Resolution Adopted by the CCAR
100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT
Adopted by the 108th Annual Convention of the
Central Conference of American Rabbis
June, 1997
WHEREAS 1997 marks the 100th anniversary since Theodor Herzl convened
the first World Zionist Congress, which adopted the Basel Program and established the
Zionist movement , and
WHEREAS, the Zionist Movement is one of the most successful movements of national
liberation of modern times, transforming a millennial dream into a political reality, restoring
an ancient people to its ancestral homeland and creating a model society based on Jewish
value and morality, and
WHEREAS, the 50th anniversary of Israel as a sovereign Jewish State which
will be celebrated in 1998 can only be understood in the context of the accomplishments of
the Zionist Movement, and
WHEREAS, among the founders of the Zionist organization were American Reform Rabbis ,
Rabbis Judah L. Magnes, Abba Hillel Silver and Stephen S. Wise, and
WHEREAS, our movement has explicitly rejected the anti-Zionist stances held prior to World
War I, specifically endorsing Zionist aims: calling for a Jewish National Home in the 1937
Guiding Principles, joining in the 1942 Baltimore Platform’s call for a Jewish state, and
subscribing to the Jerusalem Programme, and
WHEREAS, throughout most of the Zionist century our institutional undertakings have
supported Zionist activity, from our affiliation with the Jewish Agency in 1929 to the
establishment of the Jerusalem campus of HUC-JIR, the establishment of the year study
program for rabbinical and cantoral students, to the creation of Progressive congregations and
schools in Israel. The Reform kibbutzim and mitzpim, and the Progressive youth movement,
Tzofei Telem, and the founding of ARZA, demonstrating through these activities our deep
commitment to the goals of Zionism,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the CCAR promote and encourage
congregational and community celebrations of the centennial of modern Zionism, and the
50th anniversary of the State of Israel, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this celebration be a catalyst for educating the
Jewish community about the history of Zionism and its relevance for the future, to develop
new support for the Zionist movement and to educate about Zionism’s role in the
establishment of the State of Israel whose 50th anniversary will be celebrated
next year.
Note: This resolution is based closely on a parallel resolution which was adopted by the
Rabbinical Assembly at its 1997 convention.