A New Leaf

The Jewish National Fund is burnishing its image
by bringing in a new set of leaders.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN

Staff Writer

T

kings are looking up for the
Jewish National Fund.
New leadership has come
to the. 97-year-old Israel
charity on both the local and national
levels. People -like Russell Robinson,
executive vice-president, and Joel L.
Leibowitz, Detroit's acting director
and nationally in charge of major gifts
and board development, have been
brought on board.
"We have a new national president,
Ronald Lauder, who has brought a
great deal of his prestige to the table
besides making a personal commit-
ment — he gave a gift of $10 million
recently to the JNF, his own money,"
says Leibowitz. From the cosmetics
conglomerate family, Lauder was also
ambassador to Austria. "The main aim
of the organization is fiscal responsi-
bility, accountability to our con-
stituency."
The JNF, established to buy land so
that the Jewish people could return to
their ancient homeland, now raises

The Green
Holiday

Tu B'Shevat
is a time to plant.

I

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN

Staff Writer

is a time like Tu B'Shevat
when Jewish environmentalist
groups like Teva celebrate.
The upstart group, which
pulls together young Jews interested
in the environment, is hosting a
community-wide seder, serving tradi-
tional Tu B'Shevat songs and fare —

2/6
1998

8

money toward reforestation, infra-
structure and parks in Israel.
Locally, JNF is reorganizing the
Detroit office and the local board.
Attorney Robert H. Schwartz has been
serving as interim president. He leads
a slate of six who are expected to be
elected to the board next week.
"We'll be back visible in the com-
munity," Schwartz said, "raising
money and sending it to Israel." He
said that local energy was lost during
the national reorganization. National
JNF, he said, was operating "histori-
cally" and not taking advantage of
modern efficiencies, such as telemar-
keting, and concentrating on dinner
events.
"We are still going to have fund-
raising dinners," Schwartz said, but
in a more targeted, less time-con-
suming manner, and JNF will
emphasize an annual campaign.
Detroit JNF plans to start a business
council, concentrate on outreach
within and outside the Jewish com-
munity, and do more work with reli-
gious schools.
"National JNF was used to doing

figs, dates and
pomegranates.
Scheduled for Sun-
day, Feb. 8, at the
Maple/Drake Jewish
Community Center
at 1 p.m., the seder
also is sponsored by
the Agency for Jew-
ish Education.
Temple Israel
Rabbi Josh Bennett,
who is involved in
Teva, says the seder
will offer "some mys-
tical experiences." A
$2 donation is rec-
ommended, with
proceeds going to
environmental pro-
jects in Israel.

things in a particular
way," Schwartz said. "Dif-
ficult decisions weren't
made and the organiza-
tion got stuck in the
1950s. The charitable
market has changed."
Detroit typically con-
tributes a little more than
$1.3 million to the
national campaign, says
JNF's Russell Robinson.
In fiscal 1997, that fell by
$250,000, largely due to
the reorganization efforts.
For fiscal 1998, JNF
has raised funds for Israel
through high-profile mis-
sions and large gifts.
Ronald Lauder recently
took nine people on his
private plane to Israel,
raising $23 million. Robinson says the
national organization has received six
gifts of $1 million each, and a
$50,000-a-person mission is planned
for May. Yet unadvertised, that trip
has already attracted 12 people.
JNF plans to raise more than $1

v) >

0-

million on Tu B'Shevat alone, its
"Rosh Hashanah," Robinson says.
"The barometer is how many kids are
buying $10 certificates? That means
they're participating in connecting
themselves with the land of Israel.
We're a broad-based, broad-appeal

Children plant trees in Israel on
Tu B'Shevat.

Tu B'Shevat (the 15th day of She-
vat, Feb. 11 this year) is regarded in
Jewish tradition as the new year of
the trees, the season when trees begin
to bud in Israel.
Lubavitchers teach that just as Rosh
Hashanah, the new year for creation, is
viewed as the day on which people are
judged, Tu B'Shevat is a day of judg-
ment for the earth's vegetation.
On Tu B'Shevat, Jews around the
world eat foods that are distinctive
to, and characteristic of, the land of
Israel, including the seven types of
fruits and grain mentioned in the
Torah: wheat, barley, grapes, figs,
pomegranates, olives and dates.
The Torah does not mention

