On Wednesday, the convention was offered a look at the strategic planning process that United Synagogue is beginning in partnership with HaYom. Rabbi Michael Siegel of Anshe Emet Synagogue, HaYom’s founder, snowed in at home, spoke to the group from a video monitor (and therefore loomed far larger than life at the front of the room). HaYom, he said, was formed out of a feeling of urgency about the entire Conservative movement, but with the understanding that the first movement institution to be reformed would be United Synagogue. “We came not as outliers but as stakeholders,” Siegel said, adding that the group was a broad-based coalition of synagogue leaders from across the country, representing synagogues of varying sizes and demographics. “Our demands were clear from the start,” he saide; they wanted a strategic plan to be created and implemented, they wanted HaYom to be involved in the planning, and they wanted a professional in charge of the project.
All those demands were met, and the professional, Jack Ukeles, whose name is on a management study done several years ago for us and being implemented now (although he said that he was just one among many people responsible for that report). Ukeles is just about set to start a multiphase plan, described in consultantese, that is set to show first results in about nine months.
Joanne Palmer
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Malcolm Hoenlein on Iran
Like Dalia Itzik on Sunday and Michael Oren on Monday, Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Council of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, highlighted the threat posed by Iran. He is a fiery speaker and he made his point forcefully. Iran, he said poses a threat not only to Israel - and the threat to Israel is undeniable and existential -- but to the region, and to the entire world. The real question, he said, is what this period, the most dangerous the world has faced since the end of World War II, most resembles. Was it 1932? 1939? 1942? How close is the threat? And what will we tell our grandchildren? That we fought back, or that we were too comfortable and in too much denial to bother?
In response to Hoenlein's speech, we urge people -- Zionists, Conservative Jews, and everyone else who lives in this world -- to make their views clear. Here is a letter from our social action and public policy committee leaders. Please read it and follow their suggestions.
Joanne Palmer
---------
Dear Biennial Convention Attendees,
Last night we were privileged to hear Malcolm Hoenlein,executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, speak about a pressing issue facing all of us, an issue that he said is the world's issue - the dangers of a nuclear Iran. As Iran continues to defy the United Nations' demands to halt work on its nuclear enrichment program, we were asked to mobilize as a community, contact our members of Congress, and urge them to support Iran sanctions legislation. We must prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Recent news of Iranian threats to end cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, is deeply troubling. (See articles here,here,and here.)
Congress has moved forward with several key pieces of Iran sanctions legislation. On October 28th, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee overwhelmingly approved the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194). This bill authorizes President Obama to impose sanctions on any entity that provides Iran with refined petroleum resources or engages in activity that could contribute to Iran's ability to import such resources. To view the bill in its entirety, please click here.
On October 29, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs unanimously approved the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2009 (S. 2799). This bill is a combination of IRPSA (described above) and the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, which enables state divestment efforts from companies investing in Iran's energy sector. The bill also would also ban all imports from Iran, strengthen export controls to stop the diversion of sensitive technology to Iran through third countries, and mandate that the president file a report every six months on sanctionable activities.
Now that these bills have passed in committee, they must be brought to the floor in both the House and Senate for full votes.
It is critical that Congress pass legislation that authorizes sanctions specifically aimed at Iran’s nuclear and energy sectors. Iran imports up to 40 percent of its refined petroleum, including gasoline and diesel, and limiting the Iran’ access to such products would have a significant economic effect. The credible threat of such sanctions, combined with similar international efforts, would reinforce American diplomacy aimed at convincing Tehran to revise its nuclear policy.
There are actions you can take, and we strongly encourage you to take them.
Urge your representatives to support the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194) and to encourage House leadership to bring this bill to the floor before the end of the year. You can find their contact information here.
Urge your senators to support the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2009 (S. 2799) and encourage Senate leadership to bring this bill to the floor before the end of the year. That contact information is available here.
We also urge you to get in touch with President Obama, who seems to be wavering in his support of the bill. You can send him email here.
We urge you to get in touch with your elected members of Congress and ask them to vote in favor of this important legislation.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Jack Fein & Rabbi Leonard Gordon, Co-Chairs
Faye Gingold, Director
Public Policy & Social Action Committee
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
In response to Hoenlein's speech, we urge people -- Zionists, Conservative Jews, and everyone else who lives in this world -- to make their views clear. Here is a letter from our social action and public policy committee leaders. Please read it and follow their suggestions.
