Guest post - Pro Zion

The next in our series of guest posts comes from UK group Pro-Zion
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Pro Zion is a Progressive Zionist organisation of over 2000 members. We think of ourselves as the Zionist movement for Progressive Jews, both Liberal and Reform, in the UK.
We aim to support progressive judaism in Israel, specifically in their work to gain equal recognition and funding from the government and to create a more pluralist, democratic and tolerant Israel.
We also aim to support Israel and Zionist activity in Progressive communities in the UK. We do this by organising events, sponsoring events and publicising events that the synagogues of our constituents run.

We send out weekly news e-mails with a selection of current articles on Progressive Jewish issues in Israel. To subscribe just send a request to prozion1@aol.com

Pro Zion was founded nearly a quarter of a century ago to give an official voice to progressive Jews in the world Zionist movement. This new organisation was by and large the brainchild of Rabbi Dov Marmur.
From humble beginnings where it had to struggle to gain official acceptance as a constituent of the Zionist Federation it has since provided many longstanding chairmen and senior officers of that organisation as well as obtaining record results in the first ever poll for delegates to the World Zionist Congress.

Through our affiliation and close ties with Arzenu the World Progressive Zionist Organisation we gain a voice in Israel putting our views forward in campaigns such as civil marriage, equal funding for progressive communities and conversion issues.

We have also helped raise money for campaigns, in conjunction with the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. In recent years we have been proud to give donations to Israel tour bursaries of LJY Netzer and work on educational projects with the movement.

In the UK we host various speakers from our own, the American or Israeli
progressive communities to give their perspective on events or their work.

Our leadership is primarily young and volunteer led giving our organisation a unique dynamism and passion. We would love to welcome you as a member or an activist whatever your background or age. Our membership form can be downloaded here

Shabbat and Weekly Readings - Week 3 Ki Tissa

Shabbat Shalom

The weekly readings for week 3 fit in with the Torah sedra of Ki Tissa. The reading is titled, "Worship or Engagement?" It looks at how we relate to Israel and if Israel is our "Golden Calf".

This is perhaps the most difficult part of the Israel discussion, do we support, criticise or both and where do we draw the line. It's been hotly debated in the UK recently and at Liberal Judaism we're looking to find a space where all are happy to openly share and discuss their views without feeling threatened. It's a tall order, if you have any ideas please leave a comment!

This week's reading

KI TISSA - 15 Adar I / 19 February – WORSHIP OR ENGAGEMENT?

All the readings are available to download on the Weekly Readings page - they are also available in editable format.

New Event Added

Liberal Judaism together with Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue are delighted to announce an evening to celebrate the completion of LJ's Israel Month.

Monday 28th February, 8pm at NPLS
An Evening with Dana Weiss, the celebrated Israel Channel 2 news presenter.

Watch here for more details

Guest Post by Harvey Rose, Chair of the Zionist Federation

The Zionist Federation works to connect the Jewish and non-Jewish communities to Israel by providing a dynamic variety of events, projects and resources in the UK. Our wide range of activities, which include education, training, science, culture, politics, music and art, are designed to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of Israel in all its diversity.

I wanted to share with you 2 recent events.

The first was our annual lobby day where 300 lobbyists from all over the UK, descended on Parliament in order to meet their constituency MPs and raise their concerns about the rising extremism on UK campuses, the existence of a Hamas related centre in London as well as their individual local issues of concern. In addition and in a private meeting room in the house of commons our group heard speeches from a number of Lords and MPs including Lord Sacks, Lord Monroe Palmer, Sir Alan Beith (Lib Dem), David Burrowes (Con), Louise Ellman (Lab), Nigel Dodds, (Dem Unionist), Lee Scott (Con), Theresa Villiers (Con), Luciana Berger (Lab), and Jim Shannon (DUP).

The second event was the dedication of a headstone 80 years after his death to Rev William Hechler a hitherto forgotten and unappreciated non-Jew who was a confidante of Herzl and played an enormous part in helping to establish the state of Israel. This was attended by Jewish and Christian dignitaries from the UK and Israel.

The ZF last year put on 81 events so I am not surprised how busy I am as chairman since I was appointed last October. There is so much to do and things are not getting any better as far as Israel is concerned. However we must be positive.

Thank you for allowing me to tell you about the ZF and good luck with this new idea.


Harvey Rose
Chairman.

Shabbat and weekly readings, week 2 -

Shabbat Shalom

The weekly readings for week 2 fit in with the Torah sedra of T'tzavveh. The reading is titled, "Who has the power?" It looks at where the centre of Jewish life is, Israel or The Diaspora?


T’TZAVVEH – Adar I / 12 February – WHO HAS THE POWER?

All the readings are available to download on the Weekly Readings page - they are also available in editable format.

Tefilla & Limmud

Rabbi Ofek Meir and Carol Brauner from the Leo Baeck Education Centre, Haifa, led a fascsinating text study last night at Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue. Ofek drew on the centrality of prayer and our study of texts to tease out our relationships with the other, our fellow Jews and with Israel. An inspirational evening!

LJY-Netzer - guest post by Robin Moss

We are delighted that our second guest post comes from Robin Moss, Movement Worker for LJY-Netzer. They are a big part of Liberal Judaism's relationship to Israel, not just because they are the future, or because they educate so many young people about Israel, but because they are at the forefront of ideological discussion in the movement.

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LJY-Netzer is the youth movement of Liberal Judaism. We provide activities for young people aged 8-23 from all the LJ synagogues. The Netzer bit of our name belies our deep attachment to Israel – it stands for Noar Tzioni Reformi (worldwide Reform Zionist youth). We have been a snif (branch) of Netzer since the early 1990s, and it gives us a link to Israel and the rest of the Jewish world.

This month, LJY-Netzer is busy as ever running Israel activities. Our big focus is the February half-term, during which we are running four events. Two are Shabbat sleepovers for ages 8-11 year olds and 12-13 year olds, at The Liberal Synagogue Elstree and Finchley Progressive Synagogue respectively. Both will, like all of our events, have elements of Israeli education and culture incorporated into them. It is important for us that our participants see Israel as more than a political conundrum or a newsreel of war. It is a lively, exciting, vibrant place of music, the arts, food, youth culture and so on. We try to bring some of all of these with us onto all events.

We are also running a trip to Dublin for 14-15 year olds, and we will be delighted to be joined by Liberal Judaism’s Shlicha Dana Friedman and her relative Omer. Omer is soon going into the army for his national service, and will be leading a session talking to the young people about what it is like to grow up as a teen in Israel. We are so lucky to have Dana working with us day to day, ensuring that Israel is always at the forefront of our mind, and Omer will bring a young person’s perspective that will challenge and inspire our members.

Finally, we are running a hadracha (youth leadership) training seminar for our members at the end of school. Some of them will be leading Kadimah, our summer camp, later this year. We will be discussing with them their role as Israel educators, encouraging them to present balanced, thought-provoking views whilst being clear about how our Liberal Judaism values play out when we think about Israel. This year, for example, we have picked as our charity of the year the ARDC (African Refugee Development Centre), a Tel Aviv-based charity that works with the tens of thousands of new refugees, mostly from East Africa, who have arrived in Israel in the last ten years. For us, our Judaism commands us to “love [the stranger] as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34), and we live this out in 2011 by supporting with our money and (on our many trips to Israel) our time this most worthy cause.

Israel is a central feature of our ideology, and we are proud to support the Liberal Judaism Israel Month. Of course, in LJY-Netzer, every month is Israel month, but we hope that this Adar Rishon will focus all of us on this most fascinating, remarkable, complicated, engaging, frustrating, vivacious and stimulating country.