'A win-win': Special in Uniform's new president on why including people with disabilities matters

General Iftach Ron-Tal, new president of Special in Uniform,

honors a soldier from the IDF's homefront command unit. 

Special in Uniform, a JNF-supported program that integrates young people with disabilities into the Israel Defense Forces, has just named a new president, General Iftach Ron-Tal. 

General Ron-Tal is a former commander of the IDF Ground Forces Command and former head of the Israel Port Authority, the government agency that operates and manages Israel's seaports in Haifa, Ashdod, and Eilat. Currently, he serves as chairman of Israel Electric Corporation. 

Ron-Tal shared a few thoughts with the JNF blog as we head into February, Jewish Disability Awareness Month. 

How does an inclusive society benefit society as a whole? 

Building a society that looks beyond a person's disability is a win-win situation. It's a key measure of the civilization we hope to build together, and if there is one thing the Jewish people have to offer humanity, it's the notion that we are all created in the image of God. 

Tu BiShvat bash in Tel Aviv connects hundreds with their roots: 'I've never seen anything like it'

By Shira Nussdorf

Heavy winds and driving rain couldn't dampen spirits at the Tel Aviv Tu BiShvat wine and cheese tasting seder this past Sunday night. Hundreds of young Jews gathered at the JNFuture Israel event to learn traditional Tu BiShvat customs using the latest technology. 

"I came all the way from Jerusalem to check out this scene,” said Ahuva Moses, a sociologist from New York City. "I've never seen anything like it."

Guests included students and new olim (immigrants), JNFuture members, and a rabbi to lead the event. Rabbi Shlomo Chayen, with a glass in one hand and an iPhone in the other, challenged the crowd to participate in a Jewish-themed trivia game. Winners received a bottle of wine from a Golan winery as participants learned blessings. 

For Tu BiShvat, going back to nature as it was in biblical times

Tu BiShvat, the 15th of Shevat on the Jewish calendar, marks the new year for trees in Israel. It's a time of renewal in nature when the earliest-blooming trees awaken from their dormant winter state and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. 

There is perhaps no better place in Israel to observe this process than at Neot Kedumim, a reserve that's host to a biblical landscape in the heart of the country. Neot Kedumim was founded in 1964 near the city of Modi'in, and was once a barren no-man's land on the border with Jordan. Its founder, the late Israel Prize winner Nogah Hareuveini, turned it into a lush re-creation of Israel's ancient landscape that today serves as both a 625-acre park and a learning center. It also encompasses the Jewish National Fund (JNF) Harvey Hertz Ceremonial Tree Planting Center.

There's still time to enter our #PoweredByJNF photo contest and win prizes

Were you one of the 1,000-plus young people who went to Israel this winter on a JNF-supported program? If so, we hope you've been sharing photos of your adventures on social media using the hashtag #PoweredByJNF. If you haven't, there's still time to do so -- and enter our photo contest at the same time. 

You have until January 31 to share your shots from Israel with the #PoweredByJNF and @JNFUSA tags (remember to make your profile public until then so we can see the posts!) and enter to win one of three $180 JNF gift cards. A little over a week left to show us what you got -- share your best selfies, sunset shots, and foodie posts with us today! We'll judge winners based both on numbers of likes and photo quality. Extra points for creativity. 

1,000 strong in Israel: First day of volunteering 'made my heart so happy,' student says

This winter alone, the JNF hosted over 1,000 young people in Israel -- through programs such as Alternative Break, JNFuture Volunteer Vacation, Alexander Muss High School in Israel, JNF on Campus' Caravan for Democracy, and Taglit-Birthright Israel-Shorashim. We will be profiling some of the trips, and you can see more directly through the eyes of the participants by searching the #PoweredByJNF hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 

By Lindsay Mysior 

Photo: Lindsay Mysior/Instagram

Alternative Winter Break participant Lindsay Mysior in Tel Aviv. 

After going on Birthright, I immediately wanted to return to Israel. When I heard about Alternate Winter Break, I knew it was a great opportunity to go back and not only travel, but give back to the people and the land. Today, our first day of the program, was such a great experience, and it is amazing to see how much of an impact 40 people can make in such a short amount of time. 

After waking up and eating breakfast, we played a few icebreaker games to get to know each other better before heading off to our work project for the day. Then we got on the bus and drove to Halutza, a small community located near the corner of Egypt and the Gaza Strip founded by former residents of Gush Katif, a bloc of Jewish settlements in Gaza evacuated by Israel 10 years ago. (For scenes from Halutza, see our photo gallery below.)

