KA CC Archive Feb 2025 - Congregation Kol Ami

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03/05/2025 09:37:05 PM

Mar5

Rabbi Rachel Blatt

Every five years, the World Zionist Congress/Parliament of the Jewish people election creates an important opportunity for American Jews to put down a marker for Conservative/Masorti Judaism in Israel.

Established by Herzl, the World Zionist Congress is the only democratic body with representatives from the Jewish people from every country and every Zionist stream. Here, Diaspora Jews like us, not only have a voice: we have a vote. The Congress exercises control over four of the largest nonprofits in the Jewish world – WZO, KKL/JNF, the Jewish Agency, and Keren HaYesod – with combined allocations over $2.5 billion annually. Who runs these organizations and how they spend their time and money depends on your vote!

MERCAZ is the political party representing the global Conservative/Masorti movement. A vote for MERCAZ USA in elections to the World Zionist Congress every five years helps us secure millions from these institutions to promote pluralism and strengthen Masorti Judaism in Israel. It also helps us secure millions that our own synagogues, Ramah camps, USY programs, Men’s Clubs, Sisterhoods, and more, rely on here at home. In spring 2025, a vote for MERCAZ USA is a vote to make sure those hardest hit on October 7th receive resources they need to rebuild and recover. It ensures that KKL/JNF, controlled by the Zionist Congress, invests millions in rebuilding communities near Gaza, and it also ensures that the WZO properly handles its responsibility to implement Israel’s official efforts to support our hostages and their families.

Your vote for Mercaz USA - מרכז (Slate 6) allows you to speak out about the kind of Israel we would like to see; one where all Jews are free to worship as they please, where a woman’s voice is not silenced, where all people can read a Torah Scroll and lead a service without fear. Your vote looks to an Israel where how and where a Jew davens is not a political football to be kicked around by the Knesset, but a fundamental right. Your vote is one for equality and parity in the support of all synagogues in Israel. It is a vote for Israel to be seen as a living branch of Judaism that speaks to all Jews who have a modern view of the world.

Voting is a simple online process that takes five minutes and five dollars. Any American Jew (by self-identification, while not identifying as a member of another religion) over 18 can vote for MERCAZ USA in elections to the World Zionist Congress. The voting period begins on March 10th, and no preregistration or organizational membership of any kind beforehand is required. The five dollars is a small administrative fee covering the cost of administering or the election, which also prevents voter fraud as each payment method can only vote a limited number of times.

My friends, please do not forget that elections have consequences. We have a chance to make great strides for Conservative/Masorti Judaism in Israel and throughout the world, but not if we don’t fully mobilize our community and engage in this fight.

“Chazak Chazak V’nitchazek: Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened.” The stronger our effort, the stronger we will be as a community. We are counting on you.