In the JNF Kitchen: Kubbeh soup, a dumpling delicacy

Our recipe this week is the creation of Shaul Levy, president of the Israeli Art Association. For the past few years, Shaul has collaborated with JNF to promote Israeli artists, primarily young adults and artists with special needs. A former CEO of a marketing consulting firm, Shaul stepped down five years ago to devote his time to keeping the Israeli art market alive, a move inspired in part as a reaction to the BDS movement. Shaul is devoted to help keep the Israeli art market alive. On the side, he loves to cook traditional food for Shabbat.

Bike ride for Negev town of Yerucham blazes trail of desert delight

Riders Joel Reinstein, Geri Shatz and Vivian Wong in Yerucham Lake Park

By Bob Weiss, Yerucham Task Force member

We just completed the first ever Ride for Yerucham and we can’t wait to get started on next year’s event.

The ride from April 2-6, four days of off-road Negev spectacle and a blessed day of spa relaxation, was centered in Yerucham, which I would argue is the most interesting town in the Negev. Each night we stayed in the lovely Desert Iris Hotel, and biked out each day to a different place in the Negev. We were furnished with new mountain bikes and helmets, and had professional guides and support every mile of the way.

In the JNF Kitchen: Traditional shakshuka eggs with special spices

Photo: Christian Leue

This recipe of the week comes to us from La Boite, a biscuits and spice shop in New York City owned by Israeli chef and spice blender Lior Lev Sercarz. Lior and La Boite have gained international fame for mixing spices in a unique way and selling some of the world's rarest blends. Lior opened his culinary superstore after traveling and studying around the globe, and he dreams of establishing a cooking school in Israel's north along with JNF. 

As Passover ends, reflecting on a holiday for befriending others

The author, far right, immediately felt welcomed by JNFuture.

By Cheryl Becker, JNFuture New Jersey member  

In the beginning of the maggid section of the Haggadah, we invite anyone who's hungry to join our Passover seder. One might think this is referring just to poor people who can't afford to purchase food for Passover. But another interpretation is to invite anyone you know who needs companionship. So during Passover it's a mitzvah to give money to the poor and go out of your way to befriend others. Passover is a time to unite, because we are all part of the Jewish people. 

On Passover, the importance of including the invisible fifth son

The author and his son, who's teaching the family that every child has unique abilities.

By Yossi Kahana, director of JNF's Task Force on Disabilities

We open the Seder with an open door, "Ha Lachma Anya": inviting in the hungry, the needy, and the enslaved, offering up the matzah as part of our welcome, a beautiful message offered freely, and inclusively to all. Then we read about the four sons, each representing a different type, a cross section of the Jewish nation. What links the four together, despite their very different personalities and levels of observance, is the fact that they are all an intrinsic part of the Jewish people. At Pesach, we celebrate together with them, as they all join us at the Seder table.

But there is also a fifth son -- one not mentioned in the Haggadah, and not discussed at the Seder, because he is usually not sitting with everyone else.

In the JNF Kitchen: Passover cocoa bites, an easy and tasty dessert

Margot Alfie, a JNF board member in Atlanta and personal chef extraordinaire, shared this recipe for a super easy, and super tasty, Passover dessert.

JNF Staff Spotlight on Roland Roth: 'My JNF moment happened 80 years ago'

What is my “JNF moment”? Is it possible it was planted 80 years ago?

I think so.

My name is Roland Roth and I am the director for Jewish National Fund in the Pacific Northwest, a territory that covers my home state of Washington, plus Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii. I have been in this position for almost two years and to say I love what I do, what we do, what JNF does… is an understatement.