For decades JNF’s Tu Bi’Shevat (the New Year for trees) campaign has centered around our traditional mission of planting trees in order to green and develop the state of Israel and help the environment.  While JNF continues to plant trees, build playgrounds etc., more recently, it has taken on projects to build the charitable social infrastructure of Israel.

This Tu Bi’Shevat JNF is supporting 3 projects:   

1. The rehabilitation of the Ben Shemen Forest.

The largest Forest in Israel’s central district, the historical Ben Shemen Forest served as a vital green lung for the heavily populated area. In May 2019, the worst wildfire to have ever hit the area blazed through Ben Shemen Forest, burning 40 out of 50 homes on the forests perimeter. Roughly 220 hectares of forest was burnt, which is equal to about 15% of the forest area. The project is underway to rehabilitate the forest which will extend over the coming years.

2. The building of the Beit KKL- JNF Canada House in Sderot.

This is a one-of-a-kind anchor that is unparalleled in the State of Israel, aiming to close the educational achievement gap and foster academic success and empower periphery youth. The Beit KKL-JNF Canada House in Sderot, the city closest to the Gaza border, will serve as an after-school education, empowerment, and enrichment center for high school students from Sderot and its surroundings, who will be provided with the necessary tools and skills for academic and personal success.

3. The creation of a therapeutic garden for the patients of Eitanim Psychiatric Hospital.

This is a comprehensive landscape development project at the Eitanim Hospital on Mount Eitan in the Jerusalem Hills. The hospital is part of the Jerusalem Centre for mental health and its patients, in need of psychiatric day care and long-term rehabilitation, are from Jerusalem and its vicinity. The landscape project will be designed to create safe, green and pleasant spaces conducive to well-being and health.