Saturday June 14

Tonight I went out selling
some flowers for the J.N.F.
on the Annual Flower Day
with some girls.

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Matt's Notes

If you guessed that "J.N.F." stands for "Jewish National Fund," you're our big winner for the week. The J.N.F. had been around since 1901 to pursue the purchase and forestation of land in Palestine, and they're still at it today. (I think it's pretty typical behavior for American Jews to plant a tree in Israel through the J.N.F. in the name of someone who's just died; honestly, until recently I'd only heard of them for this reason.)

According to A Guide to Zionism, published in 1920 by the Zionist Organization of America, the J.N.F. "instituted a Flower Day at Shabuot time" along with many other fundraising efforts; I imagine people like Papa looked forward to it every year as a way to spend a nice Spring afternoon (and maybe as a way to meet "some girls.") He didn't seem to do much else with the J.NF. in the 20's, though I suppose he got more involved later since he received a certificate from them in the 1950's in recognition of his efforts on their behalf.