Rabbi Josh Weinberg, the Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism for Israel and Reform Zionism and Executive Director of ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America will be the guest speaker at Friday night services on March 6 at 8:00 p.m., at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington. Rabbi Weinberg’s address will be Israel: Living the dream, Facing Reality, and will cover the significant role of Reform Jews in the past and the current opportunity to make a difference in Israel and worldwide Judaism especially through the current World Zionist Congress elections.
The World Zionist Organization, a non-governmental entity that promotes Zionism, comprises 500 delegates and meets in Jerusalem every five years. It enables delegates to exert ideological influence on both Israeli society and the global Jewish agenda, as well as allocate financial and other resources to various organizations – including the Reform Movement – in Israel. The elections will determine the size of the various delegations to the 38th World Zionist Congress and will end on March 11, 2020.
Rabbi Weinberg was ordained from the HUC-JIR Israeli Rabbinic Program in Jerusalem, and is currently living in New York. Weinberg previously served as the Director of the Israel program for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and as a faculty member of NFTY-EIE High School in Israel, teaching Jewish History. He’s a reserve officer in the IDF spokesperson’s unit, has hiked the Israel-trail and came on Aliyah to Israel in 2003.
Weinberg has taught and lectured widely throughout Israel, the U.S. and Europe, as well as on Kivunim and Shnat Netzer gap-year programs. He has led numerous tours and trained tour educators for the Reform movement’s Israel experiences. In addition to being a “STorahtelling Mayven,” Weinberg has a passion for the environment and spends lots of time outdoors hiking and climbing, playing music and volleyball. He’s passionate about anything connected to Israel and hopes to strengthen the connection between the Reform movement and the Jewish State.
Story submitted by The Community Synagogue.
