Because of You- Summer 2026

For more than two decades, Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF-USA) has prioritized developing Israel’s Northern and Southern regions. Understanding that thriving communities need more than roads and buildings, JNF-USA’s Arts and Entertainment initiative infuses these communities with music, storytelling, and beauty—places where people can gather, celebrate, create, and heal. This attracts potential residents and visitors and boosts the economy. When JNF-USA invests in a vision, it does it with purpose, and in this case, the belief that culture is not peripheral to community life—it is the essential heart and soul.

To enrich Israel’s frontier communities, “Arts and Entertainment partners with other JNF-USA affiliates to deliver the most effective therapies that fit the people we’re trying to help,” says Jacqui Schneider, Chair of the Arts and Entertainment initiative and Vice President of the JNF-USA National Women for Israel Executive Board. “Our projects are woven into the fabric of everything that JNF-USA is doing. We strengthen these communities by providing emotional and cultural resilience.” 

For example, JNF-USA invests in an Israel affiliate, MAKOM, supporting six artistic communities of musicians, filmmakers, dancers, actors, and visual artists, impacting more than 25,000 people and helping prepare the next generation of Israeli creatives for meaningful careers in the arts. Thanks to JNF-USA, beauty is being created in the most unlikely places. Stunning murals painted on bomb shelters throughout Israel Envelope communities are not only beautiful, but transformative. Something frightening becomes colorful, distinctive, and hopeful.

Imagine you are looking for a place to live or visit in Israel—someplace that would draw you beyond Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or Haifa. The “soul” of a community can be expressed in endless ways, and it might convince you to visit or even move there! See how JNF-USA is partnering with their affiliates from the North to the South to enhance quality of life for everyone:

• In Akko, Western Galilee Now (a consortium of small businesses, social enterprises and kibbutzim) has cultural programming that brings together Jewish, Arab, Druze, and Bedouin communities. Festivals, culinary events, music, workshops, and art experiences foster connection and coexistence.
  

• Through partnerships with the Film and TV Fund (chaired by Hollywood Attorney, Fred Toczek), JNF-USA co-produces films and television projects that bring Israeli stories in Israel’s voice to a global audience, while also creating jobs, opportunities, and creative communities in the North and South. Recent projects include Red Alert, October H8TE, Fighters, and the newly produced Tell Me Everything. Tell Me Everything was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and was the only Israeli film selected for competition in the past decade! It is scheduled to be screened at the JNF-USA Global Conference for Israel in November in San Diego.
  

• For women and children living under the threat of rocket fire, coping with trauma and domestic abuse, JNF-USA supports LOTEM-Making Israel Accessible’s art-based therapeutic programs. Sharon Lieblein, JNF-USA Director, Entertainment, explains: “In these communities, creativity is not simple enrichment. Sometimes, it is healing.”
  

• The Start Art program is for youth from the North who are drawn to the arts. It is designed to integrate students into the Margalit Startup City culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and successful startups.

And music?

• In Arad, just south of Masada, the Arad Music Conservatory provides music education to hundreds of young people each year, exposing students to instruments, discipline, creativity and culture.
  

• The Rimon School of Music in Akko brings world-class contemporary music education and cultural opportunity to the Galilee, including partnerships with Berklee College of Music. JNF-USA provides musical instruments to attract students across the Galilee.
  

• When soldiers in rehab at the Adi Negev-Nahalat Rehabilitation Village in the South requested music as part of their therapy, JNF-USA responded, and is creating a dedicated space for this.
  

• Special in Uniform is a JNF-USA affiliate that enables youth with disabilities, who would otherwise be deferred from IDF service, to serve in uniform, performing tasks vital to the IDF. The Special in Uniform music program is an extraordinary ensemble of talented members that epitomizes inclusion, joy, and the strength of the human spirit. They are not only performers who make your heart soar and get you out of your seats, but they are also global ambassadors for the inclusive Israel we believe in.
  

• For the children in Sderot—an area that has endured years of rocket attacks—the Hugh Friedman Music Program at the fortified indoor recreation center provides something priceless: a chance to simply be a child again. Fun fact: the music room doubles as the Mamad (safe room).

And the vision is only growing.

• JNF-USA has a long-standing relationship with Sapir College in the northwestern Negev near Sderot. Sapir is one of Israel’s largest public colleges and the largest employer in the Israel Envelope region. JNF-USA is exploring a partnership with its Arts & Media program to provide mentorship, speakers, and a quality of life that appeals to students, encouraging them to stay in the region after graduation.
  

• Nowhere is JNF-USA’s impact more visible than in Be'er Sheva. Once overlooked, Be’er Sheva is becoming a cultural and entertainment destination in the Negev. It has an extraordinary new amphitheater complex—with seating for tens of thousands, including the Danielle A. and Irving J. Grossman JNF-USA Amphitheater. This is the largest amphitheater in Israel and has become a centerpiece for concerts, festivals, theater, and community life.

Written by Jackie Goldstein, Proud Sapphire and President's Circle Society Member, National WFI Executive Board, JNF-USA Board of Directors, Atlanta, WFI Steering Committee, JNF-USA Arts & Entertainment, and Master Class Participant