USCJ/RA CEO Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal & USCJ Chief Movement Strategy Officer Rabbi Ashira Konigsburg Join 245 Conservative/Masorti Rabbis for the Rabbinical Assembly Israel Convention
Author: Emily Jaeger, RA Communications Specialist
“We outside of Israel are holding the battery so our colleagues in Israel can do their work.” –Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal, USCJ/RA CEO
On the last day of the Rabbinical Assembly Convention, the entire group arrived at Egalitarian Kotel for a final Shaharit before heading home. There, they met with Rakefet Ginsberg, CEO and Executive Director of the Masorti Movement in Israel, who described the work that the Conservative/Masorti Movement has done to create a prayer space at the Kotel where families could pray and celebrate together. As Ginsberg spoke, Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal stood next to her, holding the portable sound system–a practical moment with a larger symbolic meaning.
The Rabbinical Assembly Convention is a biennial professional development conference that brings together Conservative/Masorti Rabbis from around the globe. This year’s Convention, Bridging Dreams & Reality, hosted 250 colleagues from 11 countries from December 9-12 in Jerusalem, with 12 educational trips around Israel. While the Israel Convention had already been planned before Oct. 7th, in the aftermath, it became a significant statement of support for our Israeli colleagues and the Israeli branch of our Movement, who have been at the forefront of supporting the Israeli community through more than a year of the hostage crisis, war, and horrible loss.
At the Convention, Conservative/Masorti rabbis stood with our Israeli family—whether by witnessing the horrors of Oct. 7th at Otef Azah, praying for the return of the hostages at the Knesset, or holding space for Israeli rabbis to reflect and breathe for the first time in over a year.
“What stood out to me the most,” shares Blumenthal, “were the hugs. It’s not just about the deep collegiality between our members across the globe, but a symbol of why we are here–to embrace our Israeli colleagues and Israel in general in this ongoing crisis.”
Our Israeli colleagues and partner organizations also shared the impact of their leadership in the past years, and the deep relationships they have built across divisions—religious, political, and ethnic—acting as a guiding light for Israeli society.
“We are all in this for our principles and our ethics,” says Emily Levy-Shochat, KKL-JNF Board of Directors.
This work was especially apparent in the Shared Society educational tracks. Israeli RA colleagues brought members to Be’er Sheva and Lod to meet with community leaders spanning Israelis across the religious and political spectrums, Bedouins, and Palestinians with whom they have collaborated in the pursuit of a just, equitable, and peaceful Israeli society.
That last morning at the beautiful platform at the Egalitarian Kotel spoke both to the successes of our Movement’s voice and struggles. Even though the Masorti Movement has gained a permanent prayer space–complete with sefer Torah, siddurim, and overseen by the Masorti Rabbi of the Kotel, Rabbi Sandra Kochmann–they are blocked from approaching or touching the wall itself. There is still more work to be done.
One of the most crucial ways we can support our Israeli colleagues’ work and amplify our voice in Israel is by voting for Mercaz in the upcoming WZO elections this spring, and of course, getting out the vote. A vote for Mercaz will help secure funding both in Israel and abroad for pluralism, equality, and expanding the impact of our Jewish leaders. It will be a vote to allow our guiding light to burn brighter.
As Blumenthal shared during the Israel Engagement Track at the Knesset, “When we speak with one voice, we have that impact and the ability to make change.”
