Page 196 - big friday
P. 196
and where it was first located, as well as the place where the State of Israel was born.
T zina and Meir Dizengoff built their house on a plot that was assigned to them in a
lottery. It was a single-story house with a tiled roof; in the front, facing the front door,
there was a veranda with two flights of stairs leading to it.
A kiva Aryeh Weiss, who had initiated the founding of the Ahuzat Bayit Company, was
the committee chairman during its early years. It was he who spearheaded the complicated,
complex and difficult process of purchasing land for the neighborhood and building the
founders' homes. Meir Dizengoff was an active member of the association.
From the outset, and continuing after the homes had been built, there was friction and
squabbling among the members of the association, with the members forming different
camps. At a general meeting that took place on 29th Kislev 5672 (at the end of 1911) a new
committee was elected for the neighborhood, and Akiva Aryeh Weiss was not one of its
members. Meir Dizengoff was chosen to chair the committee.
F rom that point until his death in 1936 (with the exception of the period between late
December 1925 – when he resigned owing to a dispute with the HaPo’alim faction in the
municipality – until the end of December 1928), Dizengoff was the leader of Tel Aviv.
During this period, under his leadership and due in no small measure to his energy,
talent and vision, Tel Aviv was transformed from a small, quiet neighborhood into a
vibrant, busy city that became the center of the modern Yishuv in Palestine.
During its early years the new neighborhood committee would meet and operate
out of a room that had been designated for that purpose inside the water tower that
stood near the junction of Rothschild Boulevard and Nahalat Binyamin Street (near
Dizengoff House). However, unsurprisingly, the home of the committee chairman – the
home of Tzina and Meir Dizengoff – also served as one of the neighborhood's centers of
public activity
The home becomes a museum
Meir Dizengoff was a leader with every fiber of his being; he was intense and always the
first among the doers. Tzina, his wife, was a modest sort; a woman who stood by her man.
She was involved in what was going on in Tel Aviv and in public life, but she preferred
to make her contribution to community life through cultural and charitable activities.
She was very pretty and always well-groomed. She was pleasant and possessed European
manners, and was known in the city as a perfect hostess at the meetings, receptions,
parties and social events held in their home. Tzina conducted her activities for the public
in French, since she had not managed to master the Hebrew language.
D uring the 1920s the couple decided, as did many of the neighborhood founders, to
expand their home. The city engineer, Dov Hershkowitz, added a second floor, accessed
by means of outside stairs, and some rooms were also added on the roof.
At the beginning of 1930, Tzina Dizengoff died of cancer. She was buried in the old
194 The Friday That Changed Destiny
T zina and Meir Dizengoff built their house on a plot that was assigned to them in a
lottery. It was a single-story house with a tiled roof; in the front, facing the front door,
there was a veranda with two flights of stairs leading to it.
A kiva Aryeh Weiss, who had initiated the founding of the Ahuzat Bayit Company, was
the committee chairman during its early years. It was he who spearheaded the complicated,
complex and difficult process of purchasing land for the neighborhood and building the
founders' homes. Meir Dizengoff was an active member of the association.
From the outset, and continuing after the homes had been built, there was friction and
squabbling among the members of the association, with the members forming different
camps. At a general meeting that took place on 29th Kislev 5672 (at the end of 1911) a new
committee was elected for the neighborhood, and Akiva Aryeh Weiss was not one of its
members. Meir Dizengoff was chosen to chair the committee.
F rom that point until his death in 1936 (with the exception of the period between late
December 1925 – when he resigned owing to a dispute with the HaPo’alim faction in the
municipality – until the end of December 1928), Dizengoff was the leader of Tel Aviv.
During this period, under his leadership and due in no small measure to his energy,
talent and vision, Tel Aviv was transformed from a small, quiet neighborhood into a
vibrant, busy city that became the center of the modern Yishuv in Palestine.
During its early years the new neighborhood committee would meet and operate
out of a room that had been designated for that purpose inside the water tower that
stood near the junction of Rothschild Boulevard and Nahalat Binyamin Street (near
Dizengoff House). However, unsurprisingly, the home of the committee chairman – the
home of Tzina and Meir Dizengoff – also served as one of the neighborhood's centers of
public activity
The home becomes a museum
Meir Dizengoff was a leader with every fiber of his being; he was intense and always the
first among the doers. Tzina, his wife, was a modest sort; a woman who stood by her man.
She was involved in what was going on in Tel Aviv and in public life, but she preferred
to make her contribution to community life through cultural and charitable activities.
She was very pretty and always well-groomed. She was pleasant and possessed European
manners, and was known in the city as a perfect hostess at the meetings, receptions,
parties and social events held in their home. Tzina conducted her activities for the public
in French, since she had not managed to master the Hebrew language.
D uring the 1920s the couple decided, as did many of the neighborhood founders, to
expand their home. The city engineer, Dov Hershkowitz, added a second floor, accessed
by means of outside stairs, and some rooms were also added on the roof.
At the beginning of 1930, Tzina Dizengoff died of cancer. She was buried in the old
194 The Friday That Changed Destiny
