How the Woke Left is Energizing Their Base By: Dovid Gold “Their goal is to silence our power. They do not want men and women to pray together at the Kotel; they want the education system in Israel to recognize only orthodox Judaism, and they do not want synagogues to allow women to serve as prayer leaders.” This was the rallying cry at the Conservative movement’s conference held in advance of the upcoming World Zionist elections.  The leaders of the non-Orthodox streams of Judaism are scared. Their hold on the World Zionist Congress and the billions at its disposal is disappearing. In the words of Dr. Yizhar Hess, head of the Conservative Mercaz party: “The only source of funding that non-Orthodox movements [receive] is from the National Institutions; the Zionist Congress and its daughter companies. These two movements, Reform Judaism and Masoriti Conservative movements [are] now at risk.”  These are not empty words. These religiously bankrupt movements are on their last legs. Thriving movements don’t rely on one source of funds.  From Ignoring Israel to Exploiting It From their inception, the non-Orthodox movements have practically ignored Eretz Yisroel. Finding the concept of a Jewish homeland to be ideologically at odds with their vision of the modern Jew, the Reform movement in particular refused to have anything to do with it. But this has changed. Beginning in the 1970s, they started talking about Israel and its importance to Judaism.  Their ideology didn’t change. What they realized was that they were rapidly becoming irrelevant and to save their movements they piggybacked off the success of the State of Israel and its place in the hearts of the Jewish people. Suddenly, they started claiming they cared about it too. To this end, they joined the WZO and became active in Israeli politics.  In 1978, the Reform Movement established the Association of Reform Zionists in America (ARZA) as its representative body in the WZO. At the same time, the Conservative Movement redoubled its efforts to grow its party, MERCAZ Olami. These alternative forms of Judaism began to grow in influence within the WZO and demanded that large amounts of money be given to causes aligned with their values.  Unfortunately, they were largely successful. By positioning themselves as the exclusive representatives of American Jewry, they secured leadership positions that allowed them to influence the budgets of the National Institutions. Based on an investigative review of the entire WZO budget, the total annual amount transferred to the Reform movements by the National Institutions is approximately 46,500,000 NIS. For example, a Reform summer camp received not only direct funding from KKL/JNF but also operated at an official KKL/JNF facility as part of a partnership with the Reform movement.  These activities have an unfortunate effect on thousands of unsuspecting Israelis who are just looking to add religion to their lives. This reality went unchecked for decades.  In 2020, concerned frum activists, guided by Gedolei Yisroel including Rav Chaim Kanievsky and Rav Gershon Edelstein, decided to take action. They founded Eretz HaKodesh, a party dedicated to representing Torah values in the WZO. In their very first election, they secured 25 seats in the Zionist Congress, finally giving a voice to those who oppose the agenda of the Reform and Conservative movements. Their effect was felt immediately. As Dr. Hess […]