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Photo: Nicolas Malamud
Liron Avraham and Moriya Yaakobi speak at the kickoff event for the JNF-supported young adult leadership center in Beit She'an. Jewish National Fund CEO Russell Robinson came up with the idea for the facility.
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By Hermine Mahmouzian
A few months after arriving in Israel from Los Angeles, organizing our house, and getting the kids settled in school for what was to be our two-year adventure abroad, JNF CEO Russell Robinson asked me to do some work in the northern city of Beit She'an.
I had only been to Beit She'an once, when I worked on an archaeological dig there for a week while studying at Tel Aviv University many years ago. Who goes to Beit Shean? Well, I guess I was...
On one of my first visits I was introduced to a group of young adults, all in their mid twenties. Some attending university, some working in Beit She'an, and all complaining about the fact that there was no future for them in this city, one of the most ancient in the country. They had no motivation to return after their college years and already had their sights on Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem.
As part of JNF's $1 Billion Dollar Roadmap for the Next Decade, which includes a push to develop the country's northern region, we asked what JNF could do. What would make them stay in the area? They all said the same thing: we need a place to meet, to hang out, to learn, to celebrate.
