The President's Cabin

The neighborhood of Rehavia  in Jerusalem was founded at the beginning of the 1920s, and its first inhabitants were some of the prominent leaders of the Zionist Yishuv at the time, among whom were Izhak Ben-Zvi and his wife, Rachel Yanait. They lived in a wooden cabin which was given to Ben-Zvi following his service in the Jewish Legion. In the winter of 1924 the Ben-Zvis moved to the cabin and their second son Eli was born. The cabin was covered with tar paper and asbestos panels, and its cabin’s six rooms were shared by the Ben-Zvi family and Rachel's parents. The cabin was also used as a center for the Yishuv’s activities in Jerusalem, and for meetings of the members of the Va'ad Leumi (The National Committee), the Hagana, the Histadrut (The General Federation of Labor in Eretz Israel) and other organizations. Various delegations and people from the country and abroad also visited the cabin. On the adjoining plot, Rachel ran a tree nursery and an  agricultural  farm for women. 

On the experience of living in the cabin, Rachel wrote: 

During the War of Independence, Eli was killed at kibbutz Beit Keshet in northern Israel, and about two years later, the Ben-Zvis decided to move the residential cabin to the kibbutz so that it could be used as a cultural center. An apartment building was built on the cabin’s site and the Ben-Zvis moved to a modest apartment. 

In 1952 Izhak Ben-Zvi was appointed President of Israel. One of the conditions he laid down for accepting the post was that the Presidential residence be located in Jerusalem (his predecessor, Haim Weizman, lived in Rechovot). The plan was to buy a large house which would be used as the residence, but Izhak Ben-Zvi and Rachel insisted on maintaining their modest lifestyle, since they thought that it was inappropriate for the President to live in luxury while many citizens were living in shacks and tents in the ma'abarot (transit camps erected during the 1950s to deal with the influx of immigrants to Israel). The state purchased the Valero house, next to the site of the cabin, and it was used as offices and a residence for the President and his wife. The complex was surrounded by a stone wall and the garden was planted with local plants . Two cabins (known as Swedish cabins although they actually came from Germany) were brought to the site and were used as the official reception halls until 1971, and official ceremonies held there were attended both by locals and by visitors from all over the world. 

Bringing together olim from all over the world, and preserving, studying and passing on their rich heritage was a mission which President Ben-Zvi took upon himself. On every Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the Hebrew month), the President and his wife hosted an event dedicated to a specific Jewish community, its history and culture. On Sukkot the President's residence became a pilgrimage site for groups of citizens from different communities and religions. Many of the visitors presented the President with souvenirs and art of their own handiwork, or objects that they had brought with them from their countries of origin. 

Following Izhak Ben-Zvi's death in 1963, there was a suggestion to move the President’s cabin to Kiryat Ha-Memshala (the Government precinct) and to use it for official functions and conferences. This proposal was not taken up, and the complex continued to be used by Israel's third President, Zalman Shazar. In 1972 the President's residence moved to its present location and the historical complex became the campus of Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi. In 2010 as part of the plan for National Heritage Sites, the cabin was renovated. Today various archeological findings are exhibited in the cabin, alongside works of arts and craft presented to the Presidents: paper cuttings, wood carvings and embroidery – all presents from adults and children, new immigrants and long-time residents. The cabin also houses works of art from various countries; these were presented to the President's by foreign visitors. Like the cabin itself, the gifts are a reflection of the state of Israel in its first decade and of the values of simplicity and warm-heartedness which were characteristic of the President and his wife. 

Simplicity and art in the President's Cabin

Unlike other formal Presidential reception halls in the world,  Israel’s was located in a simple cabin made of pine wood in the heart of a residential neighborhood. On exhibition in the cabin are objets d'arts, national symbols and archaeological findings from different periods. The contents and visual elements of the cabin expressed the guiding concept of President Ben-Zvi and his wife regarding the shaping of the new Israeli statehood. The cabin was a drawing point for diplomats and heads of state alongside members of all communities in Israel.

Rachel Yanait Ben-Zvi deliberated: “How should the spiritual and social character of the President's house be shaped? How should this lofty symbol of Israel be imbued with the content of our lives here?" The President's wife wanted to "raise up the timeless values of the nation, the eternal values unique to this nation […] based on the ties to the land, the return to the embrace of the original Hebrew culture." But being a woman of the Second Aliya, a pioneer who taught and guided other pioneers, she also wanted that "in the President's house one should feel the wind from the fields, and the scent from the land, from the furrow behind the plough, from the plant, the grass and the tree, from the laborer's contact with the land,  and from the land itself."

The expression of Israeliness in the Cabin's decoration is based on two basic elements: one is the people of Israel in the ancient period and mainly during biblical times, when the tribes of Israel lived on their land and enjoyed its bounty throughout the year; the second is the return of the people of Israel  to their land, the ingathering of the exiles and the creation of a new Israeli statehood. In other words, simplicity and art are unique characteristics of the President's cabin and all the decorations and furnishings are based exclusively on local products and are reflections of the local landscape.

On the south wall of the Cabin is the official symbol of the State of Israel, and underneath appears the verse from Ezekiel's prophecy which has come to pass: “Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.” Underneath the verse are glass panels with illustrations of the Seven Species (seven agricultural products which are listed in the Bible as being special products of the Land of Israel), drawn by the pupils at the Ein Kerem youth village founded by Rachel Yanait. On the opposite wall is a plaque with wood carvings of the Seven Species, and etchings of fig leaves which adorn the walls of the cabin. The Cabin also has a carved menorah with the Seven Species and the symbols of the Twelve Tribes; this menorah was carved out of olive wood by Rachel Yanait's sister, the artist Batya Lishansky. 

In 1965 together with Ruth Dayan, the founder of Maskit, Rachel Yanait commissioned the weaving of three carpets for the President's Cabin and for his office. The carpets were designed by the artist Oded Burla, the son of an old Jerusalem family and the carpet was made in the Maskit factory in Umm al-Fahm. At the center of the carpets is a blue sky, surrounded by colorful birds and flowers, and local trees – palms, fig trees and vines – heavy with fruit, village houses, and a woman holding a sheaf of wheat, framed with pomegranates – a symbol of fertility and wisdom. Thus oriental and biblical motifs combine with the new Israeli statehood. 

In both form and content, the cabin conveys a message of making do with little; it also reflects a belief in the importance of local art – local both in its materials (such as olive wood) and  in its  symbols and imagery. The President's cabin, which exemplifies simplicity and values, is a showcase of Israeli statehood at the time.