Souvenir composite photograph of the ceremony for the laying of a cornerstone for the moshava Neve Ya'akov, July 10, 1924. Signed in the plate (Hebrew): "Tzalmania Tzion [Zion Photostudio] Y. [Yitzhak] Berliand, Jerusaslem."
At center: Photo of the large crowd gathered around the cornerstone. Central photo encircled by a dozen smaller photos of rabbis and other invited guests attending the ceremony: the first speech delivered by the Rishon LeZion (Sephardi Chief Rabbi) Meir Hai Ouziel; the speech by the chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, Shlomo Ha-Kohen Aaronsohn; representative of the British Mandatory authority, Gilbert Clayton; and more. In the upper margin, photographic portraits of three of the notable rabbis of the Mizrachi organization, namely Yitzchak Yaacov Reines, Meir Bar-Ilan, and Yehuda Leib HaKohen Fishman Maimon.
The Moshava Neve Ya'akov was founded by the Young Mizrachi Organization of Palestine in an isolated area north of Jerusalem, and was meant to represent the first of a succession of settlements rooted in the spirit of "Torah V'Avodah" ("Torah and Labor"), motto of the Religious-Zionist Mizrachi movement. The moshava was named after the founder of the movement, Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines; its residents led a religiously-oriented agricultural lifestyle. The Moshava Neve Ya'akov was destroyed in the course of the battles during Israel's War of Independence.
Approx. 37.5X27 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains. Minor open tears to edges. Upper left corner missing. Several abrasions and scratches (mostly minor). Mounted on card, with blemishes, tears and long crack to back (partly mended with adhesive tape on edges and back).