Color It Green the JNF Forests in Israel
BY MILTON JACOBY
But yours is a green country !" exclaimed the traveler
who was making his first journey through Israel from
Lod Airport to Jerusalem. The scene that unfolded itself
in the wood-covered Judean Hills was so markedly dif-
ferent from his previous notions of Middle East condi-
tions, climate and landscape. that he could hardly believe
his eyes. Oaring the following days of his stay• the
visitor was still to learn many more facts: that only a
few decades ago Israel's hill country had by no means
the same hospitable look: that tremendous efforts were
required to bring the change about; that very large ex-
panses of hare and rocky hills, and of waste and empty
sands were still awaiting the forester to cover their
nakedness. and that the nation was fully prepared to
mobilize further resourses for this purpose.
Israel Shows The Way
Since 1948, the scope of afforestation in Israel has
expanded at a pace unthought of before statehood. With
the total of JNF-planted forest trees approaching 100,-
000.000. the figure has increased nearly 20-fold in 22
years of statehood. Choice and allocation of lands for
afforestation purposes have been streamlined, planting
and forest techniques greatly improved. From year to
year many requests have come in (mostly through FAO.
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Na-
tions) for forestry experts of the Jewish National Fund
to visit and advise foreign countries, particularly those of
the Mediterranean region, like Cyprus, Greece, etc. A
case in point is Malta, where JNF experts have already
succeeeded in making new forests grow, after advisers
from other countries had tried and given up, declaring the
island's conditions unsuitable.
observation towers and marvel at the beautiful expanses
visible from there, or enjoy Nature Parks laid out with
JNF aid, like Hurshat Tal with its ancient giant oaks, its
lawns, ponds and waterfalls, or the greenery tucked away
between colossal rock walls around the Ein Avdat and
Ein Mor springs in the deep Negev.
out — the planting of the Twentieth Anniversary Peace
Forest which is to stretch over considerable parts of the
Judean Hills; the Memorial Forest for Jews executed in
Iraq. Egypt and other enemy countries; the forest to be
laid out on Mount Carmel commemorating Haifa's late
Mayor Abba Hushi, and many others.
Many of the forests that splash huge sectors of Israel
with green, honor individuals who have been admired by
the Jewish people: John F. Kennedy, Harry S Truman.
Chaim Weizinann, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sir Winston
Churchill, and others. The Jerusalem Peace Forest, the
Martyrs' Forest, the Canada Forest, and forests in the
name of countries throughout the world, all help to heal
the once ravaged land and stimulate the country's
economy.
The visitor to Israel can obtain a unique perspective
of this extraordinary land if he simply traverses the
forests planted so lovingly in the desert, stretching to the
Arava up through the semi-arid center of the country and
the hilly vastness of the Galilee up to Metulla. These
forests have not only mantled Israel in green beauty,
but have provided the young nation with security on the
open borders and the nation's citizens with shade and
coolness. Indeed, nowhere else in the world have forests
served such multiple purposes. If the map of Israel was
largely brown when the state was created, the dots of
green are rapidly spreading and giving Israel the repu-
tation of being the oasis of the Middle East,
Close to 100,000,000 planted trees and 200,000 acres
afforested are achievements not to be ashamed
of, but the Jewish National Fund does not rest content.
Plans are at hand for more and more work to be carried
A Visitor's Paradise
Afforestation has changed not only the- landscape of
Israel, but also the habits of its inhabitants. Ever greater
masses of Israel citizens spend their holidays in the open,
traveling the length and width of the country, thus deep-
ening their attachment to the Homeland. To promote this
movement, the JNF has already installed 60 camping and
recreation sites in its forests and in the terrains under
its protection, two on the Golan Heights, 14 in the Galilee,
10 in the central valleys, on Mount Carmel, in the Menashe
Hills, and Mount Gilboa, 21 in the Jerusalem Hills and
the Judean Foothills, and 13 in the South, the Negev and
the Arava Valley. Visitors climb the picturesque JNF
The John F. Kennedy Memorial in Jerusalem, built
with funds contributed to the Jewish National Fund
by American Jewry.
Detroiters are well represented on the landscape of
Israel. Forests in honor of, or in memory of distinguished
members of the area can be found in all corners of the
land—notably in the Judean Hills overlooking Jerusa-
lem, in the John F. Kennedy Peace Forest, in Eastern
Galilee . .. facing the menacing Golan Heights. The fol-
lowing 46 forests came into being as a result of the inter-
est and generosity of members of the community:
Nathan & Ada Linden Family
Sam Adler Forest
Forest
Norman and Esther Allan
Ben Nosarichnk Forest
Family Forest
Abe and Laura Nn !mum Forest
Louis Berry .Family Forest
Pioneer
Women of l'etroit Forest
The Frank Blas Forest
(in the Leah hrisKin Forest(
Torn and Sarah Borman Forest
tin mem ory of then parents ' Morris & Rose Pollack Forest
Albert & Libbic Posen Family
Fred .51.
M B ut.rel Forest
Forest
Harry I. Cohen Forest
Irwin I. and Sadie Cohn Forest Aaron & Ida Rosenberg Forest
Cantor A. A. & Helen Rosenfeld
Joseph Ehrlich Forest
Forest
Louis M. Elliman Forest
Morris L. Scharer Forest
(in mentor,/ of his parents)
Isaac and Martha Fax.stein ForestIrring .W. Schlussel Forest
Harry .Schumer Forest
Peter Goldstein Forest
Francts Heidenreich Hennepin Isaac and Simon SheLter Forest
Ir•ing J. Sherin Forest
and Son Marvin Forest
Leonard & Harriette Simons
Rabbi A. M. Hershman Forest
Forest
William Hordes Forest
Saul Sloan Forest
Bernard & Belle Isaacs Forest
Stollinan Family Forest
Jewish Women's European
Daniel Ternchin Forest
Welfare Organization Forest
United Hebrew Schools Forest
The Kasle Family Forest
Williams-Hart Fore.
Saul & Sophie. tint: Forest
Women's Ass.riliarY'Forest
David tiotmker Forest
Rabbi Mandel M. Zager Forest
Phillip M. Klutztlik Forest
(Detroit Bnai Brith I
( Detroit Mini Bra h J
Maurice C. Zeiger Forest
fienpfrnin L. Latkin Forest
(Detroit Huai Brithl
The Lewis Family Forest
Paul Zuckerman Family Forest
atroit griends Bar-glan Universit
Are proud to share in the great joy of Israel's cul-
tural and spiritual progress and the historic at-
tainments during 22 years of heroic struggles to
create a democratic center in the ancient Jewish
homeland. May the growth of Medinat Israel
serve as a symbol of world Jewry's dedication to
our sacred heritage.
—to—nian
Chairman, National Board of Trustees of
American Friends of Bar-Ilan University
Campus of Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
A-12—THE'DETROITJEWISH NEWS
May' 15, 1970