Learn about World Zionist Congress
Keeping Connected April 2025
Dear Friends,
I would like to invite you to learn more about the World Zionist Congress and your ability to participate in an important election. The WZC elections are the ONLY way for American Jews to democratically participate in issues about Israel. Please watch the following video to understand the significance of your vote. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32fxLn_nuM4
You can also find important information from ARZA (the American Reform Zionist Association) which is a branch of the Union for Reform Judaism that promotes religious freedom and pluralism in Israel. You can learn more are ARZA and the work that they do at their website: ARZA https://arza.org. Additionally, below is information from the Union for Reform Judaism that I think can be helpful in understanding the significance of this vote. Please take the time to read the information as well as to look at additional information at the links below.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Shoshana M. Perry
Between March 10 and May 4, 2025, American Jews can vote for their vision of the Jewish people in Israel and around the world.
Make sure your point of view is represented in the next World Zionist Congress. By voting you will be able to choose one of the many slates representing diverse political beliefs, religious denominations and cultural traditions. The 152 delegates elected from the United States will join hundreds from Israel and around the world at the 39th World Zionist Congress in October 2025, the international “parliament of the Jewish people”, to make decisions and set policies regarding key institutions that support global Jewish life and which allocate over $1 billion annually to support Israel and world Jewry (including the World Zionist Organization, Jewish National Fund and the Jewish Agency for Israel). With more slates and candidates than ever before, American Jews have a rare opportunity to make a direct impact on the future direction of Israel and diaspora affairs.
A vote for the Reform Movement in the World Zionist Congress elections is a vote for our values: equality, democracy, pluralism, justice, and peace in Israel, rooted in our love and support for the people and the state of Israel.
Our “Vote Reform” slate is deeply committed to a strong and secure Israel and strengthening the Israel-Diaspora relationship, working in close partnership with our Israeli Reform Movement.
As Reform Zionists, we seek a democratic, pluralistic, and vibrant Israeli society. We believe deeply in Jewish peoplehood and that all Jews are responsible for one another. We support the work and mission of our Israeli Reform Movement in creating vibrant, authentic, new expressions and models of Jewish life in the Jewish State and working to provide for those who are powerless and on the margins of Israeli society. We continue to work tirelessly for the release of the hostages and an end to the war. We are alarmed by and are committed to combating the rising threat of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the U.S. and in Diaspora communities around the world.
https://azm.castiron.votem.net/election/037548cb-4cbb-4a94-aa9a-8aef017d4ddf#slates
What is the Zionist Congress and Why Does it Matter?
The 39th World Zionist Congress (WZC) will be held in Jerusalem from October 28. It is the only democratically elected global Jewish forum and is the direct continuation of The First Zionist Congress, convened by Theodor Herzl in 1897. That gathering was the genesis of the modern Zionist movement and the original meeting of great minds that collectively put to paper the idea that the Jewish people should have a state of their own. Today, the WZC, which now meets about every five years, is the overall supreme ideological and policy-making body of the Zionist movement. The delegates and the bodies they form at the WZC determine the leadership and influence the policies of Israel’s National Institutions: the World Zionist Organization (WZO), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet Leyisrael (JNF) and Keren Hayesod – which together allocate over $1 billion annually in funding in support of Israel and Jewish communities around the world.
Who Can Vote?
To be eligible to vote in the US Election to the 39th World Zionist Congress you must:
- Be Jewish (and not subscribe to another religion)
- Be 18 years or older by June 30, 2025
- Be a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident in the U.S.
- Maintain your primary residence in the U.S.
- Accept the Jerusalem Program (the Zionist movement platform)
- Have not voted in the November 2022 Knesset election (and will not vote in any future Knesset election which may be held prior July 28, 2025)