Dear WRJ friends,

Tonight is our final night in Jerusalem.  We’ve had an incredible trip with myriad experiences and opportunities.  Since I last wrote, here are the highlights of our time here:

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• This morning, Ruth from Sao Paolo, Brazil, became a bat mitzvah. Talk about networking … the idea of her becoming a bat mitzvah, the first woman in her congregation to celebrate this ceremony, germinated when some of us were in Punta del Este, Uruguay, last fall. How amazing to witness this first for our South American sisters; it was historic, and I felt privileged to be there.
  

• Professor Naomi Chazan, head of the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, lectured about “Israel at a Turning Point”. She said, “Now is the time to seize the opportunity for moving forward. Over 70% of the Israeli public consistently polls affirmatively that a separate Palestinian state is a Zionist imperative.  And, it can only be achieved through sitting at the negotiating table.” Professor Chazan also added, “Until we stop ruling over another people, we will not be fully democratic.”
  

• WRJ Past President Dolores Wilkenfeld led about twenty women in a discussion titled “Women Without Borders – Sharing Global Connections”. WRJ is considering the creation of some type of international leadership institute or another method for connecting progressive Jewish women worldwide.  WRJ is a unique organization in progressive communities.
  

• At lunch, we learned about the Butterfly Project which has a goal of coloring 1,500,000 paper butterflies. Learn more about this in the near future on our website.  The entire body of delegates also paid special tribute to the enduring small congregation of Mumbai, India and its two wonderful leaders, Noreen and Norman Elijah.
  

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• At tonight’s celebratory gala, held at the Israel Museum, author Amos Oz, a Reform Jew, was presented with the Maggid (storyteller) Award. Minister of Tourism, Social Welfare and Diaspora Relations Yitzak Hertzel saluted the Israeli Reform movement for its work. A Labor Party member, Mr. Hertzel urged us to bring our congregational trips to Israel every year.
  

• Stanley Gold, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of HUC-JIR, flew into Jerusalem to announce the WUPJ Israel Development Foundation, a new fund that hopes to generate $100,000,000 for promoting and spreading Reform Judaism in Israel over the next 7-10 years. The good news, according to Mr. Gold, is that 76% of a targeted secular group of Israelis approve of Reform Judaism; the bad news is that over 50% of the secular public has had no contact with progressive Judaism.  The goal of this new foundation is to market progressive Judaism and increase its awareness and effectiveness in Israel.

This has been a truly remarkable trip.  We, WRJ, have been saluted, highlighted, and thanked over and over again for the work that we do, the funds we provide, and the important partnership we have enjoy with the World Union of Progressive Judaism.

It’s been delightful to ‘speak’ to you all along the way.

Love,

Rosanne

For more photos, please click here