Reconstructing Judaism’s engagement with Israel takes many expressions, most of which are captured here on Reconstructing Judaism’s website. We prioritize encounters with Israelis from across a broad spectrum of Israeli society—listening and learning from their aspirations, experiences and priorities—to inform our programming and educational offerings.
One major effort undertaken in the past year was a movement-wide convening about Israel in December 2024, which highlighted concrete initiatives and programs across the Reconstructionist movement. A brief video recapping the convening, which attracted more than 500 participants, can be found here.
Full recordings of several sessions, including the opening and closing plenaries, can be found here.
Another priority of this past year was the Reconstructionist movement’s participation in the 39th World Zionist Congress (the first was convened by Theodore Herzl in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897). We ran on the Hatikvah slate organized by the Progressive Israel Network, of which Reconstructing Judaism was a founding member. In principle, the World Zionist Congress is the “parliament of the Jewish people” and a forum for diaspora Jewry to share our views on and hopes for Israel. At this fraught time, it felt
essential for us to forcefully advance our vision of Israel as a Jewish and democratic society; our recognition of the human rights of all its residents; our support for Palestinian national aspirations; our commitment to diplomacy over war; and our hopes for a two-state solution and a just and equitable peace for the region. The World Zionist Congress elections, held every five years, determine political appointments and budget allocations of $5 billion across four Israeli institutions.
We promoted participation in the election intensively to our constituencies, including through multiple emails and the creation of a webinar and two podcasts, one a multigenerational conversation and the other about exercising agency and hope. Our Hatikvah slate won eight seats at the Congress, and our delegation went to Jerusalem last month. I attended the Congress as a delegate, along with leaders from J Street; T’ruah; National Council of Jewish Women; A New Jewish Narrative; Partners for Progressive Israel and others. Rabbi Elliott Tepperman joined us as an alternate, representing both the Reconstructionist movement and J Street in his capacity as a co-chair of their Rabbinic and Cantorial Cabinet, which includes hundreds of Reconstructionist rabbis.
At this fraught time, it felt essential for us to forcefully advance our vision of Israel as a Jewish and democratic society
We and our allies were able to achieve many of the things we fought for, as noted in this article. Together with partners, we passed resolutions advancing a two-state solution and bolstering a democratic, egalitarian and religiously pluralistic Israel, and we defeated others that urged settlement in both the West Bank and Gaza and delegitimized non-Orthodox expressions of Judaism.
As much as possible, Elliott and I tried to bring the Congress to life for people as it was taking place. I was honored to join J Street founder Jeremy Ben-Ami and T’ruah CEO Rabbi Jill Jacobs in offering insights into the inner workings of the World Zionist Congress and the Reconstructionist values driving the Hatikvah Slate in a live podcast on its second day. And Elliott and I recorded two short videos, one after a contentious plenary voting session and another as we boarded a plane home. The Congress was not officially closed as scheduled because of conflict around high staffing appointments, which were the subject of behind-the-scenes negotiations. The slate of leaders was finally announced on November 16, two weeks after formal proceedings concluded.
Political theater aside, this was by far the most substantive and consequential of the four World Zionist Congresses I have attended. I hope and pray and will continue to work to ensure that this outcome represents an inflection point away from extremism and toward conciliation and moderation. May the results of the Congress, along with all those working for peace and justice in every forum, prevail.
