By Rabbi Amy Levin | Rabbi Levin has led congregations both in the United States and Israel, as well as teaching, mentoring, and advising congregational leaders. She is a trained congregational consultant, served as a mentor for senior rabbinical students, and helped two congregations in transition as their interim rabbi. Amy’s expertise includes supporting congregational […]
Resolution Proposed and Debated at the 2023 Extraordinary Congress. | Photo by Eric M. Leiderman By Eric M. Leiderman, Secretary, MERCAZ USA Rabbi Eric Leiderman is a Chicago-based educator and community builder. He is a dedicated advocate for vibrant, inclusive Jewish life, working to inspire the next generation through education, activism, and leadership. In October […]
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By Dr. Yizhar Hess | Dr. Yizhar Hess is the Vice Chair of the World Zionist Organization and the senior representative of MERCAZ in the World Zionist Congress. The fabric of Jewish and Israeli society is at stake as are billions of dollars that could end up funding divisive extremists Theodor Herzl was not the […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) Expressions of Zionism have continued to proliferate throughout the Conservative movement in recent decades. In my synagogue — where I served as senior rabbi from 1979 to 2021, the Israeli flag stood on the bimah side-by-side with the American flag. The Prayer […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) Parallel to expanding Zionist activity among America’s Conservative Jews was the effort to establish a Conservative Jewish presence in Israel. Initially, the movement in Israel was very small, consisting only of Emet V’Emunah, the first Conservative synagogue in the country, established in […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) The initial effort to extend Conservative Judaism’s embrace of Zionism beyond the United States was launched by Rabbi Bernard Segal, who served as executive director of United Synagogue of America (later United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism) from 1953 to 1970. As noted […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) With Israeli statehood a reality, Conservative Judaism became a full-fledged Zionist movement. For JTS chancellor Louis Finkelstein, the commitment to Israel was personal as well; his daughter had settled and established a family in Jerusalem, with her father making visits year after […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor Dr. Cyrus Adler passed away, and leadership of the JTS and of Judaism’s Conservative Movement was placed into the hands of Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, a JTS graduate and longtime assistant […]
by Rabbi Alan Silverstein, PhD | President of Mercaz Olami (Representing the global Masorti/Conservative movement) After his death in 1915, Solomon Schechter’s legacy of Zionism continued through key members of the Jewish Theological Seminary faculty and through the stream of rabbinical school graduates. Conservative Movement historian Rabbi Simcha Kling noted: “Conservative Judaism was unique among the contemporary […]