WELCOME JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
I imagine myself sitting in on the job interview of Russell Robinson for the position of CEO of Jewish National Fund. Quite simply, after his interview, the rest of the interviews are cancelled.
He’s that good.
In a world made cynical by hyperbole, Russell’s Robinson’s enthusiasm is . . . enthusiasm.
His love for Israel is . . . love.
It’s as if his words and his complexion were typecast for each other: The words tumble out in plans, dreams, visions and commitments, and his ruddy complexion says: The life juices flow to make them all come true.
The big plan now is a $1 billion, 10-year campaign for a whole host of positive contributions to, well, yes, to Israel, but also to a real relationship between Israel and the Diaspora.
As in, a big boost in alternative spring breaks in Israel for American students.
As in, a big boost in trips to Israel for American high school students.
But I jump way ahead of myself.
Back up.
To Russell Robinson’s Bar Mitzvah in El Paso, Texas, decades ago.
The key point here is not that someone else believed in him despite the fact that he saw Bar Mitzvah as a release from “prison.”
The key point is: He believed in himself.
This man from typical Hebrew School turn-off is now one of the major turn-ons for Jews around the world. Jews who want to build Israel. Jews who believe in the future of the Jewish people. Jews who are excited to be Jewish and Zionist.
He is a major turn-on for Jews who may not be connected now. Just as at one time, long ago, he wasn’t.
Any Jew can rise to top Jewish leadership.
He’s proof.
Stay with Russell Robinson. He’ll take you on a tour de horizon of Jewish hopes unlike almost any you’ve ever heard of.
He’ll tune you in to the “new Israel.” Not the Israel of wars. Not the Israel of immigration from the former USSR or Ethiopia. Not the Israel of giving, or of taking.
A new Israel.
An Israel of partnership.
And of the Negev.
And the Galilee.
And medical discoveries.
It’s a big and exciting Israel, this new Israel.
Russell Robinson will take you there.
Stay tuned.
In the old days the first thing, and the only thing, on that tour de horizon was trees. Jewish National Fund=JNF=trees planted in Israel.
Hardly a small thing.
Israel is the only country in the world that ended the 20th century with more trees than it began with.
Trees — and forests — are still very much at the heart of the JNF enterprise.
But so is much else.
It’s like this: At one time, the major need in Israel was, besides people, trees. Now, it’s also water, historical sites, settlement of neglected areas (Negev, Galilee), and of people who believe in all this.
Translation: JNF is involved in projects galore.
Here is a brief run-down by Russell Robinson of JNF’s areas of impact.
Zionist Education
“We are the largest organization that provides the most Zionist impact to the greatest number of young people,” says Robinson.
From children planting a tree on Tu b’Shevat, to learning about the historical sites in Israel, to teens in the Alexander Muss High School in Hod Hasharon, to young adults on Birthright (55 to 60 buses a year from 51 campuses), “JNF is about making the world a better place, kindergarten to college,” says Robinson.
“All of our messages on college campuses about Israel are positive. You can talk about the Israel-Palestinian conflict and most people don’t understand it. If you want to make an impact, talk about one million people saved from multiple myeloma (cancer) due to a drug developed in Israel.
“Talk about an African farmer who has food on his table due to irrigation technology developed in Israel.”
And more.
The average age for Birthright participants to make a return trip to Israel is 30-40 years old. So JNF started an “alternative spring break” for students who’ve been to Israel before — 400 students go each year. Two thousand are on the waiting list.
Then there are programs for the continuum of JNF’s future for 25-35 year-olds, and JNF executive leadership training for 35-45 year-olds. “A proud, democratic, winning Israel comes through.”
Work in Israel
Mention the word “Negev” to Russell Robinson and you’ll need to cancel your plans for the afternoon.
Pardon the pun. JNF is burning up with enthusiasm for its blueprint for the Negev.
“No other organization has made a greater impact on the Negev in last 12 years than JNF,” says Robinson.
And not necessarily because everyone in the Israeli government is behind this. JNF has had to lead, to push, to dream, to plan — to get out in front of the pack.
“Sixty percent of the land of Israel, and eight percent of its population, is in the Negev. Our objective is to bring 500,000 people to the Negev by 2020.
