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Shalom. I write to you today with great urgency.
I have urged you to vote in the World Zionist Congress elections, and to let me know when you have done so. I've heard from very few of you. Now we come down to the final days of your opportunity to vote - the election ends on Sunday!
Here, in reverse order, are my top three reasons at this moment for imploring you to vote in support of the Israelis who practice Judaism like we do:
- Number Three: Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox groups are cheating in the election, so fierce is their desire to wipe out the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel. We cannot let cheating deprive our fellow Reform and Conservative Jews of the funding they need to keep their synagogues alive.
- Number Two: The Reform synagogue in Netanya, Israel, was horribly vandalized by fellow Jews on Yom HaShoah, the graffiti so crude and hateful I can neither show you pictures or even repeat the words. The rabbi there, Rabbi Dr. Edgar Nof, told me: "The elections are crucial to us!"
- Number One: Just last night, as Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) began, fellow Jews attacked the Reform synagogue in Ra'anana, Israel, forcing their way in and attacking those participating in the memorial ritual — hitting, kicking, and spitting at them, as well as calling them Nazis and terrorists and calling for their death. Police began evacuating the participants, and the rioters attacked and injured the police too, throwing stones and beating them. A female rabbi and her mother were kicked; the Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center, an organization which defends the right of Reform and Conservative Jews in court and through legislative advocacy, was injured badly enough that she had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. The head of the Likud party praised the violent rioters and threatened the synagogue with more violence. We cannot let hate win. We cannot let hate destroy our movements in Israel.
This all hits close to home for me for two reasons. First, Phil and I went to Shabbat services at the Ra'anana synagogue the last time we were in Israel,an d the people there were lovely and welcoming; we truly felt at home. Second, my rabbinic colleagues and I were attacked in the Old City on that same visit by a similar mob, though not quite as violently, as no one was badly injured.
Hatred of Jews against their fellow Jews is why the Second Temple was destroyed, according to our rabbinic sages. Israel is now at a crossroads. Will these Jewish movements — that worship as we do, that welcome us when we come to Israel with open arms, that fight for the right of our converts to make aliyah to Israel, that speak up for our egalitarian values in Israel — will they be allowed to survive and thrive? The answer is in no small part up to us. We must stand up for them, and the best, most effective, and easiest way to do that is to vote in the WZC elections so that they get their fair share of the billion dollars collected here in the US and allocated in Israel.
To vote, go to https://azm.org/elections/. Read about the slates there and vote for a party that represents your values. My recommendation is to vote for one of the two slates that represent our way of being Jewish: VOTE REFORM or MERCAZ USA: The Voice of Conservative/Masorti Judaism.
With a prayer for peace,
Rabbi Linda
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