Month: January 2020

One fine day in April 1925, 7,000 people gathered excitedly for the inauguration ceremony of the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem. Among them were top-ranking figures such as Chaim Weizmann, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, H.N. Bialik, Herbert Samuel, Lord Balfour, General Allenby and Nahum Sokolow. The university infused a refreshing new spirit into the world of Hebrew culture and education that was developing in the Land of Israel. From its very beginning, Keren Hayesod understood the need to raise money to support the establishment of institutions of higher education. It contributed £20,613 to the Technion in Haifa and £31,821 to the Hebrew University, for example, and in order to turn the Ziv Institute in Rehovot into the Weizmann Institute, Keren Hayesod raised a total of half a million dollars. Keren Hayesod has continued to raise money for the ongoing activities of these institutions, which provided the infrastructure for higher education in Israel and played an enormous role in turning Israel into a powerhouse of knowledge. Today, too, Keren Hayesod supports institutions of education and learning throughout Israel, mainly in the periphery.

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Photo: Lord Balfour speaks at the inauguration of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 1925

The burning security situation at the time of the Great Arab Revolt (1936-1939) led the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Histadrut Labor Federation to take a revolutionary and groundbreaking step – to establish a Hebrew airline – Aviron. The company received its initial funding from Keren Hayesod, to the great anger of the British. Less than a year later, the Jewish Agency for Israel opened a flight training school in the Jordan Valley and purchased a number of planes. Despite the many challenges, in 1938 two Aviron planes made a celebratory flight in the skies over Hanita at the time of its founding. Excitement ran high. In 1947, the company’s planes were handed over to the Hagana’s new “Air Service” and played a starring role in the War of Independence. The magnificent aviation infrastructure created by Aviron was used for the establishment of El Al, founded as a government company. Planes financed by Keren Hayesod supported all the well[1]known aliyah operations, bringing to Israel the Jews of Yemen and Iraq, Morocco and North Africa, the USSR and Ethiopia. Sometimes they were foreign planes purchased by Keren Hayesod, and in many cases, El Al planes.

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Photo: Aviron’s long-haul airplane, Lod Airport, 1947

In the heart of the town of Sderot is a small, pastoral student village run by the Ayalim Association. Every year, some 72 students, many of them studying at the nearby college, move into the village. The village was established in 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, in record time – just 52 days – while under heavy bombardment and ongoing security threats. The vision of the village’s founders and of Ayalim is simple: encouraging students to come to live in challenging areas in the periphery and developing a young community that enjoys convenient living conditions, while supporting the surrounding neighborhood. The students work with the elderly, Holocaust survivors and people with disabilities. They also work with youth-at-risk and help rehabilitate them. Ayalim, which was established in 2003, works in cooperation with Keren Hayesod and with its support. There are 11 student villages throughout the periphery. The young people study in the area, become involved in social welfare activities and initiate volunteer projects to help the local community. Many of them remain in the periphery and establish their home there.

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Photo: Students at Ayalim student village, Menahemia, 2009

Not many people are aware that Albert Einstein, father of the theory of relativity and winner of the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics, was a great supporter of Keren Hayesod for more than 20 years. Already in Keren Hayesod’s first year, Einstein joined Chaim Weizmann on a mission across the United States, supporting the organization’s fundraising efforts to establish the Hebrew University. In speeches at various events and conferences around the world, he noted the activities of Keren Hayesod and their great importance and shared his warm feelings for the organization. For KH’s 15th anniversary celebrations, he wrote these heartfelt words: “Keren Hayesod, which made Jewish settlement possible on the lands of Eretz Israel, has proved itself to be an institution of priceless value for the necessary rehabilitation of the people”.

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From left to right: Ben-Zion Mossinzon, Albert Einstein, Chaim Weizmann and Menachem Ussishkin on their mission to the United States, 1921

Jewish writer, philosopher and intellectual Elie Wiesel was also a supporter of Keren Hayesod. He was, among other things, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and was deeply involved in perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust. One of his well-known quotes was: “To assume, to accept, to embody the vision of Keren Hayesod is a privilege”. Wiesel remained an exemplary figure over the years, and his strong values inspired many. He spoke out strongly against “the danger of indifference” and the phenomenon of standing on the sidelines – something that significantly enabled the Nazis’ Final Solution and other atrocities over the course of history. For him, Keren Hayesod was an outstanding and inspiring organization whose aim was to make possible a better future for the Jews in Israel and throughout the world. In a speech in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary, he said: “Keren Hayesod is a unique organization, it strengthens, enriches, and glorifies what is the best in the Jewish state, Israel. Keren Hayesod is an agent, a marvelous agent, an inspiring agent, thanks to which so many people made aliyah from distant countries”.

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Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

The coordinated attack by Egypt and Syria against Israel began in the middle of the Yom Kippur fast, on October 6, 1973, at 1:50 PM Israel time, when most Israelis were in synagogue. No one could imagine what was about to happen. It was a total surprise and Israeli and Diaspora Jews were shocked by the intensity of the attack. Many Jews around the world found it difficult to comprehend the extent of the distress. Israel was seen as a powerhouse and everyone was certain that the IDF would quickly vanquish the Arab armies. But as the hours passed, the scale of the disaster began to become clear. Finance Minister Pinchas Sapir personally called the major Jewish donors and financial leaders and simultaneously organized emergency missions around the world together with Keren Hayesod. There was no time to prepare. Serious reports continued to arrive from the front; the fall of the strongholds along the Suez Canal, the Syrian invasion of the Golan Heights and the number of Israeli losses made it clear to all those who were in doubt that the State of Israel was once again fighting for its life. Keren Hayesod emissaries and professionals organized and coordinated the campaign in its entirety. They recruited volunteers, worked in the field and achieved amazing results. By the end of the campaign, in the course of just two months, October and November 1973, a record $273 million had been raised.

