JNF-USA Volunteers Help to Rebuild Southern Israel

By Russell F. Robinson
Jewish National Fund-USA

NEW YORK — Five and a half months. As someone recently said to me, it may be March 17 around the world, but, it’s still October 7 in Israel. Hostages remain, the war still rages, people are still evacuated, and yet…I am an optimist, and I see the positives. I see our more than 2,000 volunteers from the U.S. going to Israel, clamoring to get dirty – filthy even – to help build back the southern communities and lend a hand any way they can. People in Israel who were divided over policies before the war are now sitting around the same table, figuring out how to build back their country — together. And then there is you – Jewish National Fund-USA donors, partners in our vision that hasn’t changed since Theodor Herzl first passed around his hat in 1901: to build a strong, vibrant future for the land and people of Israel through bold initiatives and Zionist education. You are raising your voices as proud Zionists and participating in our plan to continue building that future. Take a look at what’s been going on:

Build Together

The Build Together plan, which includes supporting the immediate and long-term security needs of each of the Israel Envelope communities; committing to economic growth with incentives for small businesses and farmers; providing education, psychology/therapy resources, resilience and social services, community programs, and facilities; developing civil defense security systems in each community; and so much more, is working! Residents have moved back to Kibbutz Gvulot, Or Haner, Erez, Sderot, and Shlomit, thanks largely to our efforts and the hardest-working volunteers Israel has ever seen.

Volunteer in Israel

To date, we have sent nearly 2,000 volunteers to Israel on our missions, some well into their 80s! They gardened, scoured, built, painted, refurbished, hoed, weeded, and did it all with full hearts and a profound sense of doing something vital, something so intrinsic to who they are as someone who cares deeply about Israel. I have heard from them that words cannot do justice to how they feel about their participation, but one of them tried: “This mission allowed me to really build Israel and not just watch from thousands of miles away. When you help a community move back, watch a child walk into their school, dance with an IDF soldier, and see the gratitude in a farmer’s eyes, you will never be the same. I know I’m not.”

So much more will be happening over the next few months as we work around the clock to rebuild southern Israel and make plans for northern Israel.

The Return of a Community

The Israelis, too, are feeling the impact of our support. Take the community of Shlomit, part of the Halutza communities, founded by people who evacuated from Gush Katif in the name of peace in 2005 and moved to a piece of land, tucked into the northwest corner of the Negev Desert right up against Egypt and Gaza, that, as they like to say, had never been stepped on since the time of Moses. In partnership with Jewish National Fund-USA, the communities grew and thrived with schools, a synagogue, medical center, greenhouses and agricultural fields, a dairy farm, and more! Four months after being evacuated, they moved back home.

In Other News:  

In the south, our hub in Mitzpe Ramon opened to much excitement. Strategically designed to help develop the town, encourage population growth and economic opportunities, the Hub is already attracting companies like Creation Space which specializes in space technologies and AI and is also providing much-needed space to evacuees from the Negev who are using its meeting rooms, offices, classrooms, and rooftop. Watch for more on the Hub as it will be a game-changer for the region.

*

In the north, the foundation was poured for the Robert and Gale C. Kares Kiryat Shmona Medical Center and Jentezen Franklin Ministries Emergency Center, even amid the daily rocket attacks from Hezbollah. When completed, this 24-hour, 20,000-square-foot facility will bring the upper Eastern Galilee’s health services and emergency care up to par with Israel’s largest cities and help attract new residents to the region. Stay tuned!

*

And, as we face rising antisemitism here in the U.S. and across campuses, the best antidote – THE ANSWER – is to send your teenagers to Alexander Muss High School in Israel for a semester abroad experience that creates strong advocates for Israel. Take part in our Muss March Madness campaign here.

*

On my last trip to Israel, I returned to the Carlton Hotel at around 11 pm and saw a man I knew, an evacuee from Kiryat Shmona, sitting in the lobby next to his 6-year-old son, crying. I sat down next to him and asked him what was wrong. He said to me: “Russell, do you have any idea what it’s like to lose your job and not even have the money to buy your son an ice cream cone? I pretend that the yogurt they serve at breakfast is ice cream. I don’t know when we’re going back home or what I’m going back to. My son goes to school here every day, but I sit here and do nothing.”

What could I say? I just sat for 30 minutes and listened. Sometimes, that’s all we can do.

*
Russell F. Robinson is the chief executive officer of JNF-USA