From Strength to Strength: Reform Makes Great Strides at the World Zionist Congress

I had intended to write reports from the World Zionist Congress (WZC), but as you may have noticed, that didn’t happen. The Congress was such a sensory overload that it was hard to concentrate, let alone chronicle what was going on there. Now that I have returned to the States I can look back on what was an extraordinary experience for our large Reform delegation and an historic event for our movement.

What made the WZC a challenge is also what made it great. It was a cacophony of Jewish voices from all over the world representing a broad range of opinions on Judaism and Zionism. What made this Congress extraordinary is that every voice was heard — though sometimes louder than was appropriate! I choose to regard the high pitch as an expression of the great passion the delegates felt for their Zionist convictions, which is a positive take on behavior that was, at times, not entirely civil.

Despite the contentiousness of the debate, this 37th WZC was an historic event for the Reform Movement because, more than ever before, we claimed a place at the forefront of the Zionist movement. Ours was the largest delegation from the Diaspora, and our members were among the leaders of the Congress, including its chair, Philip Meltzer.

It is important to note that our strength came from you. Your vote for ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists of America) in the American Zionist Elections last year helped us win 56 seats at the WZC — 40% of all the votes cast in the United States! Together with Reform delegates from Israel and around the world, the combined delegation of ARZENU, the International Reform Zionist Movement, was 78 strong. When these votes were added to those of our progressive Zionist coalition partners, Meretz and Labor, we formed a powerful bloc of 180 delegates.

The strength of our numbers truly mattered. It enabled us to gain leadership positions in the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), and secure significant budgets for our movement’s work in Israel and the former Soviet Union. Since the Israeli government provides very limited support for non-Orthodox Judaism, this money helps to correct an imbalance that is also an injustice, and enables us to grow as a serious Jewish alternative in the Jewish State.

Also significant is the fact that the strength of our numbers enabled us to wield influence over the direction of the Zionist Movement. This we accomplished through the resolutions process, which is the heart of the work of the WZC. Almost all of the resolutions we introduced were passed, and we were able to block the passage of most of the resolutions we opposed.

The central foci of ARZENU’s resolutions were on promoting the values of democracy, pluralism, freedom of religious expression, equality for Israel’s minorities, diversity and sensitivity on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, combating expressions of racism and incitement on the basis of race, religion, national origin and sexual orientation, environmental concerns, and reforms to make the Zionist institutions more efficient, just and transparent.

Each delegate to the Congress served on one of eight different committees. The task of each committee was to review all the resolutions introduced by the different factions and vote on which ones would be considered by the Congress as a whole. I served as one of the two whips for our delegation on the committee “A Free People in Our Land,” where many of our delegation’s key resolutions were considered.

During our committee meeting it became clear that our bloc had the votes to move our agenda. This engendered strong reactions from most of our opponents, some of whom sought to disrupt the proceedings in order to minimize the number of resolutions we could pass. At the same time that voices were rising and the chair, British Reform Rabbi Lea Meuhlstein, was busy trying to restore order, it became clear that the more moderate Orthodox party, Mizrachi, was willing to work with us rather than oppose us, if we would be willing to find language that they could support. The result was extremely positive and reflected well on our pluralistic values. We could have passed our resolutions as they were drafted without Mizrachi’s support. Instead, we chose a path of moderation and inclusion that modeled the way we hope to see our Jewish world manage its differences.

Who would have imagined that Mizrachi would support a resolution calling for an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall? By including language that affirmed the status quo in the existing sections of the Kotel, Mizrachi voted with us for the creation of a new, “third section of the Western Wall site that will be equal in size, funding, and visibility, and offering a dignified space of worship for the Conservative and Reform streams and to Women of the Wall.”

In similar fashion, Mizrachi joined with us to pass a resolution condemning hate crimes and denying funding from the World Zionist Organization to “any group or movement that promotes in their platform any principles or activities that directly or indirectly promote hate on the basis of national origin, racism and discrimination…”

Mizrachi also joined with us in passing a resolution supporting the GLBT community in Israel that calls on the Israeli Minister of Education to “ensure that all educational institutions in Israel will create curricula and programming that promote respect for, and the civil rights of, all diverse communities, including the GLBT community.” Meeting Mizrachi’s openness to our initiatives with sensitivity to their needs made such achievements possible. More than that, it earned us admiration and respect, and demonstrated that we are worthy of leading the shared institutions of the Jewish people.

There is much work to be done. Racism, discrimination, and acts of hate are on the rise in Israel. The current Israeli government includes parties that are adamantly opposed to Jewish pluralism, civil rights for all the citizens of Israel, and efforts to achieve a two state solution with the Palestinians. And the Jewish state has a long way to go toward fulfilling the Jewish values of justice and compassion for the weak and the vulnerable, the poor, the stranger, and the minorities in Israeli society.

Nonetheless, this is a moment to take pride in what we have accomplished, and to be inspired by the vision of what we may yet achieve if we continue to build upon our successes. Our challenge is to maintain our focus and continue to grow our engagement with Israel and Zionism in all of our congregations and institutions. Let us continue to dream of Zion and redouble our efforts to make her a fulfillment of the prophetic vision, an oasis of justice, righteousness, and peace.

Our efforts in mustering the power of our movement enabled us to win important victories at the 37th World Zionist Congress, giving concrete expression to the words of the psalmist: “May they go from strength to strength, that everyone may experience God’s Presence in Zion.” (Psalm 84:8) May we indeed go from strength to strength until we see the day that “a new light will shine upon Zion, and all of us will be blessed to see its splendor.”