You Can Make A Difference for Reform Values in Israel

You Can Make A Difference for Reform Values in Israel: WZC Elections: JUNE 5 – 15, 2025

We all know that Israel is facing a difficult time. In recent weeks, dangerous actions by Israel’s government have clearly crossed red lines, undermining Israel’s social and political foundations by advancing judicial overhaul, renewing the fighting in Gaza, and neglecting the fate of the hostages. In the words of the leader of our Reform Movement in Israel, the current extremist coalition in Israel has chosen power over people.

In this time of crisis, true leadership is emerging from within Israeli society. Citizens with moral clarity are rising up and taking to the streets to defend democracy and Israel’s future. Every Saturday evening for over two years, upwards of a hundred thousand Israelis have invested their time and effort to protest in the streets. They protest government policies that attack Israel’s democracy, give preferential treatment to the ultra-Orthodox and, more recently, give priority to war over the return of hostages. The Reform Movement has become a vital and growing voice in Israeli society, shaping a Jewish future rooted in democracy, pluralism and global connection.

This is the leadership Israel so urgently needs from within. However, most Canadian Jews are not aware that Israel’s Reform Movement is at the forefront of working to counter the crisis. They’re developing a strategy for the role of the Reform Movement in rebuilding the country, defending democracy and advancing a just and inclusive vision of Judaism. To save the soul of the Jewish state from religious and nationalist extremism. To create a society with room for all. We are passionately invested in a Zionism that creates and sustains an Israel that is both Jewish and democratic and is a free society that upholds equality of religion, gender, race, and ethnicity.

About 430,000 Israelis identify themselves as Reform Jews. Over 70% of secular Israelis prefer synagogues without a gender partition. And 40% of Israelis believe that Israel should take global Jewish perspective into account on matters of religion and state.

If there has been one question I have been asked repeatedly ever since October 7th, 2023, that question has been, “What can I do?” How can I make a difference regarding the direction Israel will take with its democracy, its security, and its commitments to pluralism and peace. The answer to “what can I do?” has never been clearer than it is right now. For this is the season of the World Zionist Congress election.

The World Zionist Congress is the Parliament of the Jewish people. The WZC convenes every five years to bring together representatives from Jewish communities around the world to decide on key issues affecting the Jewish people in Israel and globally. The worldwide Jewish community will elect delegates to represent them in Israel to vote to disperse more than $5 billion of funds over the coming years to represent the values of those who are elected.

There are about 500 seats in this global congress of the Jewish people. About two-thirds are designated for Jews in the Diaspora. The ultra-Orthodox are rallying their small, vocal extreme base on a platform of silencing the core values of Reform Judaism – equality, acceptance, tolerance for all Jews. They seek to: Strip Israeli Reform clergy and communities of their rights and funding, Reject Reform and Conservative conversions and question the authenticity of our children’s Jewish identity; Increase and misuse funding for West Bank expansion; Demand gender segregation in Israeli society; Roll-back gains for religious pluralism, gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights; Undermine democracy; and advance anti-democratic, racist policies.

Our ultra-Orthodox opponents have pledged to get a large number of votes, with the intention of de-funding Israeli Reform and Conservative Judaism and turning back the clock on Israeli democracy, pluralism and peace. They will win if good people do nothing.

If we, Reform Jews, vote in large numbers, we can directly impact the funding for Rabbis, communities, values. Israeli’s Reform Movement doesn’t receive the funding that the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox receive from the government, so our results in this vote will make a significant impact on the future of Israel.

This is your opportunity to elect people who stand for the Reform Jewish values that we talk about and live every day at Solel, to ensure that the people who will disperse these funds will use them to reject extremism and commit to protecting democracy and peace and prosperity for Israel’s future.

“Israel is far too important to be left in the hands of Israelis alone. What happens in Israel affects every Jew on the planet.” -Anat Hoffman (Former Director of Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) and Founding Member and Board Chair, Women of the Wall)

Make Your Voice Heard in Israel’s Future!

As a Canadian Reform Jew, your vote in the World Zionist Congress election is crucial to securing Reform values in Israel.

ARE YOU…

Self-identified as Jewish?
18 or Older?
Do you live in Canada as a citizen or a Permanent Resident?

Registration and Voting is from June 5 – June 15!

More votes for Reform in the election means more delegates at the WZC, which means more Reform leaders in senior positions and more funding for pluralism and justice in Israel.

Support democracy, pluralism, and equality.

Vote REFORM ARZA Canada.

Learn more about how to vote in Canada here: arzacanada.org

L’shalom,

Rabbi Audrey S. Pollack

Filed under: Rabbi's Message

« Read more articles

---