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27-747: The Israel Religious Action Center (Hebrew: המרכז הרפורמי לדת ומדינה) also known as IRAC , was established in 1987 as the public and legal advocacy arm of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism . It is located in Jerusalem , Israel . IRAC aims to defend equality , social justice , and religious pluralism within Israel, through the Israeli legal system, lobbying and publications. Author Elana Maryles Sztokman calls IRAC "the preeminent civil and human rights organization in Israel," advocating for

54-465: A broadly inclusive democracy and promoting social justice. Recent campaigns include an effort to ban gender segregation on Israeli public buses, a successful public campaign for the abolition of income guarantees to kollel students, and a lobbying campaign in defense of human rights organizations operating in Israel. As of May 2024 the executive director is civil rights attorney Orly Erez-Likhovski, who has served with IRAC since 2004. Anat Hoffman ,

81-491: A combined program with Tel Aviv University . During his academic studies, Kariv established Progressive Movement student networks on campuses around the country. Following the economic sanctions of 2002, Kariv was one of the founding members of the Social Organizations Forum, and was active in several social initiatives, such as the single mothers protest. In 2003, Kariv received rabbinic ordination at

108-672: Is affiliated with the World Union for Progressive Judaism. In 2012, The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism officially changed its name to the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism. Reuven Marko serves as the chairman of the IMPJ, and Gilad Kariv serves as the executive director. In June and July 2015, the Reform movement in Israel came under attack by the new minister of religious affairs, David Azulai . The context

135-764: Is an Israeli attorney and a politician. He was the former CEO of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism and is currently a member of the Knesset for the Democrats and previously for the Labor Party , in the 25th Knesset. Kariv was born and educated in Tel Aviv . His involvement with the Reform Movement began in high school, when he joined the Beit Daniel Synagogue,

162-854: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem . In 2001, he earned a bachelor's degree in law and Jewish studies . In 2001–2002 he interned in the Supreme Court of the State Attorney Office. In 2003, he received a master's degree in Jewish studies at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem . In 2004, he was certified as a lawyer by the Israel Bar Association . In 2008, Kariv received a master's degree in constitutional law from Northwestern University in Chicago , through

189-785: The Center of Progressive movement in Tel Aviv. Once completing his secondary education at Lady Davis High School, Gilad volunteered for a Service Year in the Hebrew Scouts , and worked on establishing educational Nahal groups. Kariv served in the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Corps under the Haman Talpiot program. Following five years of service, during which he completed the officers program with honors, Kariv went to study at

216-584: The HUC. Among his posts, Kariv served as a rabbi at Congregation Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv until 2008. Between 2003–2009, Kariv served as the director of the Israel Religious Action Center , and headed Reform movement public and legal initiatives in Israel on issues of freedom of religion, relation between religion and state, conversion, and many other social causes. Kariv initiated the establishment of Keren Be'chavod ('Be'chavod Fund) –

243-811: The Reform Movement youth organization, a part of Netzer Olami ; the Youth Adult and Students Forum for 20- to 30-year-olds; as well as four Batei Midrash (Jewish study centers). The first Reform kibbutz , Yahel , was founded in 1976 in Arabah , and Lotan was founded in 1983. Har Halutz was established in Galilee in 1985. The movement has not attracted a significant following among religious Jews in Israel. Researchers attribute this to several factors: The IMPJ participates in various initiatives for social justice , such as Rabbis for Human Rights , and it

270-431: The Reform Movement's humanitarian aid foundation, and "Kehilat Tzedek" – the training and guidance center for people of all Jewish sects in the field of social action. In 2009, Kariv was appointed executive director of the IMPJ. Since then, he has worked to expand the work of the movement, advance its standing with the Israeli public, establish new Reform congregations around the country, and obtain government recognition of

297-483: The Reform movement before Knesset committees and in a variety of other public settings. Between 2006 and 2009, Kariv took part in the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee's discussions over the proposed writing of an Israeli constitution. In these meetings, Kariv represented the liberal Zionist point of view. Together with his colleagues at the IMPJ, Kariv proposed constitutional principles for

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324-494: The Reform movement in the U.S. (the largest Jewish religious organization there) decided to shun him. Kariv called on his American partners to refuse access to Levin. Rabbi Richard Jacobs , President of the American Union for Reform Judaism , agreed to cancel all meetings between Levin and Reform leaders. Jacobs told Israeli Army Radio : "There’s no reason to give him a platform in Jewish communities and organizations in

351-733: The State of Israel. As a representative of the Reform movement, Kariv serves as a board member at the Jewish Federation Institute for Jewish Learning, and as a board member in the Menucha Nechona organization, which works to advance civil burials in Israel. Between 2008 and 2011, Kariv also served as a committee member at the Israel Broadcasting Authority . Kariv ran in the 2012 Israeli Labor Party primary elections, winning 27th place on

378-543: The United States. Minister Levin will not teach us what support for Israel is.” The Central Conference of American Rabbis , the North American Reform rabbinical organization, protested Levin's comments, saying "Minister Levin is entitled to his private beliefs. However, as a minister in the government of all Israel, he has an obligation to support the religious practice of all Israelis. His remarks on

