'Field of Dreams' Mission to Israel JNF To Run a Baseball Tour

Contact: Joyce Sachartoff • JNF Campaign Executive • 818-704-5454 • jsachartoff@jnf.org

April 13, 2007 -- Los Angeles, CA -- Professional baseball is coming to Israel and now you can be a part of it.

Join Jewish National Fund and baseball fans from all over the country on the first JNF “Field of Dreams” Mission, from June 21-27, 2007. Watch the historic opening day ceremonies in premier seats with sports stars and VIPs. Learn about the critical work that JNF is doing to help the Jewish homeland in its continued growth and survival, including the new JNF Project Baseball.

The Israel Baseball League is >Israel’s professional baseball league.  Created by Boston businessman Larry Baras, the IBL has already established itself as a league-of-choice for baseball players from the U.S., Canada, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Australia, Europe and Israel. 

In March of 2006, the IBL announced a joint venture with Jewish National Fund called “Project Baseball,” a campaign aimed at dotting the landscape of >Israel with community baseball fields.  In July of that year, the IBL revealed its plans for the new professional league and announced the date for Opening Day June 24, 2007, the 8th of Tammuz, 5767!

Former major leaguers Ken Holtzman, Art Shamsky and Ron Blomberg will manage three of the six teams in this first season.  The League’s commissioner is Daniel C. Kurtzer, former U.S. Ambassador to >Egypt and then Israel. Dan Duquette, former General Manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox, serves as the Director of Baseball Operations and Larry Baras is the Founder and Managing Director of the IBL.

Whether you have been to >Israel too many times to count or would like to plan your first visit, there is nothing like a trip with JNF Travel & Tours. This will be an exciting as well as historic mission: eating kosher hot dogs, hearing the crack of the bat, and the words “play ball” in Hebrew.   

The itinerary will take you from the ancient city of Jaffa to the modern metropolis of Tel Aviv. You will float in the Dead Sea, take a cable car ride to the top of Masada and hear from prominent Israeli leaders. And of course, you can get autographs.

For more information, contact Joyce Sachartoff at 818.704.5454 or email at jsachartoff@jnf.org. or call JNF Travel and Tours at 877-JNF-TOUR. 

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Jewish National Fund (JNF) began in 1901 collecting coins in blue boxes to purchase land and return the Jewish people to their homeland. In over 109 years, JNF has evolved into a global environmental leader and become the central address for partnering with the land and people of Israel. JNF has planted 250 million trees; built over 1,000 parks and recreational areas; constructed security roads; educated students around the world about Israel; created new communities so that Jews from around the world would have a place to call home; discovered new means of growing plants under arid conditions, bringing green to the desert; and built over 200 reservoirs and water recycling centers, increasing Israel’s water supply by 10%. Today, JNF is supporting Israel’s newest generation of pioneers by bringing life to the Negev Desert, Israel’s last frontier. 

A United Nations NGO, JNF sponsors international conferences on desertification, shares afforestation techniques, and funds research on arid land management. JNF is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and continuously earns top ratings from charity overseers. For more information on JNF, call 888-JNF-0099 or visit www.jnf.org.