The seminar, organized by KKL-JNF’s Education and Community Division, included over 40 participants from Australia and South Africa, most of whom teach in Jewish schools and early childhood programs in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. Combining professional development with direct encounters with Israel’s social, historical, environmental, and security realities, it provides educators with meaningful tools to strengthen Jewish and Zionist identity in their communities.
Among the participants are educators with deeply personal ties to Jewish history and to KKL-JNF. One educator recalled her family’s long-standing connection to KKL-JNF, including childhood memories of receiving tree-planting certificates in her name for her birthdays. Her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, had instilled in her a deep connection to Jewish memory and education. She shared that her grandmother survived Auschwitz by documenting the numbers of Jews killed in the gas chambers, echoing her own recent work cataloging the names of victims of the Bondi Beach shooting with Chevra Kadisha.
Photo by: Yoav Lin, KKL-JNF Photo Archive
Another educator recalled growing up collecting money each week for the KKL-JNF blue box, completing paper trees leaf by leaf, and later visiting Israel as a student to plant a tree, an experience that continues to shape her educational work today. Their stories reflect the intergenerational bond many participants bring with them to the seminar.
The itinerary spanned the length of Israel and combined educational content, site visits, and volunteer activity. In northern Israel, participants visited Kibbutz Manara and explored Hula Lake Park—KKL-JNF’s flagship ecological project. They visited the Druze village of Julis and took part in a volunteer cooking activity for IDF soldiers at Noor Restaurant, owned by a Druze IDF widow, who shared her personal story. In Jerusalem, the seminar included visits to the City of David, the Western Wall, Yemin Moshe, and Yad Vashem.
A significant portion of the program focused on the events of October 7, 2023, and their impact on Israeli society. The educators traveled to southern Israel, visiting Sderot, the Tkuma Memorial, Kfar Aza, and the Nova memorial site, and heard lectures and testimonials from local survivors. These visits brought participants face-to-face with affected communities and highlighted stories of resilience and rebuilding, which are especially poignant considering the current challenges faced by Jewish communities abroad.
Photo by: Yoav Lin, KKL-JNF Photo Archive
According to KKL-JNF, the Educators Seminar is an opportunity to strengthen ties between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide, particularly through educational leadership. Participants return to their communities with a richer educational toolbox and a renewed ability to teach about Israel, sustainability, Jewish values, and resilience in a meaningful and informed way. The seminar also serves as a foundation for long-term partnerships between KKL-JNF and Jewish educational institutions— an initiative made more meaningful at a time when Jewish communities abroad need support more than ever.
*Sar Shalom-Jerbi, Manager of KKL-JNF’s Education and Community Division* ,stated: “We are honored to welcome educators from Australia and South Africa. Their visit to Israel, just weeks after the Bondi Beach shooting and amid rising antisemitic incidents abroad, is a powerful testament to hope, resilience, and the enduring spirit of the Jewish people. Through this seminar, educators experience Israel firsthand, its history, communities, and strength, returning home ready to inspire and nurture Jewish identity and fortitude in their own schools and communities.”