Joanne Palmer
---------
Dear Biennial Convention Attendees,
Last night we were privileged to hear Malcolm Hoenlein,executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, speak about a pressing issue facing all of us, an issue that he said is the world's issue - the dangers of a nuclear Iran. As Iran continues to defy the United Nations' demands to halt work on its nuclear enrichment program, we were asked to mobilize as a community, contact our members of Congress, and urge them to support Iran sanctions legislation. We must prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Recent news of Iranian threats to end cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, is deeply troubling. (See articles here,here,and here.)
Congress has moved forward with several key pieces of Iran sanctions legislation. On October 28th, the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee overwhelmingly approved the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194). This bill authorizes President Obama to impose sanctions on any entity that provides Iran with refined petroleum resources or engages in activity that could contribute to Iran's ability to import such resources. To view the bill in its entirety, please click here.
On October 29, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs unanimously approved the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2009 (S. 2799). This bill is a combination of IRPSA (described above) and the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act, which enables state divestment efforts from companies investing in Iran's energy sector. The bill also would also ban all imports from Iran, strengthen export controls to stop the diversion of sensitive technology to Iran through third countries, and mandate that the president file a report every six months on sanctionable activities.
Now that these bills have passed in committee, they must be brought to the floor in both the House and Senate for full votes.
It is critical that Congress pass legislation that authorizes sanctions specifically aimed at Iran’s nuclear and energy sectors. Iran imports up to 40 percent of its refined petroleum, including gasoline and diesel, and limiting the Iran’ access to such products would have a significant economic effect. The credible threat of such sanctions, combined with similar international efforts, would reinforce American diplomacy aimed at convincing Tehran to revise its nuclear policy.
There are actions you can take, and we strongly encourage you to take them.
Urge your representatives to support the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194) and to encourage House leadership to bring this bill to the floor before the end of the year. You can find their contact information here.
Urge your senators to support the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2009 (S. 2799) and encourage Senate leadership to bring this bill to the floor before the end of the year. That contact information is available here.
We also urge you to get in touch with President Obama, who seems to be wavering in his support of the bill. You can send him email here.
We urge you to get in touch with your elected members of Congress and ask them to vote in favor of this important legislation.
Thank you for your help.
Dr. Jack Fein & Rabbi Leonard Gordon, Co-Chairs
Faye Gingold, Director
Public Policy & Social Action Committee
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Inclusion
We often talk about inclusion, and being welcoming, and reaching out, but we’re not so good at putting those happy clichés into action. And there often are good – or at least deeply human – reasons for that. People who are unlike us often scare us, and even when we are not frightened often we’re lazy. Reaching out takes work.
On Tuesday afternoon, members of a panel hosted by Joel Baker, our Pacific Southwest executive director, talked about specific differences, how it is that people feel as if they are outside the community, and ways to understand that as we work to bring them in.
Rabbi Steven Greenberg of Clal, who perhaps is best known for his part in the enormously influential documentary film Trembling Before G-d, led the session, beginning by teaching texts about inclusion. He began with Abraham, sitting in the doorway of his tent and welcoming in strangers. That tent is the opposite of Sodom, he said, which is the equivalent of a gated community, open only to people who are like each other.
David Levy of Keshet, a Boston-based organization devoted to creating inclusion for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Jews, who grew up as an active Conservative Jew and USYer, said that it was hard establishing an identity as a young observant Jew, much less as a gay one. No matter how us versus them anyone might feel, he said, remember that we are all us. Always assume that someone in the room, any room, is touched by the issue, and remember that symbolic actions matter and concrete actions matter as well. Be careful about language. School forms don’t have to say mother or father; parent/parent works better. Consider cosponsoring events with glbt organizations. Provide a gender-neutral bathroom. Establish a permanent committee to address issues of inclusion, not an ad hoc one. These and other such actions are powerful signals or real support.
