When the principles of communal life were formulated and subsequently came to be
the fundamentals of the “workers’ settlements” of Israel, there were members,
especially married couples, who had reservations about collectivization. They sought
a way to set up a collective village which would combine an individual family farm
with bold collective principles. Against this background a number of members left
Degania, and together with members from other Kibbutzim, they set up the first two
agricultural moshavim: Nahalal and Kfar Yechezkel. Among the founders of Nahalal
were Dvora and Shmuel Dayan, Sonia and Yisrael Bloch, Joseph Elkin and Abraham
Greenspon.
In the year 1922 the Emirate of Transjordan was established. At the same time, the
border was formed between the British Mandate in the Land of Israel and the French
Mandate in Syria. Then came the decision in the matter of the Jordan Valley – Negev -
Kinnerot salient, which is east of the Jordan River and north of the Yarmuk Rivers.
Emek Hayarden became a part of the British Mandate and so it came about that after
the founding of Degania ‘A’, there arose other kibbutzim which filled the Jordan Valley.
The unique contribution of Degania ‘A’ was in its being a melting pot for the formation
of many groups in training [foroneer settlement] from the Diaspora as well as from
Eretz Yisrael. These same groups, after training on Degania, set up many kibbutzim all
over the country.
At first Degania cultivated all the 3,000 dunams acquired from east of the Jordan and
when the settlement in the valley expanded Degania remained with an area of land about
1,500 dunams, small by any national measure. Parallel to what was being done in the
fields and groves, was the setting up of “Bet Gordon” (The House of Gordon), in 1935. Here was laid the foundation for study and reference in nature sciences and agriculture, and
the house was opened to the public in 1941.
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