MERCAZ USA Newsletter — Summer 2002

MERCAZ Launches Israel Solidarity Campaign

On the eve of Yom HaAtzmaut, MERCAZ USA, together with its Shlichah Karni Goldshmid-Lahav, launched a campaign within the Conservative Movement to demonstrate our commitment to the Jewish State. As MERCAZ President Evelyn Seelig announced, "the new Israel campaign will provide the opportunities for Conservative Jews to celebrate the continuing miracle of Israel and to translate this commitment to the Jewish State into action."

The "Support for Israel" campaign is based on four basic public acts. First of all, Conservative Jews are being asked to continue with political lobbying on behalf of Israel. "The Solidarity with Israel Rally in Washington DC was a fantastic demonstration of our support for Israel," noted the newly appointed Chair of the MERCAZ Aliyah Committee Elana Gershen Finkelstein, "but political lobbying must be sustained and ongoing. We need to maintain contact with our elected representatives in Congress, write letters to the editor and monitor our media to insure that their coverage is factually correct and evenhanded."

Secondly, American Jewry needs to "buy Israeli". As Ms. Goldshmid-Lahav wrote recently: "It breaks my heart to see that while businesses in Israel are going under, Jews here are buying Kosher California wine for Pesach instead of Israeli...Not that the Californians can't make good kosher wine, but Israel needs our business more than the Napa Valley." Two new websites, www.israelexport.org and www.shopinisrael.com, have been established to help institutions and individuals "buy Israeli".

Another recommended public act is to make the Tefillah LeShlom HaMedinah, the Prayer for the State of Israel authored by Israel's Nobel Prize Laureate Shai Agnon in 1948, a regular part of Sabbath and Holiday morning services. Earlier this year, Tnuat AM, the Movement for Masorti Aliyah, created and printed a beautifully designed card of the Prayer, with text in Hebrew, English and English transliteration (courtesy of Rabbi Leonard Berkowitz), which was distributed to synagogues and rabbis just before Rosh Hashanah. Copies of the Tefillah card are available for a nominal charge from the MERCAZ office. A special website, www.tnuatam.org, has been set up on which congregations reciting the Tefillah can register their participation.

Finally, and most importantly, now, more than ever, should travel to Israel be seen as mitzvah! While recognizing that there are legitimate security concerns, there are enough ways to build a safe trip to Israel that minimize the risks. The Conservative Movement has organized a number of solidarity missions to Israel over the next several months. Starting with the joint United Synagogue / Rabbinical Assembly mission at the end of April, the trips continue with solidarity trips organized by Women's League and Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs, Cantors Assembly, United Synagogue and Rabbinical Assembly. Again, in the words of our Shlichah: "As an average Israeli, whose family and friends are literally guarding our country, all the different ways to support Israel are important and valued. But let me tell you what I see as the highest manifestation of solidarity. It's very simple: Go to Israel!"

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