Shelley Kaplan, the chair of United Synagogue’s Commission on Disabilities, began by pointing out that although it is not unusual for sessions like this one to be held, usually they are tacked on at the end, when people already are thinking of packing up and heading home. She talked about some of the architectural solutions available, mentioned the resources available on our website, and urged people to create and share more of them.
Lacey Schwartz, the New York director of B’chol Lashon, said that she never looked exactly like the rest of her Ashkenazi family but she never knew why; when people would ask her about her exotic background she’d have no idea what they were talking about. It wasn’t until she was 18, when her parents split, that she learned that her biological father with a black man with whom her mother had had a relationship. In college she explored her black identity; it wasn’t until much later that she was able to begin to integrate the two parts of her being. “Our real goal is to build a global Jewish identity that encompasses all pieces of who we are,” she said. “Wat we really want to do is put out substantive content and encourage conversation about each other, so we all feel like part of the Jewish community.”
United Synagogue's Rabbi Moshe Edelman, who wrote our guide to keruv, or outreach, Al Ha Derekh (On the Path), also talked about how important it is not only to reach out but to welcome actively.
Joanne Palmer
On Tuesday afternoon, members of a panel hosted by Joel Baker, our Pacific Southwest executive director, talked about specific differences, how it is that people feel as if they are outside the community, and ways to understand that as we work to bring them in.
Rabbi Steven Greenberg of Clal, who perhaps is best known for his part in the enormously influential documentary film Trembling Before G-d, led the session, beginning by teaching texts about inclusion. He began with Abraham, sitting in the doorway of his tent and welcoming in strangers. That tent is the opposite of Sodom, he said, which is the equivalent of a gated community, open only to people who are like each other.
David Levy of Keshet, a Boston-based organization devoted to creating inclusion for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Jews, who grew up as an active Conservative Jew and USYer, said that it was hard establishing an identity as a young observant Jew, much less as a gay one. No matter how us versus them anyone might feel, he said, remember that we are all us. Always assume that someone in the room, any room, is touched by the issue, and remember that symbolic actions matter and concrete actions matter as well. Be careful about language. School forms don’t have to say mother or father; parent/parent works better. Consider cosponsoring events with glbt organizations. Provide a gender-neutral bathroom. Establish a permanent committee to address issues of inclusion, not an ad hoc one. These and other such actions are powerful signals or real support.
Shelley Kaplan, the chair of United Synagogue’s Commission on Disabilities, began by pointing out that although it is not unusual for sessions like this one to be held, usually they are tacked on at the end, when people already are thinking of packing up and heading home. She talked about some of the architectural solutions available, mentioned the resources available on our website, and urged people to create and share more of them.
Lacey Schwartz, the New York director of B’chol Lashon, said that she never looked exactly like the rest of her Ashkenazi family but she never knew why; when people would ask her about her exotic background she’d have no idea what they were talking about. It wasn’t until she was 18, when her parents split, that she learned that her biological father with a black man with whom her mother had had a relationship. In college she explored her black identity; it wasn’t until much later that she was able to begin to integrate the two parts of her being. “Our real goal is to build a global Jewish identity that encompasses all pieces of who we are,” she said. “Wat we really want to do is put out substantive content and encourage conversation about each other, so we all feel like part of the Jewish community.”
United Synagogue's Rabbi Moshe Edelman, who wrote our guide to keruv, or outreach, Al Ha Derekh (On the Path), also talked about how important it is not only to reach out but to welcome actively.
Joanne Palmer
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Bylaws Pass!
On Monday afternoon, the delegates to the convention -- people whose synagogues had named them as representatives to this meeting -- met to discuss United Synagogue's proposed new bylaws. At the last board of trustees meeting, held in September, the board had voted to accept them, but they had to be ratified by the convention.
After a powerpoint display (which will be posted soon) and a short, civil discussion, the convention voted overwhelmingly to accept the new bylaws, and the work of transforming United Synagogue took another step forward.
After a powerpoint display (which will be posted soon) and a short, civil discussion, the convention voted overwhelmingly to accept the new bylaws, and the work of transforming United Synagogue took another step forward.
six13
On Wednesday night, after the installation and the cantor’s concert, we will hear music from six13, a six-man Jewish a cappella group, that, “fueled by a strong Jewish identity and anchored by thumping beatbox, intricate arrangements, and soulful harmonies … brings an unprecedented style of Jewish music to the stage. With songs ranging from hip-hop dance tracks to rock anthems, the members of the New York-based group sound like a full band while using nothing but their voices.”