“We started in 2001. Then, Beersheva, the leading city in the Negev, had 193,000 people. It was losing three percent of its population per year.
“But now, Beersheva has 220,000 people and it is one of fastest growing cities in Israel.
“By 2020, it will have 400,000 to 450,000 people.”
Yerucham, an out-of-the-way, forsaken town in the Negev, was established in 1950. It had 10,000 people. It went down to 8,500.
“Today it’s almost 10,000 and we won’t stop until we have 50,000.
“We try to look at our vision strategically and make it happen.
“Beersheva had housing. It had higher education, a first class university. But the problem was vision. Image. Who wants to live in Beersheva?
“So we took a dry river bed, seven miles long. It was a garbage collection site. Now it will become a seven-mile park, a river walk, with a 22-acre lake to open this November.
“It will have a 12,000 seat amphitheater, to open in October, the largest in Israel.
“We took ‘Abraham’s Well,’ which used to be behind a gas station and locked fence, and built a $6 million visitors center. The reason, other than historical preservation? When 250,000 people visit it, it will be an economic engine.
“All this was to stop the population loss and to bring a population gain.”
JNF partners with private industry. The largest shopping mall in Israel will be built in the Negev, along with housing. Other partners are the municipality of Beersheva and the government of Israel.
“We are the catalyst to make change as caretakers of the land of Israel for the Jewish people,” says Robinson.
The Galilee
The Galilee is 17% of the land of Israel, heavily populated by Israeli Arabs.
To forestall a claim that the Galilee should be detached from Israel, Robinson says that JNF is working with Nefesh B’Nefesh, the aliyah organization, and the government of Israel and all the municipalities in the Galilee to bring 300,000 Jews there by 2030.
Among JNF’s plans:
“To get regional areas to work together in order to make the tourism industry not community-based, but region-based. To focus not just on Roman amphitheaters in Bet Shean, but to get Bet Shean and Tiberias to work together.
“The Hula Valley between Bet Shean and Tiberias is the largest bird migration area in the world, with over 510 species of birds that migrate through Israel. Israel is the land of the Jewish people and of the birds.
“We need to create housing opportunities, so young people can move to the Bet Shean-Tiberias region. We need to create the medical infrastructure; people don’t want move to the periphery if they have to drive two hours to fix a broken arm.
“We need to take a holistic look at the area.”
‘Not a Land of Exiles’
“People don’t realize that Israel is a different country today because it is not a land of exiles anymore. Not a refuge for people who had no other place to go.
“It is a land of choice. There are no Jewish exiles in the world. We won. The largest immigration to Israel comes from North America. 4,000 people a year through Nefesh B’Nefesh.
“These are young doctors and lawyers and accountants who are moving to Israel because they love it, because it’s a great country. We can get them to move to Israel and change the face of the map of Israel.
“When Israel was the land of the exiles, what did we do? Northern and southern Israel became the dumping ground of the immigration. It was no one’s fault. We sent you to Kiryat Shemoneh or Dimona and then forgot about you. If you were strong, you moved to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem or Haifa.
“We can change that. We can bring young, energetic, strong, independent people to Israel.
“The issue is this: You’re talking about 300,000 moving to the Galilee. Nobody cared about the Arabs or the Jews there because there wasn’t enough population to care about.
“So if you want better education in the Galilee, move the population there.
“If you want better job opportunities in the Negev, move more population there and more jobs will come about.
“We have no apologies that Israel is a Jewish nation. It goes back to Abraham and to Lech Lechah. We are the only people with a land for so long that is part of our existence.”
Water
“JNF has created over 15% of the water availability of Israel, taking care of about 1.5 million Israelis per year. That’s through building 240 reservoirs, catching rainwater and recycling water.
“Israel reuses about 78% of its water. The second place is Spain, at 17%.
“Every glass of water is used more than once. That is a JNF phenomenon.
“In the Arava, near Eilat, there are two inches of rain per year. We catch 50% of it. That takes care of crops in the Arava. But we’re not satisfied until we catch the other 50%.
“The Arava produces 55% of the peppers exported from Israel, 50% of melons exported and 25% of the fish consumed in Israel.
