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IN
THIS ISSUE:
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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