Everyday Heroes: John and Dora Boruchin, lifelong Zionists

Everyday Heroes: The soldiers of Israel's War of Independence

Machal Memorial. Photo credit: Jewish Action

In concert with our most recent issue of B'Yachad celebrating Israel's heroes, we are bringing you stories that showcase inspirational men and women. If you want to become a hero too, support a hero. 

Tucked away halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Sha'ar Hagai, near the old Burma Road, stands a memorial that is a testament to the immense bravery and selflessness that went into the creation of the modern State of Israel.

It's title, Machal, is named for the volunteers during the 1948 War of Independence. A Hebrew acronym for "volunteers from abroad," this group was comprised of 5,000 adults; 1,250 of which were Americans and Canadians; men and women, Jews and Non-Jews alike. 

Everyday Heroes: What it feels like making nature accessible to all

Adi Cohen with a group of children at LOTEM-Making Nature Accessible. 

In concert with our most recent issue of B'Yachad celebrating Israel's heroes, we are bringing you stories that showcase inspirational men and women. If you want to become a hero too, support a hero. 

By Adi Cohen

Nearly two years have passed since I completed my national service as a guide with LOTEM in Jerusalem, but every time I return to guide a group, that amazing feeling of being part of something big comes back to me. LOTEM’s nature outings impact so many people with special needs, essentially giving them the ability to experience a sense of normalcy -- what they deserve as human beings who live in this beautiful world that surrounds us.

My Arava Story: Israel gives Nigerian farmer tools to fight food crisis

We're focusing on stories from the beautiful Arava, Israel's southern desert. Residents of the Central Arava face many challenges, including the harsh climate, large distance between communities, and lack of accessibility to resources available in urban centers. JNF has partnered with the Central Arava Regional Council as part of our Blueprint Negev campaign to make the Negev habitable to the next generation of Israel's residents. 

Here, reflections from a pupil at the Arava International Center for Agriculture and Training (AICAT), where students from around the world learn advanced agricultural practices they then take back to their home countries.   

By Endurance P. Ojo

My interest in agriculture isn't necessarily a story of passion since childhood. Rather, it stems from my experience with my father on his farm in Nigeria and my continuous study in a quest to increase crop productivity there. Also, I look to a Science Daily article published in April 2014 featuring a statement by Professor Fred Davies (a senior adviser to the USAID at that time) on the relationship between agriculture and increasing world population. That article changed my life forever. 

Modern-day Methuselah: Meet the Israeli tree sprouted from a 2,000-year-old seed

Photo: Anne Taillandier

Dr. Elaine Solowey and her masterpiece, the Methuselah tree. 

Remarkable research and innovation is taking place at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, or AIES, a JNF partner that promotes professional cross-border scientific cooperation in the Middle East. Just one example of an AIES advancement: the date palm that an Arava Institute scientist successfully grew from a seed thousands of years old. Never heard of it? Read on for more on this amazing, one-of-a-kind tree. 

By Megan Turner

Methuselah is considered to have been the oldest living man in the Hebrew bible, reaching the esteemed age of 969. It is only appropriate, then, that a date palm that sprouted from a 2,000-year-old seed at southern Israel's Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) carries the same name.   

'Entebbe is a moral imperative': 40 years later, the rescue still informs its heroes' choices

In 1976, Maj. General (Res.) Doron Almog's IDF

special unit helped rescue hostages in Entebbe.

On the eve of Operation Entebbe's 40th anniversary, we talk to two of the heroes from the raid who today are affiliated with JNF projects.  

By Deborah Danan

Monday marks 40 years since Israel's successful hostage-rescue mission at Entebbe airport in Uganda. But Maj. General (Res.) Doron Almog's memories of Operation Yonatan remain vivid -- from the role a piece of chewing gum played in the bold undertaking to the pain of witnessing his friend Yoni Netanyahu, the hero after whom the operation is named, die. 

Almog recalls sitting on the plane en route from Ben Gurion Airport to save the hostages alongside his subordinates; the IDF special unit forces he was commander of; and a Mercedes limousine that had been sprayed black to look like the one former Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, traveled in. 

The plan was to fake the volatile Ugandan despot's return to Entebbe from a diplomatic trip in order to infiltrate the terminals and free the 106 people being held there. But there was one problem: The airborne limo was leaking gas. 

Saluting Doron Almog, military hero and champion for the disabled, for Israel Prize win

Major General (Res.) Doron Almog at Aleh Negev. 

Major General (Res.) Doron Almog, one of the heroes of the famous Operation Entebbe and founder of Aleh Negev-Nahalat Eran, a Jewish National Fund partner and world-class rehabilitative village for the disabled in southern Israel, has been awarded the 2016 Israel Prize for lifetime achievement and exceptional contribution to the nation. 

The annual prize is awarded to Israeli citizens or organizations that have displayed excellence in the fields of the humanities, social sciences, and Jewish studies; the natural and exact sciences; culture, arts, communication; and sports. 

"JNF is proud to be a disabilities and special-needs program partner with Doron Almog," said Russell F. Robinson, JNF's chief executive officer. "His amazing accomplishment of building Aleh Negev-Nahalat Eran has made an incredible difference in countless lives, and we salute his efforts, dreams, vision, and enduring commitment. His brilliant and compassionate spirit defines the people of Israel."