Imagine receiving a dried flower from a child your age from the other side of the world! Keren Hayesod came up with a creative idea to strengthen the connection between children and young people in Israel with their peers in the Diaspora. On February 29, 1956, the “Flower Campaign” was launched. Dozens of children made their way to the Keren Hayesod Hall in Tel Aviv for the opening of the “Flowers of our Country” exhibition. There, each child chose a flower, dried it and wrote a brief message on a postcard. The postcards, together with the dried flowers, were sent to children in Jewish communities around the world. The Flower Campaign lasted more than 10 years, during which 180,000 postcards were sent every year. A total of over one million personal greetings from Israel, together with dried flowers, were sent to children worldwide. In return, the Israeli children received letters and postcards from throughout the world. Years later, many of the recipients of flowers from the Diaspora attested that receiving letters from children in Israel created a deep affinity with the country. So where would you like your flower to be sent?
Photo: Keren Hayesod poster, 1958