The Activist Antidote to Anti-Zionism
November 7, 2025 – ט״ז חֶשְׁוָן תשפ”ו
The scene was idyllic. Six Israeli women stood draped under a tallit as the sun caught the Jerusalem stone just at the right angle, reminding us of its goldenness. Standing in the Hebrew Union College–Jerusalem courtyard before hundreds of family, friends, and supporters, these six newly minted rabbis — joyful, reflective, and radiant — rejoiced in their accomplishments and set the tone for the road ahead. Each, in her own way, is committed to shaping and growing a new Israeli Judaism — an authentic, pluralistic, welcoming, innovative, spiritual, cultural, and deeply engaging Judaism. With their ordination, they became the 137th through 142nd Israeli Reform rabbis in our Movement.
Sitting in the crowd among fellow alumni of our alma mater, having just come from a very successful World Zionist Congress, one feeling stood out: this is the essence of Zionism today. Not only that Jews have power, but that Reform Jews have power and are learning to use it — with integrity, with purpose, and with growing influence in the Jewish State. If the Zionism of yesterday was about creating a new Jew, the Zionism of today is about creating a new Judaism. We do this through our rabbis on the ground, through grassroots engagement and educational renewal — and through wielding influence in our shared institutions.
Our success at the World Zionist Congress was tangible and evident. We look forward to sharing our Movement’s and our broader coalition’s leadership positions in the coming days. Key resolutions were passed — and others, rightly, blocked. We pushed for state-backed security for liberal congregations in Israel (following the attack on our synagogue in Ra’anana last May), prevented the World Zionist Organization and National Institutions from financing any future settlement activity in the Gaza Strip, called for an official state commission of inquiry into the failures of October 7th, promoted the Hebrew language and efforts to combat antisemitism, and fought against any unilateral move toward sovereignty over the Temple Mount or West Bank. Each of these victories reflects our conviction that Zionism must serve both Jewish survival and Jewish ethics.
What happens within the Zionist National Institutions is not mere bureaucratic theater — it has real political consequences. These bodies allocate vast resources, shape Israel’s public priorities, and define who holds moral and communal legitimacy within world Jewry. We’ve seen this clearly in Israel’s own political landscape: when liberal and centrist forces gain traction within these frameworks, they strengthen leaders — like Yair Lapid and others — who champion democracy, religious freedom, and equality. The struggle for representation in Zionist institutions directly affects the balance of Israel’s political future.
And this week offered a vivid reminder of why that matters. In New York, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — an outspoken critic of Zionism — captured headlines with a rhetoric that casts Israel’s very existence as incompatible with justice or liberal values. For those of us who see Zionism as the Jewish people’s movement for liberation, not domination, his election underscores the new ideological landscape we face. The dividing line today is not between “Israelis” and “Diaspora Jews,” but between differing visions of Jewish peoplehood, Zionism, and a fundamental understanding of our moral and ethical code. This debate — over pluralism, equality, tradition, and sovereignty — crosses oceans and communities. There are liberals and conservatives in both Tel Aviv and New York, in kibbutzim and suburban synagogues. The challenge, and the opportunity, is to ensure that these debates strengthen rather than fracture our shared sense of purpose.
Thirty Years After Rabin: A Renewed Call
When Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995, it marked a turning point — a stark reminder that Zionism’s promise of peace and democracy is fragile, that Jewish society and Israeli democracy must constantly be nourished, guarded, and expanded. Rabin’s legacy teaches that power matters, but so does the use of power; that democracy matters, but so does its moral content; that national security matters, but so does security for the vulnerable.
An activist, liberal Zionism takes that legacy seriously. Thirty years later, we are not merely nostalgic — we are also energized. We remember Rabin not merely to rest in memory, but also to act. We insist that Zionism is not merely about survival, but about flourishing: of Jewish identity, of democratic practice, of cross-communal justice. We argue that the Jewish state can be both secure and just; Jewish civilization can be rooted in tradition and open to pluralism; and national ambition can coexist within an ethical framework.
Today, when anti-Zionism grows louder in global discourse — and when some in Israel seek to narrow the definition of Judaism itself — the response cannot be withdrawal or defensiveness. The answer is activist Zionism that fights for liberal Jewish values: democracy, equality, human dignity, and peace. It’s the Zionism embodied in those six new Israeli Reform rabbis, who stand for a Judaism of inclusion and conscience. It’s the Zionism lived by Reform delegates at the World Zionist Congress, who translate conviction into policy and moral leadership.
This is the Zionism we need — confident, principled, and forward-looking. A Zionism that honors Rabin’s memory not only with words, but with deeds. A Zionism that believes Israel’s story, and the Jewish story, are not yet finished — and that our role, as Reform Jews, is to help write their next, more just and hopeful chapter.
Shabbat Shalom.