Originally appeared in Jewish News Syndicate, November 10, 2025

At Kibbutz Re’im, JNF-USA dedicates the first of eight facilities being built “to ensure that border communities are never again left cut off from critical assistance.”

Just across the road from the site of the Nova Music Festival, where Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds on Oct. 7, 2023, members of Kibbutz Re’im gathered on Nov. 5 with Jewish National Fund-USA leaders, donors and emergency officials to mark a milestone in rebuilding and resilience.

At a cornerstone ceremony attended by local dignitaries and philanthropists Michael and Janet Kass of Tampa, Florida, Jewish National Fund-USA dedicated the first of eight planned emergency response centers—part of a nationwide effort to strengthen communication and coordination between emergency services in the Gaza Envelope and northern Israel.

The Kass family’s “transformational gift,” as JNF-USA described it, will help ensure that border communities are never again left cut off from critical assistance, as so many were on Oct. 7.

Southern Region fire chief Itzik Oz expresses appreciation at the dedication ceremony for an emergency resource center on Kibbutz Re’im, Nov. 5, 2025. Photo by Ron Rahamim.

“Bringing all of these organizations together is our way of saving lives,” said Southern Region fire chief Itzik Oz. “Putting the hands of all organizations together is very important. Today, I feel victorious. I feel proud.”

Kibbutz Re’im, one of the hardest-hit communities on Oct. 7, has since become a symbol of recovery. Six residents were murdered, five were abducted and nine soldiers and police officers were killed defending the kibbutz. Yet remarkably, 90 percent of its displaced members have now returned.

Shachaf Maroodi, a kibbutz member who moved back from Tel Aviv to raise his family, recalled how the community took control of its fate after the massacre.

Kibbutz member Shachaf Maroodi and Zohar Livne Mizrahi, the secretary-general of Kibbutz Re’im, share an update on the kibbutz’s rebuilding efforts, Nov. 5, 2025. Photo by Ron Rahamim.

“We were the first kibbutz to take responsibility for our lives,” he said. “The government and army were not there. In our meetings with JNF, it was the first time someone was willing to listen as we reimagined our lives, layer by layer.”

Before the dedication, visitors toured a large new playground under construction at the heart of the kibbutz. “It’s our Central Park,” Maroodi said. “For our kids to want to return, we need to give them a new playground, with a better feeling.”

‘Partnership that allows us to dream’

Zohar Livne Mizrahi, the secretary-general of the kibbutz, praised its partnership with JNF-USA. “The government allows us to fix what was broken—to do rehab,” she said. “What JNF did was allow us to dream. That is important for our healing.”

Tali Tzour Avner, JNF-USA’s chief Israel officer, said her team has worked for years to strengthen the Gaza Envelope, long before Oct. 7. “Our goal was always to grow the region,” she said. “After the attacks, we understood the urgent need to support the regional councils and the return of evacuees.”

Michal Uziyahu, who is the mayor of the Eshkol Regional Council, said the new centers represent “radical hope.”

“This is much more than a security plan—it is a spiritual security plan that ensures the deaths were not for nothing,” she said. “Through choosing life and hope, Oct. 7 will be part of our lives—but it won’t define us.”


The Kass family and guests tour a playground under construction at Kibbutz Re’im, Nov. 5, 2025. Photo by Ron Rahamim.

Philanthropy rooted in Israel

Michael and Janet Kass, who have been visiting Israel regularly since the 1970s, became deeply involved with JNF-USA about a decade ago. Michael, 83, a retired Tampa attorney turned real estate investor, said he was inspired by JNF’s commitment to rebuilding and protecting Israeli communities.

“If you have the means, you have to give,” he told JNS.

Judy recalled that her grandparents “were always talking about Israel.” A visit to Jewish National Fund-USA projects in the Negev, she said, “just touched me. I tell Michael that he has to keep working so we can give more to JNF!”

The Kass family plans to return soon to celebrate additional JNF-USA projects in both the Gaza Envelope and northern Israel.

“This partnership is about life, resilience and unity,” said Tzour Avner. “It ensures that when the next emergency comes—and it will—our communities will be ready, connected and never alone.”

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Originally appeared in Jewish News Syndicate, November 2, 2025

“We should rise and cheer people who come on aliyah,” the museum’s CEO, Oded Revivi, tells JNS

Some 150 olim (immigrants to Israel), sat around tables marked by their native languages—Russian, French, Spanish and English—at ANU- Museum of the Jewish People on the campus of Tel Aviv University on Oct. 29. 

As participants sipped lemonade, they drew a prompt from a deck of cards and answered questions about their aliyah experience:  What’s one thing about Israel that most surprised you?  If your aliyah experience was a movie, what would it be called?  What was one experience that made you say, “This is why I made aliyah.”   

Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, an immigrant herself and ANU’s manager of resource development, said, “Life as an olah means that you see and appreciate scenes that I never would have experienced. What can be frustrating in the moment becomes tomorrow’s only-in-Israel funny stories for years to come.”

The activity quickly turned from introspective to playful (with lots of laughter) as participants shared language gaffes and stories of dealing with Israeli bureaucracy. 

The second annual Yom Aliyah event, part of the “Oleh” project, is a joint initiative of ANU, Nefesh B’Nefesh, the Nadav Foundation, the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Ezra youth movement.  It strives to provide support and recognition for olim, regardless of when they made aliyah.

