Rabbi Vernon H. Kurtz

From the Presidents Desk

I am pleased to report that MERCAZ, as the advocate for Israel and Zionism in the Conservative Movement, has been quite successful over the past 2+years since our last General Council in upgrading our Movement's attachment to our land and our people. We have worked with all of the arms of the Conservative Movement to create an atmosphere whereby Israel-centered programs are important priorities on our agenda. We have, therefore, supported Team Israel Missions, Zionist essay projects, the Aliyah Committee, a conference on Zionism, articles on Zionism in Conservative Judaism and short-term shlichim in communities around the country.

In addition, I personally have been privileged to speak at a number of regional and national conventions about the importance of MERCAZ and our Israel agenda and each time I have stressed that MERCAZ guarantees that at the table of the American Zionist Movement, the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency, the Conservative/Masorti Movement will have a powerful voice. This is important, first of all, for our own pride. We consider ourselves to be a Zionist movement from our very inception and, therefore, we must be involved in the work of the WZO and Jewish Agency.

Secondly, the more influence we have the more we are able to avail ourselves of both the dollars and the programs of the Zionist Movement and the Jewish Agency throughout the world. Many of our affiliates in Israel and throughout the globe are dependent upon that support. Based on our current allocation of seats our Movement receives in excess of $2.2 million from the budget of the Jewish Agency. $1.7 million dollars is allocated to Masorti institutions in Israel, and in addition we gain hundreds of thousands of dollars for Masorti educational projects and shlichim around the world.

We are now preparing for the next Zionist elections. In June 2006, the Zionist Congress will take place. The competition for votes will be serious. We, the Conservative Movement here in the United States, the largest concentration of Conservative Jews in the world, must do better than we did last time. We need to energize our communities and we need to vocalize the reasons and the rationale for our members to register and vote. We need to bring to the fore a Zionist spirit and a pride in our Movement which will bring forth tens, if not hundreds of thousands, of Conservative Jews to signify through participating in the elections, their support of Jewish Zionist education, religious pluralism, the State of Israel and the Zionist Movement.

Let us uphold the message of the new Jerusalem Program which states that the foundations of Zionism are the unity of the Jewish people, its bond to its historical homeland Eretz Yisrael, and the centrality of the State of Israel, Jerusalem, its capital, in the life of the nation. It is our task to strengthen Israel as a Jewish, Zionist, and democratic State and to shape it as an exemplary society with a unique moral and spiritual character, marked by mutual respect for the multi-faceted Jewish people rooted in the vision of the prophets, striving for peace and contributing to the betterment of the world.

I believe we can do it. I believe we can make a difference. I thank you for the opportunity to serve you as President for another term and I look forward to working together with you.