JNF’s Breakfast for Dinner Attracts Record Crowd
Beth Gluck gave a rousing talk to 670 guests about JNF’s job of nation building -- far beyond being the “tree people.”
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
Event co-chairs Jackie Goldstein and Marcus Brodzki kicked off the annual 21st Gladys and Jack Hirsch Breakfast for Dinner event on March 2 at the Hotel Intercontinental, which was selected to accommodate the largest crowd (670) for any Jewish National Fund-Atlanta event.
Goldstein spoke of the excitement of such a massive gathering — united regardless of politics, which “despite some birth pains has resulted in hope and action.”
Brodzki, a father of two young daughters who looked on, labeled himself a “proud Zionist and Jew.” He recalled that in 1903, Uganda was considered as the Jewish homeland. “Thank goodness that vote was defeated.”
Board chair and President Mark Kopkin symbolized the “buying of a ticket” as taking action. He asked volunteers to stand before recognizing Israeli Consul General to the Southeast, Anat Sultan Dadon, whose term here is coming to a close. She then spoke about JNF being one of the first organizations to welcome her 5 ½ years ago.
She stated, “These past 17 months have been the greatest challenge for us in modern history as 59 hostages are still held. We will not rest until everyone is returned home.” She maintained that Israel will stand strong in the war and against Iran and its proxies. She praised JNF for supporting the injured and displaced and for all to emerge even stronger.
Beth Gluck, who also serves as Greater Atlanta JNF executive director, shared that the more modern face of JNF is beyond the 250 million trees that have been planted. “We are now nation building by expanding the population to all borders. We had a vision to raise a billion and did it in less than 10 years. The goal is to move population away from the concentrated center, 300,000 to the north and 500,000 to the south, Gaza, the Negev, Ber Sheva nearing Egypt.”
She shared how JNF is helping to achieve the three reasons to move: housing, jobs and health care, and how Zionist education is important for young Jews. She said, “There are seven action areas, pillars of the ecosystem from birth to boardroom, with the Alexander Muss High School being the crown jewel.”
She also shared how JNF was there during the “despicable trauma” of Oct. 7 — feeding the hungry, rebuilding, helping people come back to a good quality of life. JNF is “all Israel’ all the time.”
Concluding his five-week U.S. tour, Elie Klein, director of advancement for Adi Negev Nahalat Eran and liaison to JNF-USA, showed a video and extolled the miracles that are taking place at the only trauma center in the south.
He said, “Our name, ‘Adi,’ means ‘gem.’ We rehabilitate the elderly, the wounded, and the disabled, all in the same village with JNF as a partner … lush in the barren Negev, there is OT, PT, art therapy, music therapy, a petting zoo, horses, a kindergarten where handicapped children are main streamed.”
The Adi village is located on 40 acres with the day option or 24/7 (live-in), 390 participants and a highly skilled staff. In the video, he showed how post-Oct. 7, an off duty IDF soldier left the Nova Festival to get a knife to return to fight terrorists. He approached four houses that were a cache of weapons, which exploded and nearly took his life. Recovering from shrapnel surgery, he aligned with a non-verbal, non-ambulatory child … “while giving each other hope … all touched by disability.”
The soldier is expected to make a full recovery. The young boy now stands up with state-of-the-art equipment supplied by JNF. He’s engaged and working with hydrotherapy to make that first step. Another teenager was trained to use her eyes to select emojis on a sound-enabled computer allowing her to speak. Klein laughed, “Like any 16-year-old, now we can hardly get her to shut up.”
Klein ended by inviting folks to come visit and get a personal “golden ticket” tour of Adi with him, and closed by saying, “Disney World is not the happiest place on Earth. We are!”
Incoming JNF President Andy Siegel concluded with the ask … “Your signing envelopes on the tables brings water to dry lands and helps secure the north and south.”
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