The Bnei Akiva youth movement is celebrating its 80th birthday on Tuesday by planting new forests throughout the Land of Israel. Most notably, the first-ever Bnei Akiva Forest will be planted near Moshav Amatzia, in the Lachish District between Kiryat Gat and southern Judea.
The mass planting will be held in conjunction with the Jewish National Fund and the East Lachish Communities Establishment Administration (ELCEA), a relatively new organization, formed to help the establishment of new towns in the region, mostly for families expelled from Gush Katif in the Disengagement of 2005. Rabbi Benny Nachteiler, who heads Bnei Akiva in Israel, told IsraelNationalNews, “All the plantings will be on a very large scale, but we call the Lachish one the ‘central’ one because it will be the first time that Bnei Akiva will have its own forest – and also because it honors the Gush Katif expellees who will soon, hopefully, build their new homes here.”