We share in the profound joy and relief felt across Israel and the Jewish world as the final 20 living hostages return home after 738 days and are reunited with their families. For two years, we have carried them in our hearts, held space for them in our communities, and kept their names on our lips.
Dear Synagogue Clergy and Leaders:
Applications for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) are due Friday, October 31. We strongly encourage congregations to consider applying for the NSGP so you remain eligible for this critical funding and review the terms and conditions carefully should a grant be awarded.
Avinu she-ba-shamayim, stronghold and redeemer of the people Israel: Bless the State of Israel, [that it may be] the beginning of our redemption. Shield it with Your love; spread over it the shelter of Your peace. Guide its leaders and advisors with Your light and Your truth. Help them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land. Deliver them; crown their efforts with triumph. Bless the land with peace and its inhabitants with lasting joy. And let us say: Amen.
(Prayer for the State of Israel from Siddur Lev Shalem)
Friends--
Last night, we received the preliminary results of the World Zionist Congress election, and we’re overjoyed to report that we nearly doubled our vote total from the last election. MERCAZ USA is one of three existing slates that ran in 2020 that stands to hold our ground and potentially even gain seats.
Haverim – Dear Friends,
We are devastated, angry, and vulnerable. Amid an alarming spike in antisemitic violence, Sunday’s attack in Boulder has inflicted deep harm—physically, emotionally, and communally. We stand with the 12 victims of this heinous assault—including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor—bearing witness to their pain and lifting prayers for their full recovery: refuat ha’nefesh u’refuat ha’guf.
Haverim – Dear Friends:
We are filled with profound sadness, tremendous anger, outrage, and vulnerability as we grieve the loss of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, may their memory be a blessing. Each of them worked for the Israeli embassy and committed themselves to supporting Zionism, the Jewish State, and the Jewish people.
The election for the 2025 World Zionist Congress has been a significant success for our 3 slates, representing the majority of liberal Jewry in the U.S. It was also a success for furthering our values of pluralism, equality, justice, and democracy. During a time when Zionism as a concept is more controversial for some in our communities than ever before, we successfully engaged more American Jews in liberal Zionism than we have in decades.
גירסה בעברית למטה
Conservative/Masorti Movement Condemns Israeli Government Move to Block Non-Orthodox Conversions
Since October 7, the Jewish people have united time and time again in heartbreak. Today we again mourn lives cruelly taken. We grieve with the Bibas and Lifshitz families as they endure the confirmation of the loss of Oded, Kfir, and Ariel. We are also outraged that the fate of Shiri Bibas remains unresolved, cruelly prolonging the anguish of the Bibas family.
Dear Colleagues,
This morning, the Rabbinical Assembly and United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) joined 25 other regional and national Jewish and Christian organizations in filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over new rules allowing immigration raids and arrests at houses of worship.