A placemat on a table at the “Yom Aliyah” celebration at ANU Museum, Oct. 29, 2025. Photo by Howard Blas.

In an interview with JNS, Oded Revivi, ANU’s CEO and the former mayor of Efrat, said the name of the event, Oleh Oleh, had a dual meaning. 

“There is a popular Israeli song, ‘Oleh Oleh’, which means, “to rise higher and higher,” he noted. “It is also the name we give to a group of immigrants. Therefore, we should rise and cheer people who come on aliyah.”

Revivi shared the museum’s unique mission and readiness to support olim.

“ANU bears a unique legal title,” he said, noting that the National Library of Israel, Yad Vashem and ANU, formerly known as Beit Hatfutsot, were set up “to be the center for all Jewish communities.”

He explained that olim meet the definition of a community and constitute one. “They all did this extraordinary act—they left their birthplaces and families to move to Israel,” he said. “If ANU can be helpful with absorption and building homes here, it is part of our mission.”

Revivi said that his wife, now a mother of six grown children, many of whom have been regularly serving in Gaza, made aliyah at the age of 23 from England.  His wife’s experience has helped Revivi better understand the immigrant experience. “The challenges she went through are unique for new olim,” he said.

Lindsay Shapiro, ANU’s senior coordinator of English Education, said that each department in the museum—from marketing to fiancé to education—has olim on staff. 

“It is part of our mission.  ANU wants to celebrate that,” she said. “Our goal is to make sure ANU is a museum but also a community center and a cultural hub.” 

Shapiro pointed out that the contributions of olim to Israeli society and the world are featured in exhibits throughout the museum.

Oded Revivi, the CEO of ANU Museum. Photo by Yochai Samet.

After signing in, guests arriving at ANU had the opportunity to visit a marketplace in the museum’s lobby, featuring food, alcoholic beverages, art and clothing on display and for sale by new and veteran immigrants. 

Ari Weiss of Karnei Shomron offered free samples of his Popular Kettle Corn.  Weiss, who also works as an aliyah adviser for Nefesh b’Nefesh, explained how he and wife, Deena, got into the kettle corn business. “We were invited within the yishuv (settlement) for meals and we weren’t sure what to bring. My wife started to make kettle corn, everyone loved it, and encouraged us to sell it!”

Chanie Koenig came to the event from her kibbutz in the north to sell a wide range of chocolate products from her Cacao HaGalil company.  Originally from Long Island, Koenig studied chocolate making in culinary school.  She began by using only goat milk and has expanded her product lines. “We try to incorporate what we see in the north, and use no preservatives.”

A marketplace in the ANU Museum lobby featured food, alcoholic beverages, art and clothing on display and for sale by new and veteran immigrants. Photo by Howard Blas.

Is ‘10 Things’ just a book for students on colAfter signing in, guests arriving at ANU had the opportunity to visit a marketplace in the museum’s lobby, featuring food, alcoholic beverages, art and clothing on display and for sale by new and veteran immigrants. 

Ari Weiss of Karnei Shomron offered free samples of his Popular Kettle Corn.  Weiss, who also works as an aliyah adviser for Nefesh b’Nefesh, explained how he and wife, Deena, got into the kettle corn business. “We were invited within the yishuv (settlement) for meals and we weren’t sure what to bring. My wife started to make kettle corn, everyone loved it, and encouraged us to sell it!”

Chanie Koenig came to the event from her kibbutz in the north to sell a wide range of chocolate products from her Cacao HaGalil company.  Originally from Long Island, Koenig studied chocolate making in culinary school.  She began by using only goat milk and has expanded her product lines. “We try to incorporate what we see in the north, and use no preservatives.”

A family of new immigrants arrives at the Sha’ar Ha’aliyah transit camp near Haifa, 1949/50. Credit: The Oster Visual Documentation Center, ANU-Museum of the Jewish People, Sonnenfeld Collection.

As guests awaited guided tours of the museum’s galleries offered in four languages, many stopped by the screening room on the ground floor to view archival footage from the museum’s Oster Visual Documentation Center collection. 

Rivka Aderet, the adult education senior coordinator and director of the Film Screening Department, shared several clips that showcased Zionism and the aliyah experience, starting in the early 1900s.

The first color film, Aviv b’Galil (Spring in the Galilee), showed pioneers dancing, playing the accordion, and dancing at the site of the Huleh Lake before it was drained to eradicate mosquitoes. A black-and-white 1913 film, Little Tel Aviv, showcased the charming Neve Tzedek neighborhood and was screened at the 1913 World Zionist Congress in Vilna. Another film graphically showed the takeover of a ship of refugees by the British in November 1947.  

In the galleries—especially opened after hours for the olim—some joined language-specific tours while others explored on their own.  A large group of Russian-speakers were guided by a docent in a room displaying synagogues from around the world.  

Three Spanish-speaking immigrants from South America who arrived in Israel approximately five years ago—Carolina Meilich, Maia Dobry and Laura Cohen—explored the “20&20: A Lens of Her Own” exhibition, which features the work of forty female photographers.

The final event of the evening was a concert featuring a sing-along (with words projected on a screen) and optional dancing. Rachel Dratch, director of ANU Global Education, thanked everyone for attending this year’s Yom Aliyah celebration, which is likely to continue next year.

Revivi said he was proud of ANU’s partnership with other organizations and the government that enabled the event to be held. “We want to see how we can continue to offer enjoyment for olim at different periods and timespans-and to see how we can help them integrate,” he said.

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