Closed: Fri, Sat
Tips: Conducted tours of the Institute can be arranged by previous appointment.
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Givat Brenner, Israel
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