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This has been a hard week for me, maybe it was the glorious weather ended by a sudden blizzard. Maybe it was the restarting of the war in Gaza. Maybe it was the Justice Department ignoring a Judge's order with regards to deportations. There was a lot of bad news this week and I found it frankly, overwhelming. So, I decided, it is small, such a tiny thing, but I will speak about one tiny thing I can do that might help in building a world I want to see. I will speak about the election for the WZO. It’s nothing, it changes nothing. It won’t turn back the clock of climate, or rights, or life lost in war and terror; yet it is something I can do (small as it might seem). 

I cannot vote in Israeli elections, and if my American track record were to hold, the person I voted for wouldn’t win anyway. But every 5 years, since 1897, an organization of the Jews of the world come together to vote on priorities. Its not the Prime Minister, or the chief of the IDF, its not even a seat at the Knesset, but this organization has over 1 billion dollars to spread around to various organizations in Israel, and my vote helps determine where those dollars are spent.  

My vote can help send dollars to ensuring Israel is more democratic, more pluralistic, more egalitarian and more equitable. There are other voters voting for the opposite, so I do believe I can make a difference.  

I chose to “Vote Reform.” There are 20 platforms to vote on, and there are more than one which espouse similar values I would like to see. I believe the Reform movement already has infrastructure on the ground in Israel to be more successful in sustaining the progress I desire. So, what does the Reform platform stand for? 

• Advocate that the government of Israel does everything in its power to maintain the ceasefire and return all hostages. 

• To fight for government recognition and societal acceptance of the many diverse expressions of Jewish religious identity as legitimate and equal under the law. 

• Support government policy and societal initiatives that pursue a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians through a Two-State outcome. 

• Influence National Institutions to support a strong shared society and democratic civil society in Israel 

• Curb funding for and prevent the de facto/de jure annexation of the West Bank or the resettlement of Gaza. 

Some of the platforms I am voting against espouse a very different view for the future of Israel, and would direct money in ways that are anathema to the direction I would like Israel to move in. For example, the Israel365 Action platform states:  

Stand for Judea & Samaria: The “land for peace” delusion must end. October 7th proved what we’ve always known: a Palestinian state in our biblical heartland would become a terrorist breeding ground threatening Israel’s existence. The entire Land of Israel is the eternal homeland of the Jewish people—this isn’t politics, it’s truth. Israel365 Action will fight to end discrimination against Jews in Judea and Samaria, redirect funding to strengthen these communities, and proudly educate Jews worldwide about their heritage in these sacred places. No more apologies, no more appeasement. 

The ZOA coalition slate states they will: 

• Globalize and Promote Jewish Safety and Aliyah 

• Combat Antisemitism and BDS 

• Defend the Jewish people’s legal, historic, and God given rights to Israel-Jerusalem-Judea-Samaria 

• Reject the creation of a Palestinian Arab terror state 

• Support Israel’s courageous soldiers and their efforts to achieve victory 

• Confront anti-Israel bias at the UN 

• Rebuild Jewish communities in decimated, evacuated areas and Judea/Samaria 

• Respect Jewish faith, values, and traditions of all the Jewish people 

• Strengthen Jewish and Zionist Education is Israel and the Diaspora. 

ZOA and Israel365 have a special focus on Judea-Samaria, also known as the West Bank, in opposition to a pullback which might lead to a future Palestinian State. Let me be clear, I don’t know if that state will come to be, I know that Israelis are even less inclined to try at this moment than at any time in the previous 30 years since Oslo was signed. While the Reform Platform speaks of strengthening Democratic and Civil society, which includes the equal rights of non-Jewish citizens of Israel, none of these platforms speak directly to question of Palestinians who are not citizens of Israel, other than the potentiality of a Palestinian State. It may be that none of these platforms are perfect in balancing all the needs of an Israeli society, or my American Jewish wishes for it. But there are directions this money could go towards that I would find untenable, and directions that I would be very happy to support. I hope you will consider voting Reform with me, and helping support the democratic and civil, egalitarian society promised in the declaration of independence but never fully realized.  