Everyone at the convention is invited!
Everyone at the convention is invited!
Ambassador Michael Oren
Next, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, talked to us at breakfast. He stood at the podium, and a young Israel security guard (he look to be about 12 but probably wasn’t) in a oversized black suit, stood close by, eyes constantly scanning the crowed. He warmed us up – and he is a charming man, smart, quick-witted, and direct – but telling us that he comes from New Jersey and grew up in USY. His region, Galil, held its kinnus in Washington, DC, every year, and in 1971, when he was 15, the speaker was Israel’s ambassador to the United States. “We stood up on our chairs and screamed and sang and clapped until our hands were raw, and I thought then that was what I wanted to do when I grew up,” he said, adding that the ambassador then was Yizhak Rabin. Oren was working for Rabin when he was assassinated.
He talked about his own religious faith, which he compared to Einstein’s; the great scientist wrote in 1936 that the eternal mystery of the world is that it is measurable, not random, in response to younger scientists who saw no evidence of anything except chaos. The speed of light is so precise, he said, that it is unlikely to be accidental, and therefore the God whose existence is proven by the speed of light is a God with time to spend on detail, and that also is a God of history. (No doubt his argument is more elaborate and persuasive than this; it was breakfast, after all.) And if there is a God of history that “leads us to assume that there is a reason why 3,000 years ago this obscure group of nomads came up with the extraordinary ideas of one God and universal morality. There is a reason to believe that these people were given a land, and why these people, bound by faith, longed to return to that land from exile… Although thoroughly assimilated and not connected to his Jewish roots, Einstein came down on the side of God of the Jews.” He became a Zionist.
Israel is now in a better situation than ever before, he said, although that seems counterintuitive. It is safer. But “in recent years the moral struggle has become much harder. Our enemies no longer wear uniforms. Instead they hide among civilians. Israel must defend itself but when it does so increasingly it finds itself condemned for crimes against humanity.” The terms of the debate are changing – increasingly it is over whether Israel has the right or even the need to defend itself; over whether a Jewish state should exist at all. This debate has seeded doubt about Israel’s legitimacy around the world, even among some Israelis, particularly young Israelis. The answer, he said, is to remind people of how many times over the last 80 years that Israel has accepted the idea of a two-state solution, only to have it rejected, often with violence. “We say that the Palestinians have the right to a homeland. We are looking for Palestinian leaders who say the Jews have the right to a homeland and we can’t find any.”
The other existential threat Israel faces, he said, echoing Dahlia Itzik, is from Iran, which funds and undergirds Hamas and Hezbollah.
What we can do, he said – and it is both all that we can do and what we must do – is support Israel, remember that we all are connected to each other and look out for each other, and that the God who has kept us together for 3,000 years in the end will continue to do so.
The first question he took was about the situation with Women of the Wall; as perhaps might be (but naively wasn’t – at least by me) expected it was party line. It was an unfortunate incident, he said, but over-reported and misunderstood. The women were not where they belonged, at Robinson’s Arch; if they hadn’t tried to something against the rules at the Kotel, which from time immemorial had been an Orthodox shul, nothing would have happened. We have to accommodate both tradition and pluralism, and it’s a work in progress. As he spoke, an audible sigh moved through the room. Something, something intangible, broke.
The next question was about J Street. A synagogue president reported that he was under great pressure from one faction in his shul to invite J Street, while another faction strongly opposed it. J Street is significantly out of the mainstream, Oren answered; it opposes all of Israel’s government policies, and Obama’s as well. “When it comes to the survival of the Jewish state, there should be no difference of opinion,” he said. “When you are fooling around with the lives of 7 million people it is no joke.” You can invite them, he said, but prepare well.
