Those who “plant” trees online may recite the same blessing recited when physically planting a tree in the land of Israel, Rabbi Yona Metzger – the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel – has ruled. The ruling pertains to a Jewish National Fund initiative that allows internet users to purchase and plant trees in a virtual forest.

JNF employees then plant real trees in a matching location in a real-life forest.

The blessing for planting trees was written by then-Chief Rabbi Ben-Tzion Meir Chai Uziel.