Three years ago, this plot in the Israeli heartland was bare, sun-scorched soil beneath an open sky. There was no shade, no canopy, no sign of life beyond dry ground and wind.
Today, that land is transforming.
A forest is rising there because you chose to plant it.
The Vision You Made Possible
In 2022, Israel365 partnered with Baruch Kogan of Emet Permaculture to plant 10,000 trees on a 12-dunam plot in Ayyir Hashachar, a young Jewish community putting down roots in the heartland of Israel.
The method chosen was the Miyawaki approach, a high-density planting system designed to accelerate growth, rebuild depleted soil, and create a self-sustaining ecosystem in years instead of decades. The goal was never symbolic saplings. The goal was a living forest that would produce fruit, honey, animal fodder, and timber, while restoring habitat and strengthening the community around it.
You funded that vision.
Because of your generosity, the land was fully fenced. A 20-centimeter layer of mulch and compost was spread across the entire plot to regenerate the soil. A complete irrigation system was installed. In the first phase, 5,000 trees were planted.
Then the project was tested.
The Setback and the Strengthening
Following October 7th, funding delays slowed progress. Ayyir Hashachar grew rapidly from 10 families to 30. The temporary above-ground water line could not sustain the increased demand. Water pressure dropped. Irrigation failed.
That summer, while Baruch was serving in reserve duty in Gaza, the planted seedlings did not survive.
That is the reality of working the land in Israel during wartime.
And yet, because of you, the project did more than survive. It was rebuilt stronger.
In the fall of 2025, your donations funded the installation of a new underground water supply line, engineered for long-term stability. It now delivers reliable pressure to all 10,000 irrigation drippers across the forest plot in organized zones. The system is built to endure Israel’s dry summers for decades to come.
Rebuilt Stronger. Growing Faster.
The setback forced the permanent solution. The infrastructure is now in place, and the forest is moving forward with stability for decades to come.
Planting has resumed, smarter and stronger.
This winter alone, 6,000 seeds have already been dispersed across the plot, including jujube, pomegranate, prickly pear, carob, and fig. Each seed was cleaned, scarified to encourage germination, formed into nutrient-rich seed balls, and placed strategically along irrigation lines to protect them from predators and position them to awaken with the heavy rains.
Over the next three to six months, an additional 30,000 to 50,000 seeds will be planted, including almonds, walnuts, mulberry, date palm, moringa, black locust, retama, and other dryland species. Some will sprout this season. Others may lie dormant until the fall rains return. Either way, the density ensures long-term establishment.
And the land is already responding. Hundreds of Washingtonia palm seedlings have emerged naturally across the plot, evidence that the deep mulch layer is retaining moisture in soil that would otherwise crack under the Israeli sun. Mycelial networks have spread beneath the surface, and mushrooms have appeared, something absent in the surrounding deforested land.
These are decisive signs of restoration. The soil is holding water and rebuilding the biological foundation that will sustain this forest for generations.
You Are Part of Something That Will Outlast All of Us
The prophet Isaiah spoke of a day when the desert would rejoice and blossom. Every seed planted in this forest is a small act of faith in that vision, that the Land of Israel is being restored, that Jewish life is being rebuilt in the hills of our ancestors, and that the work we do today matters for eternity.
You made this possible. Not in a metaphorical sense, literally. Your donation funded the fencing, the mulch, the irrigation, the seeds, and the hands that are placing them in the ground. When the first families of Ayyir Hashachar sit in the shade of these trees, they will be sitting in a forest that you planted.
If you feel moved to continue this work, we invite you to give again. For the cost of a dinner, another tree takes root in the Land of Israel, and another small piece of that vision takes root with it.