Joanne Palmer
He talked about his own religious faith, which he compared to Einstein’s; the great scientist wrote in 1936 that the eternal mystery of the world is that it is measurable, not random, in response to younger scientists who saw no evidence of anything except chaos. The speed of light is so precise, he said, that it is unlikely to be accidental, and therefore the God whose existence is proven by the speed of light is a God with time to spend on detail, and that also is a God of history. (No doubt his argument is more elaborate and persuasive than this; it was breakfast, after all.) And if there is a God of history that “leads us to assume that there is a reason why 3,000 years ago this obscure group of nomads came up with the extraordinary ideas of one God and universal morality. There is a reason to believe that these people were given a land, and why these people, bound by faith, longed to return to that land from exile… Although thoroughly assimilated and not connected to his Jewish roots, Einstein came down on the side of God of the Jews.” He became a Zionist.
Israel is now in a better situation than ever before, he said, although that seems counterintuitive. It is safer. But “in recent years the moral struggle has become much harder. Our enemies no longer wear uniforms. Instead they hide among civilians. Israel must defend itself but when it does so increasingly it finds itself condemned for crimes against humanity.” The terms of the debate are changing – increasingly it is over whether Israel has the right or even the need to defend itself; over whether a Jewish state should exist at all. This debate has seeded doubt about Israel’s legitimacy around the world, even among some Israelis, particularly young Israelis. The answer, he said, is to remind people of how many times over the last 80 years that Israel has accepted the idea of a two-state solution, only to have it rejected, often with violence. “We say that the Palestinians have the right to a homeland. We are looking for Palestinian leaders who say the Jews have the right to a homeland and we can’t find any.”
The other existential threat Israel faces, he said, echoing Dahlia Itzik, is from Iran, which funds and undergirds Hamas and Hezbollah.
What we can do, he said – and it is both all that we can do and what we must do – is support Israel, remember that we all are connected to each other and look out for each other, and that the God who has kept us together for 3,000 years in the end will continue to do so.
The first question he took was about the situation with Women of the Wall; as perhaps might be (but naively wasn’t – at least by me) expected it was party line. It was an unfortunate incident, he said, but over-reported and misunderstood. The women were not where they belonged, at Robinson’s Arch; if they hadn’t tried to something against the rules at the Kotel, which from time immemorial had been an Orthodox shul, nothing would have happened. We have to accommodate both tradition and pluralism, and it’s a work in progress. As he spoke, an audible sigh moved through the room. Something, something intangible, broke.
The next question was about J Street. A synagogue president reported that he was under great pressure from one faction in his shul to invite J Street, while another faction strongly opposed it. J Street is significantly out of the mainstream, Oren answered; it opposes all of Israel’s government policies, and Obama’s as well. “When it comes to the survival of the Jewish state, there should be no difference of opinion,” he said. “When you are fooling around with the lives of 7 million people it is no joke.” You can invite them, he said, but prepare well.
Joanne Palmer
Monday, December 7, 2009
Rabbi Artson's D'var Torah
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, gave the dvar Torah this morning.
He was blunt. It is necessary to hit bottom before you can rise, he said, as Joseph finds in this week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev, when his brothers throw him down into a pit before they sell him into slavery in Egypt. As a movement, we find ourselves at the bottom of a pit too. We are trying to scramble up its sides, back into daylight, using the methods that used to work for us, appealing to ethnicity, denominational loyalty, even the need for plain survival, but none of these appeals works because we have become too free to need them. Yes, we must survive, but why?
We must survive, as Jews but not only as Jews; if our questions and their answers are not universal they are not worth asking or answering.
But – and of course in divrai Torah there always is a but -- to be empty is to full of no thing. In the chasidic tradition, rak, emptiness, is a name for God, for God, after all, is no thing. When Joseph was at the bottom of the pit that was full of nothing, it was also filled with potential, which is nothing yet. We can see the emptiness not only as an overwhelming fact but as an invitation to walk, Rabbi Artson said.
Joanne Palmer
He was blunt. It is necessary to hit bottom before you can rise, he said, as Joseph finds in this week’s Torah portion, Vayeshev, when his brothers throw him down into a pit before they sell him into slavery in Egypt. As a movement, we find ourselves at the bottom of a pit too. We are trying to scramble up its sides, back into daylight, using the methods that used to work for us, appealing to ethnicity, denominational loyalty, even the need for plain survival, but none of these appeals works because we have become too free to need them. Yes, we must survive, but why?
We must survive, as Jews but not only as Jews; if our questions and their answers are not universal they are not worth asking or answering.
