Social Action Updates

In a season of a pandemic, it is also a season of elections. Many of us recently voted in the in the election of the U.S. representatives to the World Zionist Congress (WZC). Thank you for doing so. The preliminary results show that the Vote Reform slate garnered more votes than any other, 31,500 out of a record 123,000 votes cast. The overall number of votes cast is double the number cast in the last election in 2015 and the highest number of votes ever cast by the American Jewish community in one of these elections.  The Vote Reform slate brought in an additional 10,000 voters as compared to 2015. While these results are seemingly very positive for the Vote Reform slate, in actuality, the Vote Reform slate is only one of 15 slates. Together with the other progressive Jewish slates (including Mercaz of the Conservative Movement and Hatikvah of the Progressive Bloc), these slates received 45% of the total votes, down from about 60% in 2015. Because of an even larger surge in voting by politically and religiously conservative groups, these groups control the other 55%. This is an increase in the proportion they controlled in the 2015 Congress. In particular, a brand new slate, Eretz Hakodesh: urged followers of “The Torah community [to] vote, to prevent values of the liberal movements from infiltrating the Torah atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael”.

Why does this matter? The Congress oversees the spending of nearly $5 billion over five years toward Jewish causes in Israel and around the world and appoints board members to other important Jewish organizations — like the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Jewish National Fund and the World Zionist Organization — that spend billions of dollars of their own.  Among the sorts of issues the Congress has considered is whether and how much money to spend to buy land in the West Bank, with the Reform movement working to counter that effort. The Reform slate will also seek to support a two-state peace solution, greater support for non-Orthodox Judaism in Israel and to counter racism and homophobia.

The 500 member council is scheduled to meet in Jerusalem in October 2020. This American election will contribute 152 delegates with makeup proportional to the votes received by the 15 slates. About a third of the council will come from Israel, with membership determined by the Knesset and the other third by the remainder of the Jewish world diaspora.

Thank you for your very important vote which will greatly influence the Jewish values which Israel demonstrates in the future. 

Sources:

Your guide to the World Zionist Congress elections, the most important vote you’ve never heard of

Orthodox groups surge, progressives falter in World Zionist Congress election

2020 World Zionist Congress Election Results

Preliminary Results

Contributed by Alice Thomson

A Community Conversation with Congressman Bryan Steil

On Sept. 3, Beth Hillel had the privilege of hosting Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI District 1) as the Congressman’s office contacted the Milwaukee Jewish Federation asking for an opportunity to share insights from his recent trip to Israel with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Rabbi Feingold was contacted about hosting Rep. Steil, and set up the program with his congressional office. It was defined as a “Community Conversation,” and the opportunity to discuss any issue of concern to constituents was offered.

Congressman Steil opened the meeting by talking about his recent visit to Israel and the West Bank with approximately 70 other members of Congress. The group met with President Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders and viewed Israeli security installations among other stops. He acknowledged the importance of the relationship between the United States and Israel and the on-going perilous security situation which Israel faces. He voiced firm support for the United States’ support of Israel. The congressional group also traveled to Ramallah where they met with leaders of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Rep. Steil reported that a key concern voiced by the PLO leaders was the deduction from the aid budget paid by Israel to the PLO for payments made by the PLO to families of persons convicted of terrorism.

He also discussed the role he has chosen for himself in Congress, namely to pursue bipartisanship and pursue legislation which he thinks can actually get passed.

In this vein, he reported on the human trafficking bill he has introduced with bi-partisan support of the entire Wisconsin delegation. The stated purpose of the bill is to hold countries accountable for the funding of human trafficking through illegal activities. A comment was raised that while the bill is of value, it does not go far enough. T-visas, may be available to certain victims of a severe human trafficking, allowing them to remain in the United States for up to 4 years if they have assisted law enforcement in an investigation or prosecution of human trafficking. However undocumented persons are often afraid to apply for such visas, fearing that by revealing their undocumented status, they will be deported. Rep. Steil stated he was unfamiliar with the T-visas but would look into this issue.

Rabbi Feingold shared with Rep. Steil a letter which she and over 1500 other rabbis and cantors have signed calling on elected officials to protect the fundamental right to seek asylum in the United States.

Rep. Steil took more questions. The next topic raised was whether Rep. Steil is willing to denounce the racist, anti-Semitic incendiary rhetoric of President Trump. Steil stated that was “not his style”. When continued questions pointed to the urgency of this issue, he did acknowledge the growth of hate as “real”.

Another issue raised, regarded the effect of the tax reform legislation passed last year on fundraising by nonprofit organizations. Concern was raised that charitable donations are no longer tax-deductible for middle income families.

Two other pieces of legislation raised for Rep. Steil’s consideration were the No Hate Act, to promote more accurate data collection and assist victims of hate crimes, and raising the caps on refugee resettlement which has been severely restricted under the Trump administration. He accepted background information on each and promised to review the proposals.

Rep. Steil also told us about a staff member of his who has been effective in facilitating asylum applications. We brought to his attention the particular situation of a congregation member waiting for a ruling on his asylum application whose permission to work and drive has expired. He has no way to support himself as he awaits a ruling on his application. Rep. Steil promised to have his staff member look at the case.

In all, the meeting was a forthright, respectful conversation between the approximately 25 members of the congregation present and Rep. Steil. We heartily thanked him for his visit. Now we need to keep our dialogue with him going.