In 1921, right after it was established, Keren Hayesod launched a worldwide effort to encourage Jews to feel closer to Eretz Israel, to contribute to the best of their ability in their own way. Surprising, moving and heartwarming examples came from around the globe, in completely unexpected ways. In Vienna, students announced that they would fast one day
a week and donate their daily food money to Keren Hayesod. In 1923, Keren Hayesod made special efforts to reach small, remote villages in far off places. Leib Yaffe, a senior Keren Hayesod emissary in the 1920s and later director of the organization, was amazed by the heartwarming contributions from locals in South America. Most of them were very poor and unable to donate money, but they found unexpected ways to contribute to the Keren Hayesod efforts. We find donations of 50 chickens, sacks of flax and grain. Other families chose to sell jewelry or precious objects, and at a party in a small village, the residents even replicated a photograph of Leib Yaffe and sold it to the guests. In 1936, the small Jewish community of Chile collected 20 tons of fine coffee, which was sold for $5,000 to benefit Keren Hayesod. In the Land of Israel, donors also found original ways to contribute their share, whether in the form of workdays donated to Keren Hayesod, kilograms of barley, parcels of land or the like. This continued even after the establishment of the state. After the Six Day War, there were surprising reports of orphanages where the children decided to donate their weekly pocket money for the cinema, and of teachers donating their monthly salaries. And even today, as part of the bar/bat mitzvah project, Jewish children around the world contribute a portion of the gifts they receive to Keren Hayesod. Throughout its years of activity, Keren Hayesod has continued to encourage Diaspora Jewry to contribute in their own way to the Zionist enterprise in Eretz Israel, and values every contribution, large or small!
Photo: Recognition tree at the Kiryat Yearim Youth Village, acknowledging the donations of Jewish children around the world who contributed part of their bar or bat mitzvah gifts