A new venture by Jewish National Fund-USA will bring a fresh skill set to northern Israel: culinary arts.
JNF-USA’S VISION FOR NORTHERN ISRAEL
(ILTV)
“If you look out, close your eyes, open them – you're in Tuscany,” JNF-USA CEO Russell Robinson said last week during a tour of what will soon be the Galilee Culinary Institute by JNF. “This is a magnificent, beautiful nation, and here's a magnificent, beautiful area of the country. The breathtaking views of northern Israel can oftentimes make you feel like you're in another part of the world.
“I see the beauty and the life and the tranquility, all the things that maybe you don't use in words when describing anything in Israel,” Robinson continued. “Sometimes you can literally hear cars driving from miles away because it's so quiet—the animals, the beauty of the area, and the tranquility of it.”
He said there is a spirit in the north—people who want to build the nation of Israel. And since JNF-USA has been investing in the north long before October 7, 2023, and the war, the nonprofit has seen the fruits of its labor.
Robinson said he envisions continuing to transform northern Israel into thriving communities.
“For us, it was always about going north, bringing people up north,” he told ILTV News. “October 7 and the war—we had to shift, but not change. We had to pivot. But we're still heading forward. And we're heading forward in a way that brings people back home, brings people home, and brings people to the region with new opportunities—putting it on the map.”
In Kibbutz Gonen, where the culinary institute will be located, the vision is to literally bring something new to the table. The dream of the institute began seven years ago—to make it the “finest institute in the world,” Robinson said.
He noted that students will have the opportunity to learn French cooking while overlooking vast farms in the distance. The institute will feature a bakery, winery, and beer brewery, as well as a restaurant and dorms for students coming from all over the world.
“You're going to be utilizing the beauty of Israel, and the experience of Israel is part of the whole culinary teaching experience,” Robinson explained. “It's not that you come here and you're going to learn only because of what we're going to teach you. You're going to learn from everything that goes on here.”
He said JNF-USA envisions the Culinary Institute playing a key role in revitalizing the ever-growing city of Kiryat Shmona and its surrounding communities. The nonprofit is investing not only in culinary education but also in entrepreneurs, medical facilities, and pre-military programs in the region. With each new opportunity, they hope to see the area continue to expand.
“Israel is all about being a light unto the nations, and it's going to be that place where people say, ‘Wow,’” Robinson concluded.