'מוסד עזוב': סיפורו של כפר העבודה לנערים עזובים (1948-1939)

This article discusses the establishment of the ‘Work Village’– a unique boarding school for abandoned youth. Exploring its foundation, the bodies involved in its formation, and the socialist and educational principles on which it was based and their implementation, it sheds light on the complex relations between the ‘center’ and‘periphery’ in the Yishuv. Relating to educational, social, ideological, and political aspects, it serves as the launching pad for an investigation into the challenges posed by the intersection of national and personal needs, national ideology/the vision of a new national society and child welfare. Part of the care the youth received was an inculcation of national values designed to mold them into exemplars of the Zionist movement. Their well being was thus subservient to the national goal. While the ‘Work Village’ reflects the Yishuv’s nationalist indoctrination project, it also evinces the latter’s limitations, the initiative for the Village and its administration both being governed first and foremost by the children’s needs. It thus also attests to the fact that the Yishuv was not a monolithic bloc.