125th Anniversary of the First Zionist Congress – An Experience of a Lifetime

It is difficult to put into just a few words the incredible experience I had recently when I had the honor and privilege to represent Women’s League for Conservative Judaism as part of the Mercaz delegation to the 125th Anniversary of the First Zionist Congress. We began this magical celebration with a Shabbaton in Zurich, Switzerland and then journeyed to Basel, Switzerland for the World Zionist Organization 125th Anniversary events. Over the course of Shabbat, I was able to reacquaint myself with long time friends, and also new friends, who gathered from the four corners of the earth – to comprise the Mercaz Delegation. Our delegation consisted of representatives of the Mercaz Olami and Masorti Olami community,  from places such as France, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Spain, Israel, Hungary, USA and Canada. We took a Friday afternoon guided tour of Zurich, prayed together, learned together, ate, sang and conversed. I learned that we are alive and strong as a Global Masorti / Conservative community, and have much to be proud of. I was privileged to lead Maariv at the end of Shabbat, and was filled with emotion, as the entire Jewish Community that evening began the twice daily custom of reciting Psalm 27, from the beginning of Rosh Chodesh Elul unil Hoshanah Rabbah. It was a sense of irony and pride, as I led our Mercaz delegation in Maariv, wearing my new Torah Fund pin, Hazak, reciting the words of Psalm 27, which include our Torah Fund theme this year – “Chazak v’Yametz lebechah v’kaveh el Adonai” Be Strong, Take Courage, and Hope in Adonai.” It was a true honor to represent Women’s League for Conservative Judaism at this powerful Shabbaton, with the leaders of the Conservative / Masorti Movement. WLCJ has a seat at the table, and we have earned respect from all parts of the Masorti movement, worldwide. Meeting all these Masorti representatives truly will help us continue the initiative that Illene Rubin leads, as our WLCJ Chair of World Community Engagement, now that I have made friends with leadership in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, Spain, and Israel, who have learned about our WLCJ mission.

Our Mercaz delegation arrived in Basel, Switzerland on Sunday, August 28, on our own reserved train car, after a spiritual ride which included the sounding of the Shofar. While enjoying lunch in the Messe Conference Center in Basel, a woman working for the Conference production team came over to me and asked me if I was a rabbi, and when I said yes, she said she loved me, and was so proud of me  – one of the many memorable interactions I had with people over the course of my time in Switzerland.

There were two tracks at the conference: The Herzl Social Impact Entrepreneurship Summit and the Herzl Leadership Conference. The sessions were inspirational and meaningful, and our entire Mercaz / Masorti delegation kvelled when we had our own people presenting in plenary sessions – such as Rabbis Elliot Cosgrove, David Wolpe, and Tamar Elad-Appelbaum, Chancellor Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Sarah Lipsey Brockman, and opening remarks from our very own Dr. Yizhar Hess, Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organizaton.  Some of the most impactful speakers were people like Miriam Peretz, Israel Prize Winner for Lifetime Achievement for “Strengthening the Jewish-Israeli Spirit,” whose two sons both died while serving in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), who spoke on “The Heroism of Life”; Yossi Cohen, Former Director of The Mossad and Head of SoftBank Investment Advisers, Israel, who spoke on “Israel’s Vision and National Security”; Brooke Goldstein, Founder and Executive Director, The Lawfare Project & Founder, #EndJewHatred, and Joanna Landau, Founder and CEO of Vibe Israel, who both were on a plenary discussing “The Everyday Battle – Fighting the Disinformation.” Every session was informative and gave much food for thought. My head is still spinning from all I learned during such sessions as, “Hertz’s Two Ideas: One that changed the past and the other that will change the future”; “Israel 2048 – Herzl’s Vision in the 21st century”; “Unity and Solidarity within the Jewish People”; “The complex business of living the Zionist dream”; “A 21st Century Zionism for a 21st Century people”; “Combating Antisemitism and fostering Jewish life in Europe and Worldwide – The implementation of the EU Strategy”; “The New Jews – The Mosaic of identities in the USA”; “Z3 – Zionism in the Next Era.” 

Monday night was the Gala Event of the 125th Anniversary of the First Zionist Congress at Stadtcasino Basel, the location where Theodore Herzl held the very first Zionist Congress, where people both 125 years ago, and in 2022, were instructed to dress in their best – some even in tuxedos and white bow ties, and even some top hats. Descendants of the very first Zionist Congress Delegates spoke and President Isaac Herzog addressed all gathered. The previous day the Conference production company created a video of the participants – and I was excited to even have a cameo in that – with my new friends, while we sang and waved our flags of Israel.

Tuesday, we wrapped up our magical days in Basel, once again being addressed by President Herzog and posing for pictures on the very same hotel balcony at the Les Trois Rois Hotel in Basel,  where Herzl took his famous picture looking out onto the Rhine River, dreaming of the creation of the State of Israel. 

The days in Basel were thought provoking and left me with even more to ponder. But that is for another Shabbat message… stay tuned!  However, a truly important take away that I will conclude this Shabbat message with, is that all of our membership in Mercaz USA/Canada, the Zionist organization of the Masorti (Conservative) Movement is extremely important because that is how we can continue Herzl’s dream. Mercaz represents Masorti Judaism within the World Zionist Organization and Congress, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Zionist Movement, and the Jewish National Fund. Mercaz is the force that advocates for funding of pluralistic streams of Judaism in Israel through the World Zionist Congress, which is crucial to our movement’s growth in Israel and around the globe. We must continue Herzl’s dream by supporting the State of Israel, by belonging to our organization that gives the Conservative / Masorti Movement a voice in Israel today. Become a member of Mercaz (https://www.mercazusa.org/support-us/membership/ or in Canada https://mercaz.ca/join-mercaz/)  and make sure that when it is time to vote for the World Zionist Congress in 2025, we vote for Mercaz. Am Yisrael Chai ! 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields
WLCJ Executive Director
ewolintz-fields@wlcj.org