One answer to crowding in central Israel: Go North!

Photo: Anne Taillandier 

The historically rich northern city of Akko is looking to attract more tourists to its turrets and tunnels. 

By Tzivia Jennifer MacLeod

Israel's center is "imploding" from crowding and high living costs, according to Jewish National Fund Chief Development Officer Rick Krosnick. But tourism to the north will help take the pressure off by spurring economic development and encouraging population growth in another region. 

While close to 80 percent of Israel's land area is located outside the center of the country, tourists typically spend only a few hours, at most, exploring beaches, museums, and historical and natural sites beyond Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Krosnick said recently at the Go North Western Galilee Tourism Conference in the northern coastal city of Akko. The conference was co-sponsored by JNF and the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.

The challenge doesn't just lie in bringing visitors to the region, but in convincing them to stay longer to enjoy the area's rich historical sites, boutique artists, expert travel guides, and farm-to-table restaurants. 

Calling all JNF social-media superstars!

This Israeli firefighter just got a much-needed new tool belt. Hopefully he can pry it away from his daughter. #LoveGrowsInIsrael #JNF 

You just read about a JNF-sponsored field trip for Israeli children touched by war, and you want to share the story on Facebook. Or you're in Israel on a JNF mission and visited a site you think the world should know about. What's the best way to share JNF experiences and impressions on your social-media platform of choice? Here are a few tips to keep in mind, JNF social-media superstars.

After days of war, giving kids a chance to be kids

Israeli kids enjoy a much-needed yom kef, or fun day, sponsored by the Jewish National Fund. 

More than 2,000 Israeli kids enjoyed a much-needed reprieve from months of fear and tension recently when the Jewish National Fund took them on a field trip to the biblical gardens of Neot Kedumim, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

In Israel, such a day is called a yom kef, or a fun day. The field trip included 1,500 elementary school students from Sderot, a city of 24,000 located less than a mile from the Gaza border. For them, the day offered dramatic relief from the tension they live with every day.

The fun day for the children from Sderot came together in just 72 hours. Driven by their desire to do something special for the children of Sderot, staff from JNF, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL), and Neot Kedumim, as well as administrators from every elementary school in Sderot, worked around the clock to coordinate the complex logistics of the day.

"Today was a day of relief for the children of Sderot," said Alon Badihi, executive director of JNF Israel. "We want them to know that we love them. We want to thank them for being there for the Jewish people. We want to send them the message of how important it is for Jewish children all over Israel to keep living their lives and to remember how to have fun."

Fear not, the younger generation gets it

Photo: Alicia Yaffe

JNF Social Media Executive Committee member Anne Taillandier samples the crop at Earth's Promise, a cooperative community garden farmed mostly by new immigrants from Ethiopia. 

By Vivian Grossman

I've often wondered whether generations to come will continue to fan the flame of Zionism. Will they understand the importance of how and why a strong Israel is critical to the quality of their lives in America? I've wondered how, with Holocaust survivors leaving us daily, the next generation will connect the dots and understand how Jews have survived for centuries despite countless attempts to rid us from the earth.

 

After recently returning from another amazing trip to Israel, I fear not. I spent a week with a group of rock-star social-media professionals from around the country who represent the leaders of tomorrow. They gave up their very valuable time to travel to Israel with the JNF and keep the message going. They're delightful, bright, funny, and serious, and they get that Zionism has a capital Z and is something to embrace. It's a word to be held in the highest esteem, not one to be disgraced.