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Photo: Paratroopers on the southern front, October 1973

Immediately after the establishment of Keren Hayesod in 1920, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a leading intellectual and man of letters, joined the organization’s Executive as its fourth member. He brought tremendous new spirit to all areas of activity and created outstanding publicity material that carried the Keren Hayesod message to Jewish communities throughout the world. He also went abroad on missions, gave lectures in English and joined a large delegation to the United States that produced important results. Jabotinsky published the first Keren Hayesod Book, wrote daily items in Jewish newspapers around the world, initiated informational films and developed various methods to distribute materials. In 1923 Jabotinsky resigned from the Keren Hayesod Executive after his demands to take stronger action on behalf of the Land of Israel were not met. He left behind shoes that were very hard to fill.

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Photo: The first poster issued by Keren Hayesod, in 1926, dedicated to Ze’ev Jabotinsky

Keren Hayesod emissaries represent the organization in various communities around the world and lead campaign activities. They are carefully chosen after an extensive selection process and are trained as an elite group to serve as Keren Hayesod’s executing arm in the field. At the end of a lengthy training 9 10 period, the emissaries are sent to communities around the word, serving as a bridge with Keren Hayesod activities in Israel. Although the emissaries are responsible for fundraising, their role does not end there. It is their responsibility to faithfully represent the key values of Keren Hayesod; to strengthen the solidarity with Israel; to connect Diaspora Jewry and the Jews of Israel; and to strengthen the Keren Hayesod family everywhere, no matter how remote. Keren Hayesod’s early emissaries included Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Chaim Weizmann, Nahum Sokolow, Menachem Ussishkin, Haim Nahman Bialik, Albert Einstein and many others, who realized very early on the importance of Keren Hayesod and its critcal calling in spreading its messages around the world. Today Keren Hayesod has many emissaries around the globe, who continue to work with great dedication on behalf of the Jewish people and integrate into the local community during their shlichut.

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Photo: List of KH emissaries from the Keren Hayesod booklet
Din Vachesbon (Financial Reckoning), 1921

On Friday, July 18, 1947, at 2 AM, a British destroyer circled the clandestine immigration ship Exodus, carrying 4,500 Holocaust survivors, and demanded that it surrender. The crew tried to resist, but five additional destroyers surrounded the ship and prevented it from escaping. Ladders and bridges were laid from the battleships to the deck, and British soldiers boarded the Exodus, in an attempt to take it over, but resistance was fierce. The ma’apilim – clandestine immigrants – fought mightily. It was only after three hours, when the ship had sustained serious blows on all sides, and its commanders feared that it would go down with all the people on board, that an order to surrender was given. The ma’apilim were transferred to deportation ships, which transported them back to detention camps in Europe – from which they had fled in the hope of reaching the Land of Israel. The deportation was widely covered and documented, with the eyes of the world following what was taking place. The determination of the ma’apilim resonated worldwide, and eventually influenced the United Nations to recognize the State of Israel. Although the Exodus was the largest, it was only one of 140 ships that brought over 100,000 ma’apilim to the Land of Israel from the mid-1930s until the establishment of the state. The clandestine immigration campaigns, supported by Keren Hayesod, raised the morale of the Jewish people, which was in crisis after the scale of the Holocaust became apparent. The hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who had survived the Holocaust were housed in camps in Europe that were managed by the Jewish Agency for Israel, which cared for them and prepared them for the day when they would be able to make aliyah.

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Photo: Ma’apilim on the clandestine immigration ship Exodus in the port of Haifa, before being deported back to Europe, 1947

Imagine a moving ceremony, which concludes with the singing of Hatikva. How would you feel if you were one of the only ones singing without understanding the significance of the words? Many IDF recruits come from new immigrant families, with little, if any, familiarity with the Jewish heritage and culture. Some of them are not even considered Jewish according to Halacha (Jewish law). Although these soldiers serve their country, sometimes even putting their lives on the line, their Israeli and Jewish identity is incomplete. Some of them spoke about feelings of embarrassment at Kabbalat Shabbat services and on festivals, because they were unfamiliar with the stories, customs and songs of these occasions. The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Nativ program, carried out with the support of Keren Hayesod, is designed specifically for such soldiers. Every year 1,700 soldiers spend several weeks learning about their Jewish identity in an experiential framework that includes lectures, discussions and fascinating trips around Israel. “The Nativ course contributes very significantly to the social resilience of the State of Israel”, says senior IDF commander, Maj. Gen. Hertzi Halevi. “It creates an affinity with the State of Israel, the people of Israel and the Land of Israel in those who were not born here and did not grow up with this sense of belonging”. Many of the soldiers attest that understanding Israel’s background and history gives them greater motivation to fight. Many continue on to a special conversion program to obtain halachic status as Jews. The topic of Jewish identity and connecting young people to their Jewish and Israeli heritage is an important part of many Keren Hayesod projects.

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Photo: Nativ project participants, 2019