IN THIS  ISSUE:   

• ARZA TO BE LARGEST BLOC IN US DELEGATION TO ZIONIST CONGRESS

• WORLD UNION CO-SPONSORS UN PANEL DISCUSSION ON RIGHTS OF THE DISABLED

• ARGENTINEAN CANTORS WOW AUDIENCES IN NORTH AMERICA

• BRITISH CONGREGATION DONATES PURIM SCROLL TO BELARUS COMMUNITIES

ARZA TO BE LARGEST BLOC IN US DELEGATION TO ZIONIST CONGRESS
The Association of Reform Zionists of America will comprise the largest segment of the US contingent to the upcoming World Zionist Congress, to be held in Jerusalem in June.  ARZA will send 55 of the 145 delegates after its slate won 38% of the vote in recent balloting among American Jewish organizations.  Close to two-thirds of the American delegates will represent non-Orthodox religious streams (Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist).  "ARZA's clear victory in this election strengthens the hands of all of us who believe that a pluralistic, democratic, Jewish state of Israel represents the highest expression of Zionist ideals," said ARZA president Rabbi Stanley M. Davids.  "American Reform Zionists now can be expected to pursue this vision with even greater effectiveness and with broader support than ever before, in full partnership with the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism and with our Reform Zionist partners throughout the world.”  Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said, "We take great pride in the success of the Reform movement in the just-concluded WZO election.  It demonstrates that our message - love of Israel, devotion to Zionist ideals and commitment to policies of moderation and religious pluralism in the Jewish state - has become the dominant voice of American Zionism."  Balloting for delegations elsewhere around the world continues.

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WORLD UNION CO-SPONSORS UN PANEL DISCUSSION ON RIGHTS OF THE DISABLED

The World Union was among the sponsors of a panel discussion that followed the recent screening of an Israeli documentary film for the seventh session of the United Nations’ Ad Hoc Committee on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.  39 Pounds of Love highlights the life of Ami Ankilewitz, a 34-year-old animator living in Israel who suffers from a rare and usually fatal disease that limits growth and movement.  Ankilewitz is confined to a wheelchair and can work using only one finger on his left hand, yet this does not prevent him from traversing the United States in search of the doctor who had said he would not live to see his seventh birthday.  (Go to http://www.39poundsoflove.com  to learn more about the film.)  Following the screening and discussion, Dan Gillerman, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, sent a letter of thanks to Maya Sabatello, who represents the World Union on the Ad Hoc Committee: “We were so pleased with this event, and it would not have been possible without your efforts in helping this project become realized.  I would further like to express my gratitude for your involvement with the Israeli delegation to the Ad Hoc Committee….There is indeed a very human side to persons with disabilities, as 39 Pounds of Love shows, and we hope our collaboration will help them realize a sense of inclusion into the community, which is needed and deserved.”  A lawyer and doctoral student, Sabatello was originally the sole representative of a Jewish organization on the committee, but this changed after the World Union’s International Advocacy Task Force reached out to other organizations in Israel and around the world.  Sabatello is also active on behalf of the World Union in formulating an international platform on the rights of girls.

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ARGENTINEAN CANTORS WOW AUDIENCES IN NORTH AMERICA

Buenos Aires cantors Alejandra Levi and Diego Rubinsztein recently brought the sounds of South American liturgical music to Reform congregations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, performing in concerts sponsored by the congregations and individual congregants.  Rubinsztein is a cantor at CIRA Libertad, the oldest synagogue in Buenos Aires, and musical director of Neshama Letera, a program that trains prayer leaders for Argentinean congregations.  Levi leads Shabbat worship at Buenos Aires’ Congregation NCI-Emanuel.  Together, they led Kabbalat Shabbat services at San Francisco’s Congregation Sherith Israel, whose own cantor, Rita Glassman, was the main organizer of their tour.  The visitors performed more of their repertoire at a Shabbat dinner immediately afterwards.  The next evening, they led a special Havdalah service at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo.  On Sunday, they spoke and sang with the children of the Sherith Israel religious school.  Levi and Rubinsztein continued to Los Angeles, where they performed at Temple Isaiah.  Although it was a Wednesday night, there was a large crowd.  On Friday night, they took part in a Shabbat dinner before leading services at Temple Beth El in Aliso Viejo.  “Temple Beth El greeted the cantors with a pre-service community Shabbat dinner of Argentine delicacies,” says Avi Crane, a regional World Union board member.  “The service was one of the best attended in many months and included congregational participation in the shira.  No one wanted to go home!”  The following Friday night, the cantors led services at New York City’s Central Synagogue, where they received an equally enthusiastic reception.  They also met with children from the congregation’s religious school.  In addition, they visited the World Union’s New York office and met the local staff, including Susan Milamed, vice president for development and planning, and Ron Wegsman, staff coordinator of the Yad B’Yad Task Force, which is working to strengthen Progressive Judaism in Latin America.

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BRITISH CONGREGATION DONATES PURIM SCROLL TO BELARUS COMMUNITIES

The Hendon Reform Synagogue in northwest London recently sent a Megilah (Scroll of Esther) to the Progressive community in Bobruisk, Belarus, for use by the entire Belarus Progressive movement.  Hendon is twinned with the Bobruisk congregation through Exodus 2000, which assists Progressive communities in the former Soviet Union by linking them with British Reform and Liberal congregations.  The Megilah is traditionally read on the holiday of Purim, which commemorates the deliverance of the Jews of Persia from the wicked royal vizier Haman.  The scroll sent by Hendon Reform Synagogue is believed to be the first Megilah donated to the movement in Belarus.  The British congregation recently underwrote some of the costs of an outing to Minsk for top students at the Bobruisk Hebrew school (see WUPJnews #192).  Its members are now finalizing a project to bring young people still suffering from the effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to London next year.

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