KKL-JNF Books of Honor

As suggested by Yona Kremenetzky, the first Chairman of KKL-JNF, Jews around the world began to contribute to the Fund by inscribing gifts for dear ones, acquaintances or distinguished people in what became known as the Books of Honor.

The Golden Book is the most unique of the KKL-JNF Books of Honor and is, in effect, a genealogical tree of the Jewish people. Among its pages are inscriptions recording special events in people’s lives over the past one hundred years of Jewish history. Each volume of the Golden Book describes a different period in the life of the Jewish People and the contribution of KKL-JNF, acting through and on behalf of the people, for the preservation, care and development of the land. An entry in the Golden Book is a mark of esteem and gratitude to the donors who with their contribution, enable a variety of projects to be carried out.

This is the first of three books that mark various stages in the life cycle of individuals and families. The time-honored Jewish tradition of planting a tree for each newborn child is expressed through this book.

The forty-nine volumes of the book contain tens of thousands of names and color pictures of children. Each entry marks a significant event in the child’s life – birth, circumcision, first day at school, birthday.

Looking through the pages of the book is like a voyage in time through Jewish history of the twentieth century. Inscribing a child’s name makes us a part of this journey.

The second milestone in the life cycle of the Jewish family is the transition from childhood to maturity with the Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony. Inscribing Bnei Mitzvah and Bnot Mitzvah in these volumes strengthens the bonds of the young boy or girl with the Land of Israel, its scenery and its sites. It makes them active partners in the work of Keren Kayemeth throughout the country to nurture 400,000 dunams (nearly 100,000 acres) of natural woodland, and to establish recreation areas and parks which become part of the scenery.

Youngsters from Israel and abroad commemorate in the pages of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah book the most important day of their lives, when they become full members of the Jewish community. KKL-JNF presents each boy or girl with an attractive certificate, in lasting tribute.

Each entry in the book is accompanied by a photograph of those inscribed. The pictures and the names constitute a colorful mosaic of different ethnic communities from all parts of the world.

The third volume in the life-cycle and family events, the Golden Book of Marriages symbolizes the link between the people and their land. The wedding ceremony is commemorated in the book’s elegant volumes, along with silver, golden and other wedding anniversaries celebrated over the years. KKL-JNF presents those who are inscribed in this book with a joyful certificate of honor.



The Book of Marriages unites Jewish couples from all over the world, emphasizing the centrality of family in the Jewish tradition.

The tasks of KKL-JNF in the realm of land development vary with time. Apart from afforestation and land reclamation, KKL-JNF breaks through roads, builds reservoirs and dams, and restores and cleans waterways.

Any of these projects may be chosen and the donor may take part in its establishment and maintenance. A certificate of appreciation, the work of a well-known Israeli artist, is awarded to everyone inscribed in this book.

The Book of Special Contributions is among the newest of the KKL-JNF Books of Honor. From the inscriptions in it, one obtains a picture of the many tasks and challenges that KKL has undertaken, developed and nurtured in recent years in response to the nation’s important and urgent needs.

There is no parallel anywhere in the world to the tree planting undertaken by KKL-JNF. Hundreds of years of wars, neglect, and uncontrolled grazing made Israel a country devoid of shade or greenery. KKL-JNF plants forests country-wide, establishes parks and picnic sites, and nurtures the natural woodlands. The forest trees conserve the soil and prevent erosion as well as providing recreation and relaxation spots for Israel’s citizens.

The Book of Plantings is composed of three separate books: The Book of Gardens, the Book of Groves, and the Book of Forests. KKL-JNF presents each person inscribed in the Book of Plantings, as a partner in the tree-planting, with an impressive certificate.

In the hundred years since its inception, KKL-JNF has planted some 240 million trees over 900,000 dunams (some 220,000 acres) throughout the country. Twenty thousand dunams of forest, as well as green lungs around and within the towns are added each year. The volumes of the Book of Plantings are an expression of the partnership of the people in planting and caring for the forests.

The newest in the series of KKL-JNF Books of Honor, the Aliya Book came into being in 1990 as a result of the urgent needs of the State in recent years: The absorption of hundreds and thousands of new immigrants as they returned to the homeland.

KKL-JNF is involved in this vital national effort with the preparation of the land infrastructure for tens of thousands of new homes.

As part of its educational activities, KKL-JNF helps with the social absorption of immigrant children by hosting them at summer camps in its forests. There, they meet native-born Israelis and learn about Israel’s landscape and history.

The names of those who contributed to this national effort through KKL-JNF are recorded in this book. A donation towards the preparation of land infrastructure for one housing unit will be forever recorded in the book that commemorates the historical return of the people to their land.

The successful absorption of immigrants from Ethiopia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and from other countries around the world holds the most significance for the continued development and prosperity of the country.