Dr. Yizhar Hess (born July 5, 1967) has served as the Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization. He was elected to that role in 2020 as a representative of MERCAZ , the Zionist slate of the global Masorti/Conservative Movement. A long-time activist and commentator on issues of religion and state in Israel, religious pluralism, and Israel-Diaspora relations, Hess previously served for thirteen years as CEO of the Masorti Movement in Israel.
Yizhar Hess was born and educated in Jerusalem, and he studied in the Gymnasia Rehavia, where he was active in the Tzofim (scouts). [1] He has a BA in Hebrew Literature and Political Science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a degree in law from The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and an MA degree in Jewish Studies from the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, [2] and a Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy of Education at Sussex University in Brighton, England.
Hess started his service the Israel Defense Forces in 1985 as a combatant soldier in the Armored Corps and later as an information officer in the Education and Youth Corps.
After his release from the Israel Defense Forces in 1990, Hess worked as a copywriter in an advertising agency and later as a journalist in the Shishi (Friday) newspaper.
During his studies in the Hebrew University, he joined the Shorashim Institute for Jewish Studies. Hess conducted and directed seminars at the Institute until he was appointed vice CEO of the Institute in 1996, a position he held until 1999.
In 2000 Hess started serving as the Jewish Agency's shaliach to Tucson, Arizona. [3] He wrote a weekly column in the Arizona Jewish Post and won an excellence Award (2002) from the Association of Jewish Centers in North America (now known as the JCCA, the JCC Association) for the many cultural programs he initiated in Arizona and an Excellence Award on behalf of the Jewish Federation (2003). He was also a regular commentator about Israel on the weekly program The Too Jewish Radio Show with Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends during his tenure in Tucson.
He returned to Israel in 2003 and continued working in the Jewish Agency as the director of partnerships between Jewish communities abroad and in Israel.
Yizhar became the CEO of the Conservative or Masorti movement in Israel in 2007, holding the position until 2020. [4] He has served as one of the negotiators attempting to work out an agreement to handle pluralist worship at the Western Wall that would meet the requirements of the Women of the Wall and the requirements of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Administrator of the Western Wall and the Holy Sites. [5] An agreement was announced among the various factions in early 2016, but when ultra-orthodox members of the current government coalition threatened to abandon the coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced difficulties and said the arrangement would take longer. Hess criticized Netanyahu's backtracking on the agreement. [6]
Hess has been an outspoken critic of fundamentalist streams of all religions that seek to limit religious freedom, stating:
"We must say it loud and clear: Jewish fundamentalism is no better and no worse than any other kind of religious fundamentalism. The only difference is that it is clear to all of us that we must fight Islamic fundamentalism. But when it comes to the fundamentalism in our own home, the fundamentalism which is active within us, which is threatening our life as a Jewish-democratic state and endangering Zionism as a historic enterprise, we hesitate even after 20 years." [7]
Hess also defended Conservative Judaism against criticism from David Lau, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, who made disparaging remarks about Bayit Yehudi chairman and Education Minister Naftali Bennett visiting a Conservative Jewish school in the U.S. [8]
Hess has expressed concern that if politicians and Orthodox rabbis continue to disparage non-Orthodox streams of Judaism, if the Knesset delays pluralist worship solutions for the Western Wall and passes legislation limiting non-Orthodox access to state-funded mikvehs, then the relationship between Israel and diaspora Jews could be severely damaged. [9]
Since his appointment as Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Hess's work has focused on advancing the idea of Jewish Peoplehood. He has spoken with many groups both of Israelis and Diaspora Jews about Israel-Diaspora relations, educating Diaspora Jews on issues of religion and state and other political issues in Israel, and Israeli Jews on non-Orthodox streams of Judaism prominent abroad. Elected as a representative of MERCAZ, the Zionist slate of the Masorti/Conservative Movement , Hess has been a leading advocate for advancing pluralism and liberal values in the WZO's work, as well as that of the Jewish Agency, KKL/JNF, Keren Hayesod, where he serves a member of their respective boards of directors. During the protests against the proposed judicial overhaul in Israel in 2023, Hess was a leading voice representing the concerns and opposition of Diaspora Jews to the overhaul in both the Israeli and Jewish media around the world.
Jewish religious movements, sometimes called "denominations", include different groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements ; modernist movements such as Conservative, Masorti and Reform Judaism; and secular or Hiloni Jews.
The World Zionist Organization, or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the First Zionist Congress, which took place in August 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. The goals of the Zionist movement were set out in the Basel Program.
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as Dati Leumi, and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the first part of that term Datiim. The community is sometimes called כִּפָּה סְרוּגָה Kippah seruga, literally, "Knitted kippah", the typical head covering worn by male adherents to Religious Zionism.
Jewish political movements refer to the organized efforts of Jews to build their own political parties or otherwise represent their interest in politics outside the Jewish community. From the time of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans to the foundation of Israel the Jewish people had no territory, and, until the 19th century they by-and-large were also denied equal rights in the countries in which they lived. Thus, until the 19th century effort for the emancipation of the Jews, almost all Jewish political struggles were internal, and dealt primarily with either religious issues or issues of a particular Jewish community.
