Piedmontese pioneers in Eretz Israel

“Next year in Jerusalem” had for two thousand years been the keyword of the Jewish diaspora throughout the world. In Basel, in 1897, Theodor Herzl had founded the Utopia of a democratic, equalitarian, proletarian society, in which Jews could foster their culture. Zionism was to become a reality in the agrarian and industrial kibbutzim in Eretz Israel. The first Jewish rural community was born in 1880, in Rishòn-le-Ziòn. At the time, few of those pioneers, the chalutzìm, were thinking of a true Jewish nation. They just wanted a land were they would feel safe, a land plowed and worked with their own hands. Having embraced Zionist values, reinforced by their historical heritage, Piedmontese Jews, together with comrades from all over Europe, dedicated their lives to the realization of this project. From Piedmont and from Italy, many chose to make alyàh, the ascent to Israel, as the Jewish expression goes. This documentary tells their story.