March 2026
by Rabbi Emeritus Daniel G. Zemel
A year ago at this time we were encouraging you all to vote for the ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) delegation in the World Zionist Congress elections. In the spring we announced the results of the election which gave ARZA a very strong showing. The Congress gathered in Israel last October. Recently Rabbi Beraha very kindly invited me to write a summary of what actually occurred at that gathering. As I write these words, Israel and the United States have gone to war with Iran. It might seem an odd time to report on the convention, now five months past, but living as we do in an era when the relationship of American Jews with Israel has never received more attention, reviewing the convention might be of some merit.
By most measures the alliance of the progressive Zionist organizations which comprised the delegates representing ARZA, MERCAZ (American Conservative Zionist Organization), Hatikvah (including T’ruah, New Israel Fund, New Jewish Narrative among others) achieved most of their convention aims.
This included resolutions committing the World Zionist Movement and the Jewish Agency in Israel to work on behalf of an equitable military draft in Israel that includes the ultra-Orthodox, the immediate reopening of direct access to the egalitarian section of the Kotel (Western Wall), and the creation of a commission of inquiry into the political and military failures that enabled the massacre of 10.7.23. The convention closed on a note of great upheaval when the delegation representing Likud demanded that Yair Netanyahu (son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) be given a senior paid position in the World Zionist Organization. One month after the close of the convention, the nomination of Yair Netanyahu was withdrawn and an equitable arrangement of shared authority between the left of center and right of center was signed.
In more recent days, the religious parties in the Knesset have passed a first reading of a bill that defies and ends the arrangement for any and all egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall. This bill, if made law, would criminalize such worship, but with Israel now at war with Iran it has for the time being been put on hold.
The connection between American Jewry and Israel has never been more greatly tested. I felt this strongly as this winter Louise and I prepared for our first visit to Israel together since March 2023, the longest gap between visits since our children were young. As Israeli political leadership dismantles democracy, embraces corruption, forges a profane alliance with religious nationalism and the ultra-Orthodox I worry about my own attachment to the country that has always stirred my heart. I have wondered what will be left for me to love.
This visit to Israel was beautiful, sad, challenging, and infuriating all at once. The beauty is found in the strength of and determination of those we know and care for who are emotionally exhausted yet continue to love their country and work tirelessly for a better Israel. They bear the brunt of a toxic, irresponsible, immoral, and corrupt political leadership. The sadness is on display wherever you choose to look from the faces of soldiers killed in Gaza posted everywhere to the posters of hostages returned in coffins. You see sadness in the exhaustion of families whose sons and daughters have served weeks and months on end fighting in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. I am unable to describe our visit to the October 7 Nova Music Festival Massacre Memorial, which left us utterly speechless from the horror. We then drove in silence to Kibbutz Nahal Oz where we listened to survivors of the onslaught who shared with us the horrors they and their children endured. There is trauma and exhaustion everywhere, exacerbated by a leader who manipulates it for political advantage.
Rabbi Zemel with his grandfather’s book, “The Jew and the Universe”
Yet, the country carries on. We visited the still new National Library in Jerusalem. This combination of what might be considered in American terms the Library of Congress, National Archives and a museum to the history of Hebrew and Jewish writing rises to the very top of “must sees” for visitors to Jerusalem. On a personal note, while there I was able to see for the first time a copy of my grandfather’s book The Jew and the Universe which had been translated into Hebrew and published in 1939 in British Mandate Palestine. This was a deeply personal thrill.
There is so much for me to love in this small country. I am unable to give up on this great historic project. I remain committed to working to redeem Zionism from those who currently hold a strong upper-hand and in my estimation are relentlessly seeking its destruction from within.
A final thought—again, as I write these words, Israel and the United States are at war with Iran. My desperate prayer is that this war will end quickly and result in a safer Israel and a peaceful Middle East. Who could be against these goals? Even with these hopes, I have deeply mixed feelings about this war. I worry with great concern about the safety and security of Israelis and I am skeptical about what this war will accomplish. War is not a path to regional peace. The complicated path to a stable and peaceful Middle East requires serious negotiations with all of the parties at the table including the Gulf States, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinians, Iran, and Israel. History has shown that American aggression in the Middle East has brought neither regional peace nor security to the region. I pray fervently for better results this time.
With all of this, as I have written and said many times borrowing from Yehuda Ha-Levi’s great poem, part of my heart is always in the East. How can I not love a country whose flag is a tallis (prayer shawl) and whose anthem is a prayer of hope. I therefore greatly look forward to our next visit to Israel.
I also hope that Temple Micah continues to find ways to support those partner organizations in Israel that we have worked with over the years. They are the heroes who work ceaselessly on behalf of a brighter future for the Israel I personally love.