But – and of course in divrai Torah there always is a but -- to be empty is to full of no thing. In the chasidic tradition, rak, emptiness, is a name for God, for God, after all, is no thing. When Joseph was at the bottom of the pit that was full of nothing, it was also filled with potential, which is nothing yet. We can see the emptiness not only as an overwhelming fact but as an invitation to walk, Rabbi Artson said.
Joanne Palmer
Rabbi Steven Wernick
Last night, Rabbi Steven Wernick was installed as our new executive vice president and CEO. This was the first such installation in 23 years; there were a few people in the room who had been there for the last one but their memories of the event were hazy, so basically it was a new ritual for a new time.
Steve was introduced by Dr. Raymond Goldstein, our outgoing (in both senses of the word) international president, who also chaired the search committee that selected him. His mentor, Rabbi Steven Lindemann of Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill -- basically his professional father -- and Rabbi Eugene Wernick, another mentor and role model and also his actual father -- introduced him, both with emotion and pride, and Rabbi Lindemann draped him with a new United Synagogue tallit and blessed him as parents bless their children with the priestly blessing.
Then Rabbi Wernick, still in the finely woven tallit with the burgandy stripes and his name in silver on the atara, gave his talk (which will be up on our website in an hour or two). Weaving the theme of Chanukah, when the Maccabbees faced despair, saw an opportunity, took risks, and won, saving Judaism for all of us, their descendants, throughout, he talked about the risks we must take to remain relevant. As a firm believer in Conservative Judaism, with its unique ability to fuse tradition, ancient wisdom, and modern understandings of the world and we who live in it, he is working hard to devise new ways to convey that understanding to people less committed to it than he. He has been touring the United States and Canada, listening to synagogue professional and lay leaders, listening to their desires and their discontents, and he is using this information to plan for our future.
His talk earned him an ovation; the energy in the room -- which was packed, with overflow into the hall and people peering in from odd angles, all that were left -- pulsing. Afterward people went on for dessert and dancing, and talking talking talking. All that talking made people thirsty but the bar closed at 11, minutes after the program ended. What's the deal with that, Crowne Plaza Hotel?
Joanne Palmer
Steve was introduced by Dr. Raymond Goldstein, our outgoing (in both senses of the word) international president, who also chaired the search committee that selected him. His mentor, Rabbi Steven Lindemann of Temple Beth Sholom in Cherry Hill -- basically his professional father -- and Rabbi Eugene Wernick, another mentor and role model and also his actual father -- introduced him, both with emotion and pride, and Rabbi Lindemann draped him with a new United Synagogue tallit and blessed him as parents bless their children with the priestly blessing.
Then Rabbi Wernick, still in the finely woven tallit with the burgandy stripes and his name in silver on the atara, gave his talk (which will be up on our website in an hour or two). Weaving the theme of Chanukah, when the Maccabbees faced despair, saw an opportunity, took risks, and won, saving Judaism for all of us, their descendants, throughout, he talked about the risks we must take to remain relevant. As a firm believer in Conservative Judaism, with its unique ability to fuse tradition, ancient wisdom, and modern understandings of the world and we who live in it, he is working hard to devise new ways to convey that understanding to people less committed to it than he. He has been touring the United States and Canada, listening to synagogue professional and lay leaders, listening to their desires and their discontents, and he is using this information to plan for our future.
His talk earned him an ovation; the energy in the room -- which was packed, with overflow into the hall and people peering in from odd angles, all that were left -- pulsing. Afterward people went on for dessert and dancing, and talking talking talking. All that talking made people thirsty but the bar closed at 11, minutes after the program ended. What's the deal with that, Crowne Plaza Hotel?
Joanne Palmer
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Itzik Speaks
This afternoon, MK Dalia Itzik, who was Israel's first female Knesset speaker, talked to us, a rich full voice in richly accented English. She praised the Conservative movement, including of course its Masorti branch in Israel, as a deeply necessary bridge over the chasm that separates haredim from secular Jews in Israel. She praised the movement in ways that were specific and therefore seemed entirely real. But, she said, neither we nor the Reform movement have political power in Israel, and therefore we will continue to be powerless.
