The modern building of the municipality, as well as the shopping center, are named after Zalman David Levontin. From the very first minutes of our walk, we know that Zalman David dreamed of a Jewish state at school, founded the settlement council, acquired the land of Rishon LeZion, but, during the first year, sold his land and went to Russia. Levontin believed that the settlement should be independent, and it should be created and developed by wealthy people. He continued to defend the ideas of Zionism based on private property and categorically rejected the socialist and communist orientation. In 1897, Levontin was one of the first to join the Zionist movement led by Theodor Herzl. In 1901 he served as the Director of the Jewish Bank in London, and in 1903 became Manager of an Anglo-Palestinian company that financed the acquisition of lands for the future Tel Aviv, Herzliya district in Haifa and lands of the valley of Israel. Over time, the Anglo-Palestinian Bank was named the Bank of Leumi – the National Bank of Israel. Zalman David Levontin died in 1940 in Tel Aviv. He was buried at the Rishon LeZion cemetery.
This is a special tour and a unique route. Its difference from the usual city tour is that your mobile phone is the guide. As in every excursion, it takes time to get used to the tour guide, his style, rhythm and pathways. The only difference is that in this case, you are the storyteller, you are walking yourself and set the pace for yourself - all according to your style. Just give yourself time to get used to it and you will come to life with a story full of the vicissitudes of the lives of real people, a story about their joys and sorrows, a story in which urban legends rise from the past, instill hope and simply sums up: here it all began.