Religion in Israel is manifested primarily in Judaism, the ethnic religion of the Jewish people. The State of Israel declares itself as a "Jewish and democratic state" and is the only country in the world with a Jewish-majority population. Other faiths in the country include Islam, Christianity and the religion of the Druze people. Religion plays a central role in national and civil life, and almost all Israeli citizens are automatically registered as members of the state's 14 official religious communities, which exercise control over several matters of personal status, especially marriage. These recognized communities are Orthodox Judaism, Islam, the Druze faith, the Roman, Armenian Catholic, Maronite, Greek Catholic, Syriac Catholic, Chaldean, Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic and Anglican churches, and the Baháʼí Faith.
David Hartman was an American-Israeli leader and philosopher of contemporary Judaism, founder of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Israel, and a Jewish author.
The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism is the organizational branch of Progressive Judaism in Israel, and a member organization of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. It currently has 40 communities and congregations around the state of Israel, 13 of which are new congregations, referred to as "U'faratztah" communities, and two kibbutzim, Yahel and Lotan.
From the founding of political Zionism in the 1890s, Haredi Jewish leaders voiced objections to its secular orientation, and before the establishment of the State of Israel, the vast majority of Haredi Jews were opposed to Zionism. This was chiefly due to the concern that secular nationalism would redefine the Jewish nation from a religious community based in their alliance to God for whom adherence to religious laws were “the essence of the nation’s task, purpose, and right to exists,” to an ethnic group like any other as well as the view that it was forbidden for the Jews to re-constitute Jewish rule in the Land of Israel before the arrival of the Messiah. Those rabbis who did support Jewish resettlement in Palestine in the late 19th century had no intention to conquer Palestine and declare its independence from the rule of the Ottoman Turks, and some preferred that only observant Jews be allowed to settle there.
Marom is the Masorti movement’s organization for students and young adults, providing activities based on religious pluralism and Jewish content.
Haim Drukman was an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. The most senior spiritual leader of the Religious Zionist community at the time of his death, he served as rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivat Or Etzion, and head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot.
The baal teshuva movement is a description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term baal teshuva is from the Talmud, literally meaning "master of repentance". The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon among the Jewish people.
David Rotem was an Israeli politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu between 2007 and 2015.
The Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism, also known as the LCCJ, is a council made up of members of the various arms of the Conservative movement, a formal movement within the Jewish denomination of Conservative Judaism.
Masorti Olami is the international umbrella organization for Masorti Judaism, founded in 1957 with the goal of making Masorti Judaism a force in the Jewish world. Masorti Olami is affiliated with communities in over 36 countries, representing with partners in Israel and North America close to two million people worldwide, both registered members and non-member identifiers. Masorti Olami builds, renews, and strengthens Jewish life throughout the world, with efforts that focus on existing and developing communities in Europe, Latin America, the former Soviet Union, Africa, Asia, and Australia. More than 140 kehillot (communities) are affiliated with Masorti Olami in Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, the United Kingdom and additionally, more than 600 in Canada and the United States and over 80 communities in Israel. All of Masorti Olami's activities are conducted within the context of the overall Conservative Judaism movement, in close cooperation with its affiliated organizations in North America and Israel. The current executive director is Rabbi Mauricio Balter.
Yuval Cherlow is a Modern Orthodox rabbi and posek. He is Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Hesder Amit Orot Shaul in Tel Aviv, Israel. Cherlow was one of the founders of Tzohar, an organization of religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis in Israel.
Mercaz USA, officially Mercaz - The Movement to Reaffirm Conservative Zionism Inc, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on Zionism and Conservative Judaism, headquartered in New York City.
The Kotel compromise is a compromise reached between orthodox and non-orthodox Jewish denominations, according to which the non-Orthodox "mixed" prayer area for men and women was supposed to be expanded in the southern part of the Western Wall. In contrast to the existing situation, access to this "mixed" prayer area was supposed to be from the main entrance to the Western Wall, and in addition it was supposed to be run by a council which would contain representatives of the non-Orthodox denominations and women of the Wall.
Rabbi Mauricio Balter is the executive director of Masorti Olami, the international umbrella organization of the Masorti/Conservative Judaism Movement and MERCAZ Olami, the Movement's Zionist and political arm. As a representative of the Masorti/Conservative Movement, Balter is one of the 37 Directors of the Jewish National Fund and sits on the Education and Community Committee, as well as the Resource Development Committee. Rabbi Balter is founder and member of the Forum for Jewish Renewal in the Negev and founder of the Negev Interfaith Initiative Dialogue. Rabbi Balter serves as an executive member of the World Zionist Organization, a member of the board of governors of KKL-JNF, Keren HaYesod and the Jewish Agency for Israel.
MERCAZ Olami is a Zionist political organization representing the world Masorti/Conservative Movement of Judaism in the World Zionist Organization, Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Leyisrael and Keren HaYesod.. 'Mercaz' is the Hebrew word for 'center', whilst 'olami' means 'worldwide' or 'global'.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
