July 10, 2026
After a couple of weeks diverging from reflections on the Reform Movement’s various platforms, I want to return to a historical look at the documents that have shaped Reform Jewish life in America and around the world. As we have explored, the Movement’s platforms have responded to complex challenges and questions facing the Jewish world at the time in which they were written.
In 1997, 100 years after Theodor Herzl convened the very first World Zionist Congress, which was the nascent step in calling for Jewish statehood, the Central Conference of American Rabbis gathered in Miami to adopt “Reform Judaism & Zionism: A Centenary Platform.” This platform focused exclusively on Zionism, whereas earlier platforms and one subsequent set of principles focused on a diverse set of issues facing the Reform Jewish world. This platform, nearly fifty years after the State of Israel was born, came between two tumultuous periods for the State. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the challenges of the First Intifada, while the early 2000s saw the beginning of the Second Intifada. These violent uprisings sandwiched a period of great hope that saw the signing of Oslo I and II in 1993 and 1995. For a brief period, both Israelis and Palestinians believed peace might be on the horizon. Those hopes crashed like a tidal wave with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995.
The document itself looked back at prior statements and recognized the shift that occurred vis-à-vis the Reform Movement’s relationship with Israel. What began in 1885 as no longer “expecting a return to the Jewish homeland” shifted in 1937 toward “building up [British Mandate Palestine] as a Jewish homeland, endeavoring to make it a haven for refugees and a center of Jewish culture and spiritual life.” Then, in 1976, our Movement declared our deep connection to the newly reborn State of Israel and a responsibility in building it up, assuring its security, and defining its character. The ties between Diaspora Jewish life and Israel run deep. The statement acknowledges that the questions facing Jewish leaders in each of the prior generations still faced Jewish leadership in the late 90s. I would argue that we still face those questions today.
In 1997, our Movement affirmed the eternal covenant established at Sinai, which created a unique purpose for Am Yisrael, the Jewish People. They declared, “Medinat Yisrael, the Jewish State, is therefore unlike all other states. Its obligation is to strive towards the attainment of the Jewish people’s highest moral ideals to be a mamlechet kohanim [a kingdom of priests], a goy kadosh [a holy people], and l’or goyim [a light unto the nations].”
The document recognized that the Jewish community, after facing centuries of persecution, experienced the risks of Jewish powerlessness throughout history. In this platform, the Reform Movement stated, “We, therefore, affirm Am Yisrael’s reassertion of national sovereignty, but we urge that it be used to create the kind of society in which full civil, human, and religious rights exist for all its citizens. Ultimately, Medinat Yisrael will be judged not on its military might but on its character.”
The 1997 Statement on Zionism also recognized that each community shared in the responsibility for the fate of Jews everywhere. They saw that the State of Israel and the Diaspora Jewish community were intertwined and that “by deepening the social, spiritual, and intellectual relationship among the kehillot worldwide, we can revitalize Judaism both in Israel and the Diaspora.”
There was a profound recognition that enhancing Jewish peoplehood and promoting a deeper understanding of Israel required an investment in educational programs. The platform called on Reform Jews to make regular visits to Israel and also “encouraged Aliyah [immigration] to Israel.”
The platform also recognizes the diversity of Israel and the Jewish people. The document calls on Israel to be a pluralistic, democratic society, and it seeks a “Jewish state in which no religious interpretation of Judaism takes legal precedence over another.”
As you can see, the vision delineated by the Movement nearly thirty years ago is still applicable to the current moment. We dream of a pluralistic Israel that can fulfill the vision of living up to the highest ideals Judaism brought to the world. We need to enrich Jewish education, and we need to encourage more travel to Israel. This document is an incredible call for what Reform Zionism can and should look like. It carries with it a vision and hope for peace with Israel’s neighbors and a desire for full civil, human, and religious rights for all its citizens. It is an aspirational document, one that requires continued work and effort on a daily basis. With these words, questioning the Movement’s commitment to Zionism falls flat. Every Reform Movement institution is deeply committed to Israel, Zionism, and helping to bring about the vision set forth in this document.
As the writers of this platform concluded, “When God restores the fortunes of Zion we shall be like dreamers. Our mouths will fill with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy.” It is up to us to bring about the day when our dreams will become reality, and we will sit under our vine and fig tree, filled with laughter, and the young will dance in the courtyards.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rick Kellner