405-404: The center of all Reform rabbis in Israel. MARAM had edited prayer books for Shabbat and high holidays, and other publications on Jewish law, prayer, and holidays. MARAM deals with a variety of Jewish topics, and runs a Convectional program and court. As of 2017 Rabbi Professor Yehoyada Amir serves as the head of MARAM. The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) was founded in 1987, and serves as

432-648: The citizens of Israel, then he should resign." In 2016, Likud MK Yariv Levin criticized efforts to accommodate multi-denominational Judaism in Israel. At a government hearing on non-Orthodox prayer space at the Western Wall, Levin slammed Reform Judaism, saying egalitarian prayer space at the Wall is unnecessary based on his opinion that Reform Jews will "be all but gone in three generations". Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Levin's remarks and

459-703: The earliest Reform rabbis to settle in what would become Israel included Judah Leon Magnes , who was the first chancellor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in 1938 became its president. Meir Elk , who graduated from the liberal Breslau Rabbinical Seminary in Germany (in what is now Wrocław , Poland), founded the Leo Baeck School in Haifa . The first Reform congregation in Israel, Congregation Har'el, opened in Jerusalem in 1958. A conference open to

486-671: The executive director of IRAC for over 20 years until November, 2022, is also the director and a founding member of Neshot HaKotel , also known as " Women of the Wall " or WoW, an organization of women who pray at the Western Wall in an egalitarian manner. Rabbi Noa Sattath, a leader in gay rights and in Jewish-Palestinian relations, also served in IRAC leadership. The Israel Religious Action Center describes its work as: Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism Some of

513-482: The movement's activities. Kariv publishes opinion pieces in the news and online. He has published several position papers on a variety of topics, including a proposal for the re-organization of religious service provisions in Israel, a suggestion for separation of religious institutions from state bodies, Israeli public space on the Sabbath and a report on the crisis of conversion. Kariv is regularly invited to represent

540-514: The party's list for the 2013 Knesset election . The party won only 15 seats. In December 2014, he informed Labor Party Chairman Isaac Herzog that he would be running for a spot on the Labor list for the 2015 election . In January 2021, Kariv ran again in the Labor Party's primary election for the 2021 Knesset election and placed fourth on the party's slate. He was subsequently elected to

567-593: The people they convert are therefore not Jews. Rubinstein noted: "Once it established public mikvahs and put them at the service of the public – including for the process of conversion – the State cannot but be evenhanded in allowing their use .... The State of Israel is free to supervise the use of its mikvahs, so long as it does so in an egalitarian manner." The headquarters of the IMPJ are located in The Shimshon Center-Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem. MARAM – Council of Progressive Rabbis serves as

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594-713: The public and legal advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel. It focuses on issues of religion and state, including state recognition of Reform Rabbis and Reform conversions. Anat Hoffman serves as the executive director of IRAC. The IMPJ Mechina Project is a post-secondary , pre-military year of study and preparation toward compulsory IDF service. Participants in Mechina study Jewish heritage and Israeli identity, and work in community service projects. The IMPJ Mechina takes place in Jaffa . Gilad Kariv Gilad Kariv ( Hebrew : גלעד קריב ‎ ; born 30 November 1973)

621-454: The public who wished to see a Jewish alternative to the Orthodox movement took place in 1965. This strengthened the relationship between the six existing congregations, and served as the cornerstone for the establishment of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ). The IMPJ officially became an organization in Israel in 1971. The Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion ,

648-494: The rabbinical college of Reform Judaism, began its Rabbinical Studies program in Israel in 1974, and in 1980, the first Reform rabbi was ordained by the HUC. The headquarters of the World Union for Progressive Judaism moved to Jerusalem in 1973. As of 2012 there are 40 communities and congregations affiliated with Reform Judaism in Israel. The IMPJ runs about 40 kindergartens; school-run educational programming; Noar Telem,

675-659: The state on behalf of the Reform and Conservative/Masorti movements to allow members to use publicly-funded mikvot. The case, which took ten years to resolve, resulted in the Israeli supreme court ruling that public ritual baths must accept all prospective converts to Judaism, including converts to Reform and Conservative Judaism. In his 2016 ruling, Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein said barring certain converts amounts to discrimination. Until this ruling, Orthodox officials barred non-Orthodox converts from using any mikveh, claiming their traditions do not conform to Jewish law and

702-499: The supposed waning presence of U.S. Reform Jews reveal a bias against a religious movement that includes over a million and a half people." Informed of Netanyahu's criticism of his comments, Levin refused to backtrack. His office announced: "The tourism minister stands by what he said, and he would likely say it again." An Israeli court ruling in 2016 prohibited discrimination against Reform Jews in using publicly funded mikvot . The Reform movement's Israel Religious Action Center sued

729-565: Was the Women of the Wall , an Israeli group fighting for the right of Jewish women to pray at the Kotel (Western Wall) in a fashion incompatible with Orthodox religious norms. In a meeting with MK Ayelet Shaked about that group, Azulai referred to them as "provocateurs" and claimed that Reform Judaism is "a disaster for the nation of Israel". Azulai's comments were condemned by Kariv, who noted, "If Minister Azoulay cannot function as minister for all

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