Lynn Magid Lazar

It's Tuesday in Jerusalem. The World Zionist Organization (WZO) Congress does not begin until a week from today. You remember all the 'buzz' about the WZO and voting for the ARZA (Association of Reform Zionists of America) slate? Earlier this year, from January through April, every American Jew was urged to vote in the WZO election. There were websites and posters to encourage voting. Computers and tablets were brought to meetings in an effort to encourage American Jews to register and vote for the ARZA slate, representing Reform Judaism. And guess what? It worked! ARZA garnered 56 seats! In fact, we have more delegates than the next two slates combined. American Reform Jews can feel quite proud—and I am quite proud to be one of the ARZA delegates who will be representing all of you next week. You may be asking, what is ARZA and what is the World Zionist Congress? ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America, represents 1.4 million American Jews in Reform communities. Fifty-six ARZA delegates will be attending the "Parliament of the Jewish People"—the World Zionist Congress (WZC)—in Jerusalem October 18-22. Theodor Herzl convened the first WZC in 1897 and I will be here for the convening of the 37th meeting! That fact alone is inspirational! Beginning next week, 500 delegates from all over the world will debate cutting-edge issues, allocate monies, and make efforts to impact the future of the Jewish people.

This week, we continue our celebration of marriage equality in the United States with special messages from WRJ and Reform Movement leaders and community members. Today we hear from WRJ Immediate Past President Lynn Magid Lazar.

Love conquers all! Well, maybe not all—but certainly last week’s Supreme Court decision marks a momentous day for our country and a moment in time when we can honestly say that our country upheld the values of love and equal rights and responsibilities for all our citizens. Love conquers all! At least for right now; for myself and for so many other parents, grandparents, siblings, relatives, and friends, (as the hashtags say) love wins! Last week, the majority opinion of our Supreme Court asserted that in this country, freedoms expand. In this country, all our citizens are entitled to participate in the sacred relationships of marriage.

Regifting in ancient Israel was a big problem (or at least that is what we can surmise from this week's Torah portion, Naso, which literally means ‘lift up’). The Israelites were wandering through the wilderness in an effort to create sacred community while struggling to reach the promised destination (with no cell phones or GPS!). In Parashat Naso, we are instructed to ‘lift up’ the heads of the Levites and count them… count them separately and independently from the counting that occurred in last week’s portion as it teaches that each individual–as part of a tribe–can provide unique gifts. Each tribe can contribute these gifts on different days, with different intentions, and often with diverse outcomes. Yet, the entire community benefits and is strengthened.

It's WRJ's Centennial year and some days I wake up and I'm not sure what city I am in! Today though, I am very clearly in Washington, D.C. attending the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC)'s flagship conference, Consultation on Conscience. We began last night with an exciting keynote speaker in our historic and impressive Washington Hebrew Congregation. The speaker, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice and URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs had a wonderful, open conversation. It was interesting and so informative.