JNF creates $100 million Israel advocacy center
Group uses largest-ever estate donation to promote Zionist education, which ‘is needed now more than ever’
The Jewish National Fund has created a $100 million center for Israel education and advocacy.
The JNF Boruchin Israel Education Advocacy Center aims to strengthen Americans’ connection to Israel, JNF said in a statement.
The center was founded through an estate gift of John and Dora Boruchin of California — the largest estate donation in JNF history. The Polish-born John, who lost most of his family in the Holocaust, made his fortune in the United States in real estate, becoming one of the largest tract home builders in California. Dora’s immediate family survived the Holocaust and now lives mainly in Canada and the United States. The couple met in Russia following World War II.
“The Boruchins wanted JNF to undertake bold initiatives connecting Jewish youth to Zionism and advocating for the Jewish state,” according to the center’s chairman Mike Lederman. The initiative “comes at a critical period in history as Israel and world Jewry face serious challenges with rising anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism. This center is needed now more than ever.”
The center will focus on matching other funders’ contributions to advocacy and education programs, it said.