Yet, I want to elevate something I have not yet said. And that is the “Z” word. So far I mentioned, voting in the WZC, and what this voting might mean for non-profit organizations in Israel, and the direction of where money will be spent, but I have not defined this acronym, and I have not talked about why Jews around the world are invited to this table to begin with. The word is Zionist, the World Zionist congress, the vote is being sponsored by the American Zionist Movement. That’s a lot of the Z world all at once. Why am I uncomfortable using Zionist, even as I have spoken many times about Israel, supporting Israel, critiquing actions of Israel’s government, the history of Israel. Yet Israel and Zionism are of a core mission, and I feel a desire to avoid mentioning Zionism.  

The word Zionism has been fully lionized into something evil, As the spray-paint on our building states, there are people who associate Zionism with Nazism, can you get a better understanding of it as evil than this? But what does Zionism mean? 

First, I want to name that we should really be speaking about Zionisms, as there has never been only one view, there have been Zionisms that were: secular, religious, communist, revisionist, personal, nationalistic…and everything in between since the time of Herzel and his famous dream. So, I will share the definition of the Zionism adopted by the WZO which enables one to vote in this election. It’s called the Jerusalem Program 

The Jerusalem Program 

Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, brought about the establishment of the state of Israel, and views a Jewish, Zionist, Democratic and secure State of Israel to be the expression of the common responsibility of the Jewish people for its continuity and future. 
 
The foundations of Zionism are: 
 

• The unity of the Jewish people, its bond to its historic homeland Eretz Yisrael, and the centrality of the State of Israel and Jerusalem, its capital, in the life of the nation. 

• Aliyah to Israel from all countries and the effective integration of all immigrants into Israeli society. 

• Strengthening Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state and shaping it as an exemplary society with a unique moral and spiritual character, marked by mutual respect for the multi-faceted Jewish people, rooted in the vision of the prophets, striving for peace and contributing to the betterment of the world. 

• Ensuring the future and the distinctiveness of the Jewish people by furthering Jewish, Hebrew and Zionist education, fostering spiritual and cultural values and teaching Hebrew as the national language; 

• Nurturing mutual Jewish responsibility, defending the rights of Jews as individuals as a nation, representing the national Zionist interests of the Jewish people, and struggling against all manifestations of anti-Semitism; 

• Settling the country as an expression of practical Zionism 

• Encouraging recruitment and service in the Israel Defense Forces and the security forces and strengthening them as the protective force of the Jewish people living in Zion, as well as encouraging full National Service for anyone exempted in law from service in the IDF. 

I am a supporter of Israel, I believe in her right to exist as a Jewish and Democratic State, a homeland for the Jewish People, with a right to self-defense. I also believe that out of love for Isarel, and love for the Jewish people I have the right to criticize and even try to change the direction of Israeli policy when her democracy is not living up to its promises. I believe we Jewish people are responsible for one another, not because we are more important than the lives of non-Jewish humans, but because if we do not care for each other, no one else will elevate our interests. All of these beliefs make me a Zionist, yet the last time I used that word to describe myself, it shut down the conversation, I was no longer viewed as rational and compassionate, but as an evil label. I have become uncomfortable with the word, a word much older than the state of Israel, a word much older than Jews having the power to protect themselves or to kill Palestinians. A word which described a dream for our own survival and self-actualization.  

When I avoid the word Zionist in describing my support and connection and love of Israel, I have allowed those who believe it to be Nazism to own the definition. There are indeed Zionists I disagree with, who I would not want to own the definition, and there are Zionists who share my visions for Israel. So I invite you, if you are comfortable with the word Zionist, define what it means to you, do you support the Jerusalem program? Please go vote for the platform that envisions your desires for Israel. Are you uncomfortable with the world Zionist? Why? Whose definition are you basing that discomfort on? Do you define yourself as an anti-Zionist? Why? Is it the actions of Israel, or a connection with the rest of the Jewish people? Is your Zionism focused only on Palestinian liberation? What is the place and future of the 7 million Jews living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea? Learning about and confronting the realities of Palestinian life, narrative and nationalism, does not necessitate the negation of Zionism, it necessitates learning more, thinking deeply, and understanding the very real human conflict of these conflicting narratives. Negating one does not solve the problem any more than negating the other. What is your Zionism? Can we redefine it for ourselves and become more comfortable with the Z word? 

So for one last time, I implore you to vote in the WZC (you have until May 4), read up on the platforms, pick one that helps envision an Israel you are proud to support, and vote. I voted Reform, I hope you will consider joining me.  

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Watch the entirety of Friday’s service here.

Temple Talk is a recap of sermons given from the Bimah for those who missed a Sermon or who wanted to revisit the words spoken at a previous sermon.