“Tomatoes are grown via hydroponics, then the water is reused, over and over.
“We use drip irrigation to the extreme, measuring the soil for how much water it needs. We create new technology that measures the roots, and through the roots we use 25% less water than even in drip irrigation.
“That is JNF ingenuity in the 21st century. We have major research development centers throughout Israel to come up with these technologies to provide food for Israel and the world.”
Historical Sites
“We care for Israeli historical sites that deal with its independent spirit. Sites like the Ayalon Institute in Rehovot. Built under a kibbutz, 1945-1948, under British noses, it produced bullets for the War of Independence.
“We brought it back to life.
“Atlit — the museum of illegal immigration after the Holocaust. The British built a camp that was like a replica of Auschwitz, except that it didn’t kill people, to imprison Jews who came on ships such as the Exodus.
“We brought it back to life to show the spirit of the Jewish people.
“Young people, from the Orthodox to the secular, don’t understand the spirit of Israel’s independence.
“Ammunition Hill is the only museum in Israel that depicts the reunification of Jerusalem. It is a JNF historical site.
“Ben Gurion’s house in the Negev. Tel Chai in the north — the Alamo of the Jewish people. We need to teach our people about when 750,000 fought [in 1948] so that we could have a place to even have a debate about issues of the Jewish people.”
The ‘New Israel’
“The biggest issue facing us as the Jewish people is not a lack of love of Israel. The connection between Israel and the Diaspora today is great. And it’s getting stronger than it’s ever been in the US.
“People talk about the death of connection of American Jewry to Israel. This is just not right. There’s a spirit of wanting to be part of this new Israel, and as much as we’ve done for Israel, Israel has done so much more for the Diaspora.
“It’s not about an Israel in war, or about meeting new immigrations coming off the plane from the former USSR or Ethiopia.
“It’s about planes I took with Nefesh B’Nefesh, with 200 people getting off the plane and joining the Army.
“And guess why there were doing it? Not to save Israel. But because they want to be part of this great journey in the winning country of Israel.
“And that’s the JNF story today: Zionism. We’re not scared of the word. We’re proud of it. We’re excited about it.
“It’s Israel’s winning spirit.”
The National Conference in Denver
“Why Denver? Every community has to bid on it. Denver won the bid. “Denver is an ‘emerging community’ for JNF. That’s why we’re honoring Stan Kamlet and Gene Kay.
“It’s an annual conference for 500 to 600 lay people from throughout the US. We kick off our national campaign. Last year it was $73 million. This year we expect to raise more — no exact figure yet.
“We will announce a $1 billion, 10-year campaign.
“Our new president will be inducted. Jeff Levine. A major developer from New York City. One of the youngest presidents of JNF. Ronald Lauder will be reelected chairman of the board.
“We work with the JCCs and BBYO to bring 100 young people to the conference. Let’s impact the Denver community as well.
“We will have a Shabbat at CU.
“We bring our volunteers together to understand the myriad of our issues. They’s so involved.
“They’re all involved in water, the Negev, etc. Forty volunteers go to Israel twice a year to vet our projects and to see new opportunities for creating water resources in Israel.
“These are lawyers, doctors, real estate people. Dr. Mort Mower invented the defibrillator. He learned about plumbing for hearts, and decided to learn about water in Israel. Now he’s into wetlands. His co-chair is Lorraine Greenbaum, a ‘water wonk’ according to the Wall Street Journal.
“The JNF is think tank for what you do for water in Israel.
“We have people in the ‘Go North’ campaign and in ‘Blueprint Negev.’
“They don’t go to the Arava for a day, but for four or five days, living there, more than once a year.
“We’re no longer related to Israel because it’s going to be annihilated, or because it’s that poor cousin and if we’re not there it won’t exist. It will.
“There are now almost the same amount of Jews living in Israel as in the Diaspora. Could you have guessed?
“There is an old IJN on the wall, saying that the greatest opportunity to fight Nazism was to work to get Jews to move to Palestine. Guess what. We won.
“Now, it’s a partnership.
“Since destruction of the Second Temple we have not been at this moment.
“It’s a wow moment.
“That’s the JNF message.”
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
