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IMPJ Newsletter
IMPJournal - November 2009
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Address from the Reform and Progressive leadership in IsraelDear Friends and Partners, |
Simna Tava – a good sign for a new year of growth. |
14 Years for the Assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
It has been 14 years since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a Jewish assassin. MARAM, the Israel Council of Progressive Rabbis, has recently ratified its resolution to make the day of assassination, 12 of Cheshvan—which has been declared an Israeli national Memorial Day—a day of public fast. On this day, members of MARAM will not officiate in ceremonies such as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, and congregations of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) will hold special prayer and study sessions to mark the day. |
A rider's blog: Why do I come back every year…
This spring I'll be joining the Riding4Reform for the 7th time. There are several reasons that I come back every year, the first being that it's fun. To see Israel at its most beautiful when the spring flowers cover the mountains and all of the rivers are flowing is amazing, and to do this with friends creates an unforgettable experience. |
Address from the Reform and Progressive leadership in Israel
Dear Friends and Partners,
In recent years, many of us in Israel sense a wind of change: Reform congregations in Israel are crowded with Israelis looking for liberal and open Shabbat and holiday services, Beit Midrash study sessions, cultural events, and educational programs. What we see and hear in our congregations is supported by academic studies and public opinion surveys.
In a survey conducted in 2007, we learned that Reform Judaism enjoys widespread approval among the secular target population (76 percent) and significant approval among the traditional target population (42 percent). 71 percent of the secular public is interested in the involvement of Reform Judaism in the enrichment of their children’s Jewish values in state schools; the same is true of 48 percent of those who identify themselves as traditional Jews.
These favorable conditions present the Reform community in Israel and around the world with a historic challenge. The Israeli public has been loud and clear in its desire for a form of Judaism that emphasizes tolerance, equality, social justice, and spiritual and communal renewal. In order for us to meet this worthy challenge, the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) needs to increase significantly the number of its congregations across Israel, establish new schools and preschools, train more rabbis and cantors, and continue its ongoing fight for freedom of religion and conscience for all citizens of Israel.
We invite you to be our partner in this historic effort, as we believe the strengthening of Israel’s Reform community to be one of the most important MITZVAHs of our generation. In turn, we invite you to think of our congregations as your home in Israel, and your connecting point to the land.
As Reform and Progressive Jews, we carry the words of Benjamin Ze'ev Herzel:
àí úøöå àéï æå àâãä (If you will it, it is no dream)
Together, we can make this dream come true.
| Prof. Avraham Melamed Chairperson, IMPJ |
Rabbi Gilad Executive Director, IMPJ | |
| Rabbi Naamah Kelman Dean of HUC-JIR’s Jerusalem School |
Rabbi Meir Azari Chair, Israel Council of Progressive Rabbis |
Simna Tava – a good sign for a new year of growth.
2009 High Holidays
As every year, thousands of people filled up our congregations throughout Israel. Many of our congregations report increased numbers of participants in the services and study sessions – the result of the hard work on the part of the congregations throughout the year. Many of our congregations offered study sessions in addition to services, and these sessions were also attended by many.
Our additional new minyanim (prayer services), gathered especially for Yom Kippur, were widely successful, similarly to the services in the veteran congregations. Without exception, all the new minyanim were attended by large numbers of people – from a few dozens in some to up to 200 in others. New minyanim and study sessions for Yom Kippur were conducted in Gedera, Even Yehuda, Holon, Kibbutz Kfar Menachem, and Kibbutz Urim. In Tel Mond and Bet Lehem Haglilit, students of the Hebrew Union College led the services, aided by the IMPJ; an additional minyan for Rosh Hashanah took place in the Florentin neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
Several of our congregations opened a second (and sometimes a third) minyan: in Jerusalem, Congregation Kol Haneshama led a servicein the Kiryat Yovel neighborhood and in the Tali Bayit Vagan School. In Tel Aviv, congregation Beit Daniel conducted services in Jaffa and in North Tel Aviv. Congregation Natan-Ya maintained the tradition of a second minyan in the Poleg neighborhood, and Congregation Ma'alot Tivon also added a second minyan.
The High Holidays events have come to an end with a special encirclement event which took place in Kibbutz Beit Kama with hundreds of Israelis marking Simchat Torah.
Many of these new minyanim were possible thanks to a cadre of new local activists, whose commitment will most likely result in continued activity. This is the case in Gedera and Even Yehuda were in each a group of local leaders in cooperation with the IMPJ are in the process of establishing a new local Reform congregation. That and more, the second minyanim which took place in Kiryat Yovel and Jaffa will continue to gather for Shabbat and special days services during the year.
