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A happy and healthy 2015 to all congregants and their loved ones!
The new secular year brings with it resolutions for more vital and engaged living. That is as it should be. As we say in our prayers each day, “Praised are You G-d, who fashions the world anew each day.” That means that every day is an opportunity for transformation. One such transformation should be our involvement with the State of Israel. We accomplish that by writing and speaking out against those who are overly critical of Israel and hold her to a double standard. And we can do that in a more direct way by becoming members of the World Zionist Congress. We can truly have an impact on her religious directions and Jewish Peoplehood by becoming members of MERCAZ. Every Jew outside of Israel and over 18 years of age may become a member of MERCAZ by registering through their website WZO.org.il. There is a small fee for registration but a very good payout–The proportion of the Conservative Masorti Delegation at the Congress relative to the other organizations helps determine the appropriation of the Zionist Congress monies both in and out of Israel. In short, there is no more effective organizational influence we can have than becoming delegates to the World Zionist Congress.
As an arm of the congress, MERCAZ garners additional financial help through its TALI school curriculum, which is making huge inroads in the public school system in Israel. TALI promotes peace, pluralism and exposure to the beauty of Jewish text in these schools. It provides a “non-orthodox” approach to our traditional sources and offers choice to Israel’s youth population. MERCAZ’s numeric strength can also help determine funding for its growing synagogue system in the State of Israel. There are now 60 or so Kelliot Masortiot across the land of Israel. Your numbers will help direct more shekels toward these synagogues. Soon, the Israeli parliament will debate and craft a Jewish National Law which speaks of Judaism as the underpinning of government and policy developments in the Knesset and in Israel education. Masorti Judaism, no doubt, has something unique to say about this law and the religious direction of the State of Israel into the future.
What is at stake?
The World Zionist Congress was started by Theodore Herzl in 1897. At one time it was a government and a state in the making. Since the creation of the State, The World Zionist Organization meets in congresses that are the equivalent of an international parliament. Some 300 delegates join 200 in Israel to craft Zionist Policy positions and to secure communal funding from some 300 million dollars that forms the Budget of the Jewish Agency. (The World Zionist organization controls 50% of the Jewish Agency) The 37th Zionist Congress is committed to the general Zionist platform of promoting Zionism & the Zionist idea and the Zionist enterprise, through Israeli education, as vital and positive elements of contemporary Jewish life, in accordance with the principles articulated in the Jerusalem Program. This manifesto is dedicated to instilling the centrality of Israel and its capital, Jerusalem, deep within Jewish consciousness, encouraging the return to Zion, fashioning an exemplary society in the Jewish state, expanding Zionist education including Hebrew language instruction, settling the land, and combating Anti-Semitism. The Jerusalem Program was revised in 1968 after the Six Day War, adding the ideal of strengthening the vision of the prophets of Justice and Peace; the preservation of the identity of the Jewish people where they reside, through Jewish education and through Jewish spiritual and cultural values; and the protection of Jewish rights everywhere.
Besides this platform, the mission Statement of MERCAZ Olami states: “our connection to the land and State of Israel begins first and foremost with our 4000 year-old covenant with the Divine. This covenant has imposed upon us the responsibility not only to support and defend the State of Israel but to create in Zion an exemplary Jewish Society that is a national home—democratic and pluralistic—for all Jews, secure at peace with its Arab neighbors, committed to protecting its environment and natural resources, respecting the rights of all of its citizens and supporting all streams of Jewish practice…”
It is my humble belief that this perspective is invaluable to the development and evolution of Israeli Society…and its dissemination is crucial to the continued receptivity to Jewish religious identity in Israelis.
So…What can you do so far away from the action? You can register to vote for MERCAZ. Simply visit WZO.org.il with credit card in hand for a small fee. Once that is taken care of electronically, you will be able to cast a ballot. There is a two stage process. First you must register before you can cast a ballot. From January through April 2015 you can register and then cast your Ballot for Mercaz… Your vote directly affects the allocation of millions of dollars into the hands of Masorti Institutions in this way: The more Conservative Mercaz supporters vote, the greater proportion of the pie –the 300 diaspora delegates– will be MERCAZ. With some 20% of the delegates last time, the Conservative movement received $2,000,000 in funding for TALI schools, the Schechter Institute for Rabbinic training, Masorti congregations across Israel and Kibbutz Hannaton, the Conservative Kibbutz in the north, USY’s Nativ Program, the Ramah Seminar and the Conservative Yeshiva for our laypeople in Jerusalem. This represents a significant part of the Mesorty Olami annual budget. Imagine what kind of allocation conservative institutions in Israel could receive if we reach the 30 or 35% level? The time is late but not too late. Please…each and every congregant over the age of 18!!! We need YOU! The hour is urgent and the stakes are tremendously important. As Hillel said, “if not now when?”