1,000 strong in Israel: 'I wish it would never end,' teens say of four-month AMHSI adventure

This winter alone, the JNF hosted over 1,000 young people in Israel -- through programs such as Alternative Break, JNFuture Volunteer Vacation, Alexander Muss High School in Israel, JNF on Campus' Caravan for Democracy, and Taglit-Birthright Israel-Shorashim. We will be profiling some of the trips, and you can see more directly through the eyes of the participants by searching the #PoweredByJNF hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

By Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman

Sydney Weinger

"History became so real," said 17-year-old Sydney Weinger of Nashville as she boarded a bus to Ben Gurion International Airport last week after spending four months in Israel at the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. 

Weinger's friend and fellow program participant, Anna Koren, expressed similar sentiments. "Being able to learn about Israel, not from a book, but from actually being able to go and experience and see the sights -- I wish it would have been longer," she said.

AMHSI-JNF is an academic and experiential program for high school students. Founded in 1972, the program is now funded and operated by Jewish National Fund. It offers formal classroom study and experience-based learning, enhancing students' intellectual understanding of history and their emotional connection to their identity. 

1,000 strong in Israel: JNFuture goes hands-on to make the desert bloom

This winter alone, the JNF hosted over 1,000 young people in Israel -- through programs such as Alternative Break, JNFuture Volunteer Vacation, Alexander Muss High School in Israel, JNF on Campus' Caravan for Democracy, and Taglit-Birthright Israel-Shorashim. We will be profiling some of the trips, and you can see more directly through the eyes of the participants by searching the #PoweredByJNF hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


By Tamara Raynor-Cote

Since late December, Jewish National Fund has sent more than 1,000 young people to Israel to learn, explore, and volunteer time and energy. With participants on trips like Birthright (600 college students taking part), Caravan for Democracy, and Alternative Break, and high schoolers studying at Alexander Muss High School in Israel, young people have chosen to support Israel in great numbers. (You can see more directly through the eyes of the participants by searching the hashtag #PoweredByJNF on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.)

   

One of the trips, JNF's first ever JNFuture Volunteer Mission to Israel this winter, saw 33 JNFuture members successfully raise $67,000 before volunteering on various Blueprint Negev projects in Israel's southern desert area. Before departing, each participant had to raise $1,800 to join the volunteer trip, with the money going directly toward Blueprint Negev initiatives, while accommodations were covered by a generous grant. Participants hailed from across the United States, ages 24-38, and all with the same shared desire to give back in a meaningful, hands-on way. 

JNFuture member and co-chair of the mission Simon Schwartz spoke passionately about Israel and the Negev and the work of JNFuture members do there: "I see us as continuing Ben Gurion's dream and really making the desert bloom with our efforts."

1,000 strong in Israel: U.S. college kids spend winter break volunteering in the desert

This winter alone, the JNF hosted over 1,000 young people in Israel -- through programs such as Alternative Break, JNFuture Volunteer Vacation, Alexander Muss High School in Israel, JNF on Campus' Caravan for Democracy, and Taglit-Birthright Israel-Shorashim. We will be profiling some of the trips, and you can see more directly through the eyes of the participants by searching the #PoweredByJNF hashtag on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.


By Megan E. Turner

When you were in college, what did you do with that magical, month-long break between semesters? Did you backpack through Europe? Travel home to be with your family? Sit around in pajamas and take the idea of couch potato to a whole new level? While many of us can intimately relate to these scenarios, to a group of Zionist college kids, these options simply weren't fulfilling enough.

Seventy-five students from college campuses across the United States chose to do something more with their free time during this winter break by traveling to Israel and volunteering with a range of unique projects across the country’s south through Jewish National Fund's Alternative Winter Break program. 

Students arrived for seven intense days of community building and volunteer work in places like Halutza, a thriving Negev community focused on settling and farming the desert; Wadi Attir, a model for building sustainable desert communities in partnership with the Negev's Bedouin population; and Earth's Promise, an urban organic farm located in Be'er Sheva, the booming capital of the Negev.

All of these projects are part of JNF's Blueprint Negev initiative, which aims to develop the Negev region and bring new populations to settle the peripheral areas of Israel.

Caravan for Democracy reflections: Taking in views beautiful and startling

The Jewish National Fund's Caravan for Democracy is in full swing, and participating students are reflecting on their trip so far. The 10-day educational experience lets U.S. college leaders of all faiths who have never been to Israel explore the country through extensive touring and meetings with political, cultural, and community leaders.

Here, Florida International University student Alian Callazo shares some thoughts. Alian is speaker of the Student Government Association senate on FIU's MMC campus, as well as an at-large senator. He is also president of FIU's Theta Chi fraternity.

The past few days in Israel have been a roller-coaster of different experiences. We started off in the north of the country by visiting the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee -- places where, according to tradition, Jesus walked. We literally were seeing thousands of years of history with our own eyes. And that was just the first day!