In April Naomi Johnson asked me, if after our return from Israel, I would recount some of the highlights of the conference Maureen and I attended in Jerusalem during Kabbalat Shabbat services in June.

Little did I know then that I would struggle to highlight only a few parts of this gathering.

But let’s try.

This week's portion is called Sh’lach L’cha and comes from Numbers where, in chapter 13, it tells us:

“The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying, send emissaries to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people, send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them”.

Well maybe the World Union for Progressive Judaism got their timing incorrect because the conference was in May – a few weeks before this Torah portion.

Sure, 30 countries sent emissaries along with 450 other delegates to Israel to attend the WUPJ’s biennial convention at the World Union’s headquarters at Beit Shmuel in Jerusalem which, for those who have not had the chance to visit, overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem with uninteruppted views of the walls of the old City – a truly remarkable view. It is also next door to the King David hotel where Donald Trump stayed a few days after the conference and the chaos caused by his visit is a drash on its own.

Our convention is always called Connections and that is exactly what it is – a gathering of Progressive Jews from around the globe to connect with each other, learn from each other and experience different cultures, practices and languages together – something unique that, unless you attend, you can never really appreciate.

The convention opened on the Wednesday night at a venue called Olmaya which is on a hill overlooking the city and the Old City. Having never been to that part of Jerusalem this was an amazing sight watching the sun set over the city. Along with the usual conference greetings from leaders of numerous organisations like WZO, KKL, Jewish Agency etc. there were 3 main highlights which truly set the tone for the next few days

The first 2 were the musical parts – 2 stunning singers that really got the delegates moving and joining in and then a choir of about 40 high school children called Hazamir Israel who had just returned from performing at the New York Metropolitan Opera House.

Wow –what a group of talented people.

The other highlight was the presentation of a 500 year old Torah scroll from Temple Shalom of the Deaf in California to Kehilat Sheket, the only deaf congregation in Minsk, Belarus. The scroll was paraded around to much singing and dancing.

A resounding start to the convention to be sure.

As is well known, there are many many B’nei Mitzvot ceremonies at the Western Wall (Kotel) on Thursdays. Most youngsters are brought to the upper plaza facing the wall under a Chuppah with drums beating and much singing especially from those of North African origins.

We also know that there are 2 very different areas at the Wall – one for men and one for women.

As a result of prolonged negotiations, court orders and much unpleasantness, a section of the Wall has been set aside for egalitarian worship. It is down and away from the 2 main sections and is still being excavated – not first prize but satisfactory. So for the first time the conference held Shacharit services at the Western Wall on the Thursday morning. To make this even more special, 13 ladies from Argentina ranging in age from early 30s to over 80 celebrated their Bat Mitzvot during this service where they each read from Torah and delivered a drash in front of the conference delegates – quite a daunting task as most did not spreak English. It should be noted that, until very recently, women were not permitted to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah in Argentina at all so you can imagine the emotion. And that was only the start of a remarkable occasion.

As the Israeli newspaper Ha’Aretz reported on 18 May:

“Worshippers at the Western Wall are not allowed to bring their own Torah scrolls to the site but are asked instead to use the Torah scrolls available in the men’s section. “

The Orthodox run organisation that administers the holy site does not make scrolls available to women. We wanted to conclude our service on the upper plaza in front of the main section of the wall with our Torah scrolls which had just been used for the Bnei Mitzvot service. For this reason we decided to disregard the ban and bring our own scrolls through the Dung Gate past the security guards. We were told it was against regulations but we told them the restriction was unlawful and, along with 450 delegates, we were allowed though – men and women going through both entrances (even if the spelling on the entrance wall was incorrect) – a victory in itself.

So we concluded our service with a few astonished Ultra Orthodox men looking on with Haftarah, Aleinu and Hatikvah. These folk really did not know what to do as they know the Progressives usually only come on Rosh Chodesh and then they try and disrupt proceedings – this wasn’t Rosh Chodesh so they were totally unprepared. The looks on their faces was enough to make the morning complete. They immediately went for their mobile phones presumably to call their rabbis to ask what to do.

Various different site visits to numerous parts of Jerusalem fitting into the conference theme of “Milestones and Innovation” followed which included choices of visiting the Knesset, Supreme Court, educational institutions, gender segragation areas like Beit Shemesh, various IMPJ sites, Kibbutz Gezer where Rabbi Miri Gold who is known for being the first woman rabbi to be paid by the State’s case was discussed etc.

The conference also consisted of numerous break out and plenary sessions with over 100 presenters covering so many topics the challenge was always – what do I have to forego because I really want to go to this or that.

