In the spring of 1878, the Arab village of
al-Ja'una sold half its lands, about 2,500 dunum, to Jews from Safed in order to fund the emigration of some of the villagers to the
Hauran. Led by Elazar Rokah, the Jews moved into al-Ja'una, living among the Arabs for fear of being unable to cope with Bedouin raids on their own. After one year of good harvests, a year of drought saw the Arabs mortgage their lands to money lenders, but the Jews were unwilling to do the same and left. He wrote about his visit to Rosh Pina in 1886: "
Jauna, which was the name of the village to which I was bound, was situated about three miles (5 km) from Safed, in a gorge, from which, as we descended it, a magnificent view was obtained over the Jordan valley, with the Lake of Tiberias lying three thousand feet below us on the right, and the waters of Merom, or the Lake of Huleh, on the left. The intervening plain was only waiting for development. The new colony has been established about eight months, the land having been purchased from the Moslem villagers, of whom twenty families remained, who lived on terms of perfect amity with the Jews. These consisted of twenty-three Roumanian and four Russian families, numbering in all one hundred and forty souls. The greater number were hard at work on their potato-patches when I arrived, and I was pleased to find evidences of thrift and industry. A row of sixteen neat little houses had been built, and more were in process or erection. Altogether this is the most hopeful attempt at a colony which I have seen in Palestine. The colonists own about a thousand acres of excellent land, which they were able to purchase at from three to four dollars an acre. The Russians are establishing themselves about half a mile from the Roumanians, as Jews of different nationalities easily get on well together. They call the colony Rosch Pina, or "Head of the Corner," the word occurring in the verse, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the comer." According to a
census conducted in 1922 by the
British Mandate authorities, Rosh Pinna had a population of 468 inhabitants, consisting of 460 Jews, 4 Muslims and 4 Christians. File:ראש פינה - מראה המושבה-JNF027651.jpeg|Rosh Pinna 1926 File:ראש פינה - מראה חלקי-JNF027649.jpeg|Rosh Pinna 1937 File:ראש פינה - ראש פינה תחנת המכס-JNF027654.jpeg|Customs House, Rosh Pinna. January 1939 File:Camp Philo ii.jpg|
Yiftach Brigade Camp Philo, Rosh Pinna, 1948 File:Camp Philo.jpg|Camp Philo, Rosh Pinna. 1948 File:Rosh Pina i.jpg|Members of the
Yiftach Brigade arriving at Camp Philo, Rosh Pinna. 1948 File:Philo Camp i.jpg|Philo Camp "D" Company 1st Battalion Yiftach Brigade prior to fighting around
al-Malikiyya, 1948 File:Rosh Pinna.jpg|
Yiftach Brigade take over Rosh Pinna police station during
Operation Yiftach, 1948 ==Discovery of wild emmer==