These New Year events echo across Israel as new groups of Israelis address us looking for a way to affiliate with the Reform community in Israel and be a part of it.
We hope that the High Holiday activity reported above will be a Simna Tava – a good sign for a new year of growth.
Livrachah velo liklalah
Lesova velo lerazon
Lechayim velo lemavet
"For blessing and not for curse
For fullness and not for hunger
For life and not for death"
(from Tfilat HaGeshem, the Prayer for Rain)
14 Years for the Assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
And the pain is great, and the shame is great, and which is greater, you must tell us, man! (Hayim Nahman Bialik)
It has been 14 years since Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a Jewish assassin. MARAM, the Israel Council of Progressive Rabbis, has recently ratified its resolution to make the day of assassination, 12 of Cheshvan—which has been declared an Israeli national Memorial Day—a day of public fast. On this day, members of MARAM will not officiate in ceremonies such as weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, and congregations of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) will hold special prayer and study sessions to mark the day.
Rabin's Memorial Day
In tune with Jewish tradition, MARAM, the Israel Council of Progressive Rabbis, stresses that the national Memorial Day for Yitzhak Rabin should be utilized, first and foremost, for both public and personal self examination. On this day we call on the Israeli public to learn the lessons from this horrible crime and the circumstances that have allowed it, and to acknowledge the dangers hidden within political and religious extremism, which characterize parts of Israeli society. This Memorial Day must encourage all Israelis not to remain indifferent to expressions of violence and incitement.
In light of the fact that the murder was performed, supposedly, in the name of the Jewish Halacha, MARAM emphasizes the need to fiercely reject any attempt to hurt the democratic fabric of life in Israel in the name of Jewish tradition. Such attempts often make cynical and false use of Halachaic sources, mislead the public, and exploit the Torah as a platform from which political agenda is promoted. Faithful to Progressive Judaism, it is MARAM's stand that only in a democratic society that respects and protects human rights can the universal values of Judaism be fulfilled and expressed; and that only through strengthening and reinforcing Israeli democracy, for the benefit of all Israeli citizens, can we secure the future of the Jewish People on its land.
Fourteen years after the murder, MARAM declares that the profound lessons of the murder have not yet been absorbed into the Israeli education system. School subjects such as Civic Studies and Democracy Education have not yet gained the important status they deserve, and many Israeli students therefore do not acquire the civic knowledge and values necessary for strengthening Israeli democracy. MARAM calls on the Israeli education authorities to extensively promote and empower civic education in all school systems in Israel as a foundation for shaping a diverse and tolerant society, and to condition governmental budgeting of such systems on the integration of democratic content into their curriculum.
Such an approach will bring us closer to realizing Isaiah's prophecy: "In all of my Sacred mount nothing evil or vile shall be done" (Isaiah 11:9)
A rider's blog: Why do I come back every year…
This spring I'll be joining the Riding4Reform for the 7th time. There are several reasons that I come back every year, the first being that it's fun. To see Israel at its most beautiful when the spring flowers cover the mountains and all of the rivers are flowing is amazing, and to do this with friends creates an unforgettable experience.
In addition, the importance of a strong Reform Jewish Movement in Israel is of utmost importance. The movement, with its congregations, fills the vacuum for all of those people who need religious services which they could not get elsewhere. The reform congregations and their rabbis are the only address for those in search or need of modern Judaism and are unable to get this in the religious establishment. I'm very proud to be part of this movement.
David Benninga, Founder of the Riding4Reform
Rides will be riding this March for the 7th time.
About Riding4Reform
Riding4Reform 2010 is a 5-day bike ride that will begin at the most northern point of Israel, the Good Fence on the Israel-Lebanon border. During the 5-day ride we will pass through various regions and see different views of the Golan Heights, Galilee, Jezreel Valley and Ramat Menashe on the way to the Mediterranean Sea. During the ride we will visit the Hula Valley national park, an impressive site that serves as an important stopping point for thousands of migrating birds; we will ride beside streams and view and swim in natural pools. We will visit important archeological and historical sites (Korazim a settlement from the days of the Talmud and Mishna, Meggido the Biblical Armageddon, Mount Arbel and the holy cities, Tiberias for Jews and Nazareth for Christians). The ride will end in Zichron Ya’akov (there are those who call it the Israeli Provence), the third settlement of the first aliyah, and today the home of the “Sulam Ya’akov” Congregation our final destination.
“The people, the terrain, the cause, and the organization… everything comes together to make for a wonderful experience.” (Howie Goldsmith)
Want to know more? www.riding4reform.org
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