Ben Schemen Kids’ Colony

Image from the book: Jewish Palestine: A Celebration of the Yishuv

The Tents of the Jewish Children Who Have Recently Arrived in the Ben Schemen Kids’ Colony near Tel Aviv.

In July 1937, the Palestine Post reported that “the first concert of the Ben-Shemen Children’s Orchestra was presented under the direction of Chanan [Hans] Eisenstaedt [1905–1985] at Rehovot on Sunday night. The orchestra was organized by the ‘WIZO’ of Rehovot and children from Ben-Shemen and some of the cooperative settlements in the vicinity of Rehovot made up the orchestra’s members. The concert was a great success and included the Children’s Symphony by Haydn, the Rural Cantate for Orchestra, Solo and Choir, by J. S. Bach and costume dances by the Ben-Shemen dancing group. The dances, especially the Dutch, Polish and Russian ones, were the chief feature of the evening. In the concert the children performed very creditably and gave proof of the success of their director’s teaching. The baritone solo in the rural Cantate was sung by Nissim [Martin] Rosenthal [later Ron, 1906–1984], and the soprano by Edith Boroshek [née Friedländer, 1898–1976]. Both soloists had pleasing voices but their delivery was slightly spoiled by their indistinct Hebrew pronunciation.”