January 2, 2006

Sunday, January 29, 2006
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center
4000 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto

(San Francisco, CA) – Israeli Rabbi Uri Regev, Esq., president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, will be discussing the progress and challenges on bringing pluralism (or religious diversity) to Israel on Wednesday, January 4, 2006, 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street. The event is free and open to the public.

With Orthodox being the only recognized practice of Judaism in Israel, Jews living there encounter very limited religious freedom. Initialized at the beginning of the Zionist movement and continued as a result of the intertwining of religion and state, the religious doctrine has sparked a growing movement among the secular majority, to create tolerance. The strife between the secular and Orthodox is widely recognized as the most acute, compelling conflict dividing Israeli society today, far superseding any other domestic conflict. Today it governs the way Jewish Israeli’s live—including practices regarding marriage, divorce and burying loved ones.

Regev serves congregations and communities in more than 40 countries, encompassing over 1,200 Reform, Progressive, Liberal and Reconstructionist congregations with an excess of 1.5 million members throughout the world. Prior to assuming this position, Regev served as founding chair and later as executive director and counsel of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the leading advocacy group in Israel promoting religious pluralism, social justice and human equality, established by the Reform Movement. In that capacity he led the battles in which he and IRAC’s legal team achieved historic victories in the Israeli Supreme Court in cases involving the “Who is a Jew?” issue.  This case fought for representation on religious councils for equitable funding for Reform and Conservative institutions and other central issues of religious freedom and religious pluralism in Israel.

Israel Update is a monthly discussion of current events and issues relating to modern-day Israel, providing context and analysis that goes behind the headlines. Each session features a different topic and a guest from Israel or elsewhere. The January Israel Update is co-sponsored with the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, JCRC, Congregation Emanu-El and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Check www.israelcentersf.org for additional dates and times.

The Jewish Community Federation is the central organization for fundraising, planning, outreach and leadership development for Jewish communities in San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. In FY 2004-05, the Federation’s annual campaign allocated $16.9 million to some 60 agencies providing social services, educational and cultural programs in the Bay Area, U.S., Israel and world-wide. In fiscal year 2005, the Federation’s Endowment Fund, with assets exceeding $1,056,000,000, provided more than $215 million for a variety of grants, seed projects and emergency needs. For information, call 415.777.0411 or visit www.sfjcf.org.