Category: Uncategorized

To ensure a soft landing after a long ship or plane trip, in December 1967, the first absorption center was opened in the town of Arad, not far from the picturesque Sodom Mountains. Although Hebrew language ulpanim for new immigrants already existed, the massive waves of immigration required a framework to address the new immigrants’ needs. Within two years, a further 12 absorption centers were established in Haifa, Ashdod and Karmiel and many other places around the country. At their height, there were 50 absorption centers. Today with the assistance of Keren Hayesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel, 23 absorption centers operate throughout Israel. The new immigrants learn Hebrew, receive employment training and acquire the tools needed to integrate into a modern, vibrant society. New immigrants who choose not to go to absorption centers have the option of alternative absorption packages with various benefits and possibilities to help ease their transition. Since the establishment of the state, Keren Hayesod has helped over 3 million Jews make aliyah. One third of them have passed through the absorption centers. Not bad for 50 years.

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Photo: Etzion Immigrants House in Jerusalem, where Hebrew was taught, 1950

Sign over the door: Jewish Agency for Israel, Department of Absorption, Etzion Immigrants House, Jerusalem

In the 1950s, in an attempt to cope with and prepare appropriately for the enormous waves of anticipated aliyah to Israel, dozens of settlements were established, even in the more remote peripheral areas along Israel’s borders. Keren Hayesod was involved in bringing the new immigrants to Israel, absorbing them and helping them establish new settlements. In the mid-1950s, the situation of the border settlements was very bad. In addition to the challenging economic situation, the residents were vulnerable to attacks by terrorists who infiltrated from the bordering Arab countries. In order to strengthen the settlement enterprise, Keren Hayesod published a special booklet entitled Border Settlements at Work and in Defense, which was distributed in a number of languages to Keren Hayesod emissaries around the world. The booklet, which included many photographs, told the story of the settlements and explained in detail the need to strengthen them. Publication of the booklet helped raised money for the border settlements and helped to strengthen them.

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Photo: From Border Settlements at Work and in Defense, published by Keren Hayesod, 1955

Esther Tafara, chief technician at the new Heart Cath Lab suite in Hadassah Hospital Mt. Scopus, is one of the thousands of Ethiopian olim who came to Israel with the support of Keren Hayesod. Her journey to Israel is almost unbelievable. At the age of six, she moved with her family from the village in which she grew up to the city of Addis Ababa, where they waited for the right moment to come to Israel. That moment arrived three years later, when Esther was nine. She was put on a plane to Israel with a family she did not know. She recalls that she was afraid to close her eyes during the flight, lest she be left behind. When she landed in Israel, she was taken in by family members who had come through Sudan in Operation Moses. She finished elementary school, high school and an undergraduate degree, and worked at Hadassah Ein Kerem for 14 years before being offered her new prestigious position. Esther is just one of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Ethiopia who came to Israel with the help of Keren Hayesod, which continues to support the aliyah of Jews from Ethiopia.

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Photo: Esther Tafara at work in Hadassah Hospital, Mt. Scopus, 2019

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