Jewish National Fund seeks emissaries to seek estate bequests at old-age homes
Alongside the forest developers, the JNF recently published a job advertisement for a slightly different position; its requirements: travel abroad, develop ties with local elderly populations, and persuade them to leave their estate directly to the JNF.
The Jewish National Fund (JNF ) has recently begun looking for emissaries to be stationed abroad, and who, as part of their mission, are to establish contacts with retirement homes around the world with the goal of convincing the elderly therein to bequeath their assets to the organization itself.
Last March, the JNF published three manpower tenders to locate employees to join the prestigious organization as emissaries in other countries. Specifically, people were wanted for Germany, Italy and Latin America. Each emissary would be, as the tender documents put it, “the official source representing the JNF and promoting the interests of the organization to any party abroad.”
The job requirements, as the tenders explained, include a variety of abilities in the fields of communication, event production and relationship development. However, alongside those in the emissaries’ tenders for Italy and Germany, there was another unusual section that was even emphasized in black letters.
It was entitled “Activities with the old-age population for wills and estates.” The section details that the emissary must carry out “activities in retirement homes, synagogues, etc., with a goal of recruiting new inheritances for the JNF.”
Once the “target population,” as they are referred to in the tender, has been identified, the designated emissary must engage with them, including in “meetings and events with the target population that have already signed wills” and thus “maintain continuous contact with the people who have already chosen to dedicate their estates to the JNF.”
As part of the emissary’s work in these countries, the tender documents added that they will also be held responsible for collected bequeathed estates and selling assets left by the deceased. The organization is also prepared to employ lawyers and notaries to assist in process.
Contacted for comment, the JNF replied, “The JNF, like any other significant organization in the State of Israel, is working, inter alia, to raise donations from estates. 100% of funds from the donations go directly to fund specific projects according to the will of the bequeather.
“More than 90% of people who leave estates to the JNG are lonely Jews who, through their wills, want to ensure that their money will be used to benefit the development of the State of Israel, and will not be transferred to the coffers of the country in which they live abroad.”
They added, “The fundraising efforts in the JNF, including donations from estates, are carried out sensitively, with great respect for the donor and his legacy. The process of drafting a will is fully supervised by the relevant authorities.”
(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
