No – not the United States Congress – Rather, the World Zionist Congress (WZC).

Known as the “Parliament of the Jewish People,” the WZC was founded by Theodor Herzl (the Father of Zionism) in Basel, Switzerland in 1897 and convenes every 5 years drawing representatives of the Jewish people from around the world and Israel to meet together in Jerusalem.

What does the WZC do? The WZC is responsible for dispensing $1 billion annually in each of the following 5 years. It sponsors programs and funds departments and positions that further the interests of the Jewish people worldwide and in Israel.

That makes this coming Congress a very big deal. It is consequently important for the Reform movement worldwide and Israel to send a large delegation of representatives. All each of us needs to do to win the most delegates that we can is to register to vote, pay the $5 administrative fee, and then – Vote Reform.

There are other progressive Zionist slates on the ballot that may appeal to some of you. I am a part of that progressive community as well, and I support their agenda – but, I’m voting Reform because we badly need funds to support our Israeli Reform movement, its rabbis, congregations, youth movement, pre-military educational programs, kibbutzim, nursery schools, elementary schools, and our Reform movement’s social justice arm through the Israel Religious Action Center. The Israeli Reform Movement (IMPJ) is discriminated against by the ruling right-wing government that includes Ultra-Orthodox Parties that prevent the IMPJ from receiving funds as does its own Ultra-Orthodox synagogues and Yeshivot. 

The Reform movement delegation will be part of a coalition in the WZC that includes the Conservative movement and those progressive Zionist slates because our values are very similar.

I wrote about in a recent blog what the WZC is and does and how each of us can easily vote (see Vote Reform – and read that blog here – rabbijohnrosove.blog/2025/03/04/i-ask-for-your-vote-in-the-world-zionist-congress-election-march-10-may-4/

I’m printing below an appeal written by my friend and colleague Rabbi Josh Weinberg, the Vice-President for Zionism and Israel in the Union for Reform Judaism and the President of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), an organization I once served as national chair. In that position, I was able to see from the inside the three national institutions of the Jewish people (the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the Jewish National Fund) and come to understand why a large Reform Zionist movement vote total in this election is so critical to the future well-being of our liberal Reform Jewish values in Israel and around the world.

Please read carefully what Josh wrote below, and be certain to vote for the Reform Slate (#3 on the ballot):

“On Monday March 10, voting opens to elect the American delegates to the 2025 World Zionist Congress. By choosing the Vote Reform slate, we will be voting for our liberal Jewish values in the WZC. Our representatives there will help set policies and direct the allocation of a $1 billion+ annual budget that affects Jews around the world. However, this election is far more than simply about funding programs.

Like all Zionists, we Reform Zionists fight for the right to our self-determination as a people in our nation-state, affirm our close connection to the land, people, and State of Israel, and our aspirations that Israel will be a liberal, free, pluralistic, open, and tolerant democratic society.

We Reform Zionists are fighting every day against those extremist Israelis and right-wing Zionists who hold a completely different vision of what the Jewish State ought to be, and who say that we Reform and liberal Jews are inauthentic and that we practice an inauthentic Judaism.

We’re fighting also against those who champion the Greater Land of Israel vision [1], and who fervently oppose any diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We Reform Zionists are fighting so that the best interests of women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and Israel’s marginalized minorities will be seen and heard and their human rights protected.

We’re fighting so that our Israeli Reform rabbis and leaders will be recognized by the State of Israel, and their conversions will continue to be accepted in the Jewish state.

We’re fighting to say to the world that Israel is our people’s historic Homeland, even if it is not our home.

Reform Zionism is about nurturing the soul of the State according to our liberal Jewish values and upholding the values of Israel’s founders who laid them out clearly in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. [2]

Since October 7^th, Zionism is about bringing back those who were taken as hostages from their homes on that day and are still languishing in Gaza, and taking care of those who were displaced from their homes and need to rebuild their communities – and not lining the coffers of those who refuse to recognize the State of Israel and shirk military/national service (i.e. the Ultra-Orthodox).

Zionism is about reimagining what it means to be Jewish in the Jewish State and offering new, authentic, inclusive and creative expressions of Jewish life there as led by our Israeli Reform rabbis (close to 150 Israeli women and men ordained by our movement in Jerusalem) and leaders.

Our Reform Zionism is not only about exercising power to defend ourselves and to maintain our sovereignty as a people, but also about our exercising compassion and care for the vulnerable and powerless in Israel’s midst and under its sovereignty.

We Reform Zionists are faced today with a choice because so many in the larger Zionist tent are striving to delegitimize us as Reform Jews. We can choose to fight for our rightful place at the Zionist table or to surrender our place to the extremist powers that seek to weaken and marginalize us as Jews amongst the Jewish people.

So often, we’re told as Diaspora Jews that we shouldn’t have a voice in what happens in the State of Israel. But we know that everything that happens in Israel has a direct effect on us, our security and our identity as Jews. So, as Zionists, we need to have our voices heard in our people’s national institutions and around the world.

Starting on Monday March 10^th and continuing through to May 4^th, I ask that you to take one minute to cast your vote for the Vote Reform slate (#3 on the ballot). Your vote will help our Reform movement secure its rightful place at the Zionist table, assure our influence and fair funding of our movement’s social justice programs and congregations in Israel, and thereby enable us to contribute to shaping the soul of the Jewish State itself.

Let’s take back Zionism for our Reform Movement, for our future, and for the future of the Jewish people. Vote Reform from March 10 – May 4.

If you are Jewish and over the age of 18 years, you have the right and privilege to vote in the WZC election. Please do so and ask everyone who qualifies in your extended family and friendship circles, in your synagogues and Jewish community centers, to vote Reform. Every vote matters. We need you, so do not delay – Vote Reform!”

[1] “Greater Israel” generally refers to the notion of expanding Israel’s territory and sovereignty to what proponents of the ideology see as its historic Biblical land. In Israel today, the term is generally understood to mean extending Israel’s sovereignty to the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and, in some interpretations, the previously occupied territories in the Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, and Gaza Strip.

[2] “THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open to the immigration of Jews and for the Ingathering of the Exiles from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” (Paragraph 13, Megilat Haatzmaut)