JNF

his age group, was caught up in work
and his social life.
“While I didn’t realize it at the time,
I was unconsciously searching for a
deeper meaning to my life. What I
needed was something I and so many
Jewish millennials push to the side.
I needed a way to connect with my
culture, my history, my people in a way
that didn’t feel forced,” he said.
“With JNFuture, Jewish philanthropy
has a new name and voice. JNFuture
is providing us millenials with a
reason and purpose to give our time
and money. It’s giving millennial Jews
a chance to have a real impact on our
Jewish homeland,” he added.
Echoing this sentiment Stephanie
Kelman touts JNFuture’s effectiveness
at nation building. “Jewish National
Fund is one of the most efficient nonprofit
organizations out there. Contributions
go right to the projects our
donors want to support in Israel. We
send JNFutures to Israel all year long,
and hundreds more go on tours and
missions run by Jewish National Fund
every year. What is so attractive is we
get to see exactly where our money
is going and meet the people we are
directly impacting,” she said.
For those young people just starting
out in their career, the annual donation
demonstrates that these young
professionals are more than willing to
put their money where their mouth
is. “One third of our members give
$1,000 or more; that’s huge commitment
from this age group,” she added.
For Sam Goldberg, a member of the
first national board of JNFuture, and
the first JNFuture member to give $1
million and become a member of the
elite JNF World Chairman’s Council,
his involvement goes back over a
decade when he participated in JNFuture’s
first Alternative Spring Break in
the winter of 2007. There, he and his
group replanted trees in Jewish National
Fund forests that had been destroyed
after the Second Lebanon War.
As a member of the millennial generation,
Goldberg is determined to
ignore the naysayers who accuse his
generation of being apathetic.
“Many people believe that my generation
is disconnected or doesn’t care...
I’m sure the same thing has been said
of younger generations since the beginning
of time. But of course, millennial
Jews do care,” he said.
For Goldberg, connecting to the
younger generation is all in the messaging.
“The previous pitches that worked
for those during 1948, 1967, and 1973
don’t work today for us. Uplifting messages,
like the work of Jewish National
Fund, is far more engaging. That
being said, if you are Jewish and know
history, then an understanding of the
survival necessity of Israel should be
obvious. If you don’t believe this, then
you are either naive, haven’t studied
history, or are intellectually dishonest,”
he said bluntly.
“With JNFuture, Jewish
philanthropy has a
new name and voice.
JNFuture is providing us
millenials with a reason
and purpose to give our
time and money.”
Josh Goodkin
Disproving the claims of the “apathetic
millennial,” Kelman also refuses
to take the State of Israel for granted
and looking ahead to the future is what
motivates her to give her all to Israel. “I
want to make sure it’s here and thriving
for my children and grandchildren,”
she said.
Realizing that the future is now in his
hands, Goodkin urges his peers to be
active philanthropists, especially when
it comes to Israel.
Goodkin is also inspired to mobilize
his peers to work together to strengthen
Israel as a JNFuture leader. “Before
I was introduced to Jewish National
Fund, I used to have this mind-set that
my parents and grandparents would
carry the burden of caring for Israel,”
he said. “I made up excuses: I thought I
was too young. I thought I didn’t make
enough money to give. I thought it
wasn’t my problem.
“Jewish National Fund and JNFuture
educate millennial Jews across the
country that while Israel has made tremendous
strides since its founding in
1948, there is still a lot of work to be
done,” Goodkin said. “From developing
the Negev, advancing water technology,
giving those with special needs
the treatment and respect they deserve
in Israeli society, the opportunities are
limitless and are awaiting our involvement.
With JNF, every millennial Jew
can find a reason or purpose to have
an impact on the Israel and the Jewish
people as a whole.”
This outlook allows Sam Goldberg to
see himself as part of a link in an unbroken
chain that not only spans 1,000
years in the past, but also looks forward
well into the future.
“Imagine your ancestors in the year
1000 in the middle of the Dark Ages.”
he explained. “Imagine your ancestors
in the 1500s after a string of countries
expelled all their Jewish residents.
Imagine being amongst our people in
Europe in 1943 in the middle of World
War II. Imagine if your ancestors were
standing beside you today in Israel,
what would they say to you?
“Now imagine your descendants a
thousand years from now. What would
you want them to remember about
you? What would you want them to
remember about our time?
“I believe we are in the early stages
of the golden era of Jewish history.
Hundreds of years from now, Yom
Ha’atzmaut will be celebrated as a Jewish
holiday of redemption... our people
will cherish these times as Israel’s early
years, and our period will be remembered
as a time of renewed innovation,
art and tikkun olam... These things will
only come to fruition if we will let
them be so.”
Of course, no true Zionist would be
complete without invoking Theodore
Herzl.
“Im tirtzu ein zo agada, ein zo
agada,” Goldberg said of his dream
for the next generation of Jewish
philanthropy. “If you will it, it is not
a dream.”
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APRIL 2018 17