T. Belman. INN just announced Reform Movement Out on Top in World Zionist Congress Elections
Reform movement takes 40% of American delegates’ seats as Conservative, Modern-Orthodox slip; two new parties represented.
The Reform Movement backs the Association of Reform Zionists of America which stands for strengthening of the people-hood of the Jews “in order to allow Jews to be free and liberated citizens of the world while also contributing to a global civilization as Jews.”
Not a word about promoting the return to Zion or the establishment of Israel as the nation state of the Jews. Its all about making Israelis embrace Reform Judaism’s progressive values. This is what it is all about. Its not about the ingathering of the exiles or strengthening the state. Read about it below.
ARZA (pronounced AHR-tzah) is a pretty clever name. It’s a Hebrew word meaning “toward the Land (of Israel),” and it’s also an acronym for the Association of Reform Zionists of America. ARZA is the national membership organization that connects Reform Jews with Israel. But what does the name mean? What is a Reform Zionist? And what’s a Zionist to begin with?
Reform Zionism is the logical continuation of that early Zionist Revolution which sought to restore the meaning of Jewish peoplehood to the Jewish people by recreating a living, breathing national culture in order to allow Jews to be free and liberated citizens of the world while also contributing to a global civilization as Jews. This primary objective has been only partially achieved, and as such, Reform Zionism, as an ideology created after the establishment of the state, is primarily concerned with the nature of Jewish contribution to civilization. It views itself as an inheritor of the prophetic tradition of the Jewish people – seeking to create a people devoted to justice and the creation of a more complete world.
Reform Zionists are actively engaged in creating a new and authentically Israeli expression of Judaism as an alternative to the Orthodox establishment. We are well aware that the polarizing dichotomy of Religious vs. Secular no longer answers the needs of mainstream Israelis. Now, close to a century and a half since the inception of Zionism, more and more Israeli Jews are examining what it means to have a Jewish identity. Many Israelis are also asking big spiritual, moral, historical and religious questions. So who do we want to provide them with answers? Who do we want to teach the next generation of Israeli Jews about what it means to be Jewish? What makes our state Jewish is not merely demographic majority; rather, that its character and behavior are “Jewish.”
We, as Reform Jews and Zionists, are continuing to change the status quo as it is currently unsatisfactory and does not meet our needs. This is ultimately about individuals and saying that we matter, and who we are as Jews cannot be qualified as lesser or more.
A Zionist is a proponent of Zionism, a movement founded in the late 19th century to create a Jewish homeland in the land of Israel, then known as Palestine. But that goal of Zionism was fulfilled in May 1948, with the declaration of Israel’s independence. Since then, most people understand Zionism as a movement that supports Israel and works to make Israel the best, most ideal Jewish State that it can be.
Reform Zionism is Zionism infused with the values and principles cherished by Reform Judaism, including religious equality for women and men, a commitment to tikkun olam, and the creation by individuals of meaningful Jewish lives through informed choice and interpretation.
In its inception, Reform Judaism was not a Zionist movement since Jewish nationalism seemed to conflict with the universalistic ideology of the early Reform movement. However, with the establishment of the State of Israel, many Reform Jews saw a need for a Jewish national home in the Land of Israel.
In 1978, ARZA began working to conceptualize a Zionism that took the universalistic ideals of Reform Judaism, as well as the particular needs of all Jewish people, into account.
In 1997, ARZA significantly shifted thinking regarding the acceptability of Zionism within the Reform Movement through the acceptance of the Miami Platform of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR).
The Miami Platform makes the distinction between Medinat Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. The platform says, in part:
“During two millennia of dispersion and persecution, Am Yisrael [people of Israel] never abandoned hope for the rebirth of a national home in Eretz Yisrael. The Shoah [Holocaust] intensified our resolve to affirm life and pursue the Zionist dream of a return to Eretz Yisrael. Even as we mourned for the loss of one-third of our people, we witnessed the miraculous rebirth of Medinat Yisrael, the Jewish people’s supreme creation in our age.
Centuries of Jewish persecution, culminating in the Shoah, demonstrated the risks of powerlessness. We, therefore, affirm Am Yisrael’s reassertion of national sovereignty, but we urge that it be used to create the kind of society in which full civil, human, and religious rights exist for all its citizens. Ultimately, Medinat Yisrael will be judged not on its military might but on its character.”
While we view Eretz Yisrael as sacred, the sanctity of Jewish life takes precedence over the sanctity of Jewish land.
Within these parameters, Reform Zionist thinkers share a variety of opinions regarding the details and philosophies of Reform Zionism. One can get a sense of the range of views by looking at “An Open Conversation About Reform Zionism,” a project initiated by ARZA in the spring of 2008. So give it some thought, and join the conversation!
A helpful historical reference: URJ Resolution on Reform Zionism
@ Bert:
I do not think reform are trying to impose anything.
The Reform movement tries to impose its watered down Judaism on the Jewish majority. It is mostly missing in action in defending Jewish rights and opposing anti-Semitism. The so-called Reform movement is too quick to re-write the Torah to suit leftist social values. This is what happens when Jewish education is given too low a priority.