2 plenary sessions stood out for us:

The first was from Yosef Abramowitz who is known as Captain Sunshine and for good reason.

He is CEO of a company called Arava Power which is bringing solar power to the Arava – the Negev desert. He has been named by CNN as one of the 6 top global “Green Pioneers” and has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. He was also one of the negotiators at the recent Paris Climate Conference and laid claim to being the only person out of 40,000 delegates to be seen wearing a Kippah – it was Channukah after all. Bringing solar power to the Negev is an achievement in itself but his company is also heavily involved in bringing power to Rwanda in Africa and now supplies 6% of the country’s power which has gone a long way to empowering (excuse the pun) the population to move out of poverty. His philosophy: How can there truly be fundamental human rights, education, health care, jobs etc. without power that does not add any carbon dioxide to the atmosphere? Their goal is to bring green energy to 50 million people by 2025. Also he wants that 100% of the energy consumed during the day from the Red Sea to Eilat to the Dead Sea would be powered by the sun – something everyone said was impossible. Already they are at 70% - quite a guy

The second inspiring address was from Daniel Birnbaum. We have all heard of Soda Stream right. However, did you know that the main factory is in the West Bank and employs both Palestinians and Israelis working side by side in complete harmony? He is a leading advocate of co-existence and peace in the Middle East and works really hard to combat the BDS campaign. He speaks at the UN and has addressed US congress. His address was nothing short of awesome

In addition we had the privilege of hearing from the youngest member of the Knesset, MK Stav Shaffir. At age 32 and a member of the Labour party she is a serious thorn in the side of the Ultra Orthodox parties as she just does not stand for their nonsense and destructive policies. Being articulate, attractive and forceful she is certainly making waves in Israeli politics. She is big on social issues like housing where she protested housing costs in Tel Aviv by pitching a tent along with others in the street and living in it for a while. Auckland – are you listening?

Her message was simple – continue fighting for justice and equality in Israel and abroad.

So we come to Erev Shabbat – now 4 weeks ago but still so fresh in the minds of so many and still a talking point. An area called the first train station (Tachana Rishona) was a few years ago converted to an open air mall with a central meeting or gathering place area and numerous shops and eating places on either side. It is huge and extremely popular as a gathering place for Jerusalemites. Once a month during summer the reform movement holds a pre-shabbat service or gathering in the central area. With the huge assistance from Elan Ezrachi also known as the husband of Rabbi Naamah Kelman who spent such a wonderful few weeks with us over High Holy Days last year, ALL 8 Progressive congregations in Jerusalem agreed to forego their Friday night services and joined the conference delegates for THE MOST AMAZING kabbalat shabbat service. With many local people who were just passing by joining in we estimate there were close to 1000 people singing, dancing, praying and just experiencing shabbat in a totally different way. It was noisy and chaotic and just wonderful.

Then to make the night even more special we went to Rabbi Naamah and Elan’s home for dinner – again Israeli, lively but lovely.

Could Shabbat morning services come close to topping Erev Shabbat was a question many were asking?

Well – 500 people packed Beit Shmuel on the 6^th floor overlooking the old city in brilliant sunshine for a service conducted in 8 languages from a siddur written specially for Connections by 20 rabbis from 15 countries with music that had everyone joining in both with traditional tunes and many new ones. During his sermon Rabbi Dan Freelander, President of the WUPJ said: “Hearing the strength of our movement in songs and prayers, and coming together for Shabbat reflects the uniqueness of our global movement – that no matter where you are or whether your regional or congregational practises vary this way or that way, you are welcome in a Progressive and Reform service. You will always feel at home and your prayers are welcome to join ours.”

For Shabbat afternoon we followed the Netzer young adults who were in Israel on Shnat program for a year on a walk through the Christian quarter of the Old City - a part Maureen and I had not been through before and it was fascinating and busy busy.

Suddenly it was Saturday night and after a great dinner up on the 6^th floor with the Western Wall lit up in blue and white in preparation for Yom Yerushalim the next day, we were entertained by numerous artists, which was a fitting end to an amazing conference.

Did I sound excited – you bet. I can honestly say that, this being my 5^th World Union conference, it was the most exciting, dynamic and busy.

My wish – that more people from this part of the world realise the power of the international movement and what it means to be part of an international, vibrant and ever growing movement. Our challenges in New Zealand are not unique but we won’t move towards solving some of them if we don’t embrace our brethren from around the world by attending conferences like this, meeting with visitors, having our name on the just launched WUPJ travel app so people can make contact with us when they visit and we can make contact with Progressive congregations around the world when we travel. Let’s start thinking outside our little shtetel in Auckland and you will be amazed at what you find.