Rabbi Tzvi Graetz (standing center) with President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky (seated front) during a recent visit to Gilo's TALI School.

MERCAZ Newsletter — Winter 2007-2008

MAZAL TOV...

... to Evelyn Seelig, former president of MERCAZ USA (1998-2002) who was elected a Vice-President of the American Zionist Movement at its biennial convention in October.

... to Rabbi Tzvi Graetz, who has been appointed the new Executive Director for the MERCAZ Olami and Masorti Olami, succeeding Rabbi Joseph Wernik who retired in June 2006. Graetz, a second generation Masorti sabra, was ordained by the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem and served for the last four years as the rabbi of Kehilat Shevet Achim in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. Previously, he directed the Masorti Movement's NOAM youth movement and served in the United States as a USY shaliach. The son of Rabbi Michael Graetz, the retired spiritual leader of Congregation Magen Avraham in Omer, "Tzvika" is a graduate of Hebrew University, with a BA in Talmud and Political Science and an MA in Administration of Non-Profit and Public Institutions.