"If Israel wants to remain a lighthouse and anchor for the Jewish world, we must find a way for all the major streams in Jewish life to be represented," she said. "I fully believe that we must find a way to mend the rift and unite the Jewish world, as we have done in the past."
The main threat to Israel's continued existence, she said, is Iran, which has been responsible for arming Israel's enemies and feeding its terrorists the poison on which they thrive. Israel must find moderates among the Palestinians, in Jordan and in Egypt, with whom they can make common cause against the danger Iran poses to everyone, in the region and outside it. "You must find a way to raise your voices against Iran," she said. "The biggest threat to us is Iran, Iran, and again Iran."
To add to the inherent gloom of her description was how closely it echoed what we were told by Sallai Meridor, then Israel's ambassador to the United States, at our 2007 convention.
Still, she said, "I remain optimistic. Israel is a true miracle, a Jewish democratic island in a sea of Arab lands, a country rich in achivement, in high tech, biotech, medicine, science, agriculture, industrial research, and so many other fields. All this has been built with your help and your support. Thank you so much for this, for all of us who created this amazing living Zionist dream."
Joanne Palmer
"If Israel wants to remain a lighthouse and anchor for the Jewish world, we must find a way for all the major streams in Jewish life to be represented," she said. "I fully believe that we must find a way to mend the rift and unite the Jewish world, as we have done in the past."
The main threat to Israel's continued existence, she said, is Iran, which has been responsible for arming Israel's enemies and feeding its terrorists the poison on which they thrive. Israel must find moderates among the Palestinians, in Jordan and in Egypt, with whom they can make common cause against the danger Iran poses to everyone, in the region and outside it. "You must find a way to raise your voices against Iran," she said. "The biggest threat to us is Iran, Iran, and again Iran."
To add to the inherent gloom of her description was how closely it echoed what we were told by Sallai Meridor, then Israel's ambassador to the United States, at our 2007 convention.
Still, she said, "I remain optimistic. Israel is a true miracle, a Jewish democratic island in a sea of Arab lands, a country rich in achivement, in high tech, biotech, medicine, science, agriculture, industrial research, and so many other fields. All this has been built with your help and your support. Thank you so much for this, for all of us who created this amazing living Zionist dream."
Joanne Palmer
Welcome to Cherry Hill
So here we are in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, getting ready for the convention. Yesterday it snowed here on the east coast, huge fat white snowflakes that fluttered down from a silver sky. But today it's dry and warm. It's a good day to travel.
Lots of people, it seems, have taken the opportunity to get here. I don't know how many people are here, but the lines snaking from the reception counter seem to go on for miles. No one seems to mind, though; people are standing there talking to each other. There's none of the fumes that generally steam off lines are there. Just lots and lots of talking.
The convention starts at four o'clock, and you will be able to read about it here, on this blog. We will be looking seriously at the issues that affect the Conservative movement in general and United Synagogue in particular. The convention will open with performances, many of them by children and teenagers; the first formal talk with by from Rabbi Steven Wernick as he is formally installed (and no, installation does not entail standing with your hands above your head as you are twisted into the socket in the ceiling). Instead, Steve, who is our new executive vice president and CEO, will talk about his dreams for the movement. He will not short-shrift the problems we face, either. That is not his style.
The hotel lobby is pulsing with kids now. They're ready to go.
Joanne Palmer
Lots of people, it seems, have taken the opportunity to get here. I don't know how many people are here, but the lines snaking from the reception counter seem to go on for miles. No one seems to mind, though; people are standing there talking to each other. There's none of the fumes that generally steam off lines are there. Just lots and lots of talking.
The convention starts at four o'clock, and you will be able to read about it here, on this blog. We will be looking seriously at the issues that affect the Conservative movement in general and United Synagogue in particular. The convention will open with performances, many of them by children and teenagers; the first formal talk with by from Rabbi Steven Wernick as he is formally installed (and no, installation does not entail standing with your hands above your head as you are twisted into the socket in the ceiling). Instead, Steve, who is our new executive vice president and CEO, will talk about his dreams for the movement. He will not short-shrift the problems we face, either. That is not his style.
The hotel lobby is pulsing with kids now. They're ready to go.
Joanne Palmer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
