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Since the arrival of the courageous pioneers in
the early 20th century, until today, when the Soviet
Jews are experiencing the miracle of national
rebirth, JNF has been redeeming the land of Israel
for the Jewish people.
When JNF was founded in 1901, land purchase
was the main concern. But JNF's leaders always
affirmed that it would be people living on and
working the land which would create the founda-
tions of a national home.
From the start, JNF and immigrants were partners
in land redemption. The first modern Zionist settle-
ments to take a firm hold were established on JNF's
early land purchases. Their settlers, who came with
the Second Aliyah of 1904-05, played a prominent
part in developing Jewish-held lands before and
after World War I.
JNF farms served as training grounds where
pioneers prepared for the task of creating a country.
The first experimental labor co-operatives —
forerunners of Israel's great agricultural centers —
were established on JNF land according to JNF
plans, and put into practice principles which pro-
moted social and national ideals.
In those years, JNF often facilitated urban settle-
ment by making loans for residential construction.
JNF also helped promote education for immigrants
by allotting plots to major institutions of learning.
Between 1912 and 1914, some 2,000 destitute
Yemenite Jews arrived in Palestine. JNF raised the
funds to house them and allocated land for their
settlement. Later, JNF set up a Workmen's Housing
Fund to build homes for other newcomers.
Before statehood, JNF land acquisition and devel-
opment provided residential and industrial sites for
the absorption of immigrants, including the nearly
350,000 Jews who escaped Europe and the remnant
who survived the Holocaust. In the two decades
following independence, over 1,250,000 people
came to Israel, including entire communities from
North Africa and the Middle East. JNF's land devel-
opment tasks helped absorb these new citizens,
and JNF-developed work villages were frequently
their first homes and places of employment. Immi-
grants often found jobs in JNF woodlands, enabling
them to secure personal roots in their new home
while planting the roots of today's forests.
Today, JNF is accelerating and intensifying its
activities and making massive tracts of land ready
for the Soviet and Ethiopian Jews. The challenge
is formidable; to meet it is a sacred mission. JNF —
with support from Jews in America and throughout
the world — will again fulfill its pledge to create the
basis for new life in the land of Israel.
"Ownership is but a precondition for the
actual possession of the land. The real
redemption is in its development and
blossoming."
— David Ben-Gurion
1st Prime Minister of Israel
PROMISED
LAND
THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND