125 years ago, Jewish National Fund (JNF) was established to realize the Zionist dream: the revival of a vibrant Jewish homeland in Israel.  JNF started with purchases and reclamation of swampy and undeveloped lands, followed by planting forests and engineering water systems to enable agriculture, a key component in the nation’s early growth. Ongoing agricultural developments remain a continuing source of personal livelihoods, national economic prosperity, and pride in reclaiming what had been barren. Since then, JNF’s work has vastly expanded:
 

• Water management and conservation: Through JNF’s ongoing efforts, Israel is now the world leader in water recycling for agriculture and desalinization for its growing population. Water resources are essential for survival, growth, and economic viability in our only Jewish state.


• Community Building: Through its ambitious “Blueprint Negev” and “Go North” programs, JNF is developing dozens of communities and countless jobs in the Negev and Upper Galilee. These areas are relatively underpopulated, compared to the crowded and frequently too expensive triangle bordered by Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. In the “Gaza Envelope,” Arava, and northern and western Galilee, JNF efficiently builds infrastructure, creates affordable housing opportunities, and supports the creation of jobs, schools, recreational facilities, emergency, medical, rehab and disability centers.  Examples include: all aspects needed for housing development; Lauder employment centers; support for small businesses; Margalit StartUp City; Galilee Culinary Institute; GrooveTech in Eshkol that goes beyond standard K-12 classrooms and promotes innovative thinking; Be’er Sheva River Park and Amphitheater; fire and rescue centers; hospitals in the north and south; Adi Negev Nahalat Eran specialized care facility.  All of this is aimed at making these areas bloom, and its new “chalutzim” and inhabitants thrive. These developing regions enable the Zionist dream of building the land of Israel and advancing the well-being of its people.


• Fostering Zionist Engagement: Both in Israel and the U.S., JNF funds educational opportunities to study and appreciate Israel’s long rich history and current dynamism. Programs include:  JNF’s Alexander Muss High School, the “ultimate study abroad experience in Israel,” for American teens, and JNF’s Caravan for Democracy and Faculty Fellowship in Israel that educate non-Jewish student leaders and faculty. JNF’s World Zionist Village, currently being built in Be’er Sheva will proudly advance Zionist and Jewish values in Israel and internationally. It is designed as an educational center for Israel’s history and future, a combined university, think tank, and a Jewish and Israeli “Smithsonian.”  


• Jewish Spirituality: JNF aids new and growing synagogue communities, by building schools, shuls, and other facilities that enhance “achdut” (brotherhood). It has participated in Torah dedications for communities in need.


• Rebuilding and Resilience: Since October 7, 2023, the JNF- sponsored areas in the north and south were devastated and their populations displaced. Immediately, JNF was integrally involved with aiding the displaced, while at the same time, they started to rebuild the attacked communities and assist the inhabitants physically, emotionally, and economically.


• Aliyah: JNF is not politically affiliated. It is pure Zionism for all, with the sole purpose of helping develop our native homeland and supporting all its inhabitants. Partnering with Nefesh B’Nefesh, it is instrumental in aiding Aliyah to Israel and acclimating the new olim. This program just celebrated its 100,000th North American “oleh.”

This is just a sampling of what JNF is doing. For details and more information, please visit jnf.org.

JNF describes itself as “your voice in Israel;” in reality, it is your heart and soul in Israel.