My son, Richard, and I were delegates at the W.U.P.J. 38th International Convention, 17 – 20 May in Jerusalem. I was the oldest and the only one to have attended its Sixth Conference, 1949 in London. Then there were 100 delegates from 13 countries; now over 400 Delegates came together from 32 countries. Founded by Lily Montagu in London in 1926, WUPJ is now the largest Jewish religious movement world-wide.
By common consent it was the best convention ever. Highlights were a service at the side of the Kotel reserved for egalitarian services, with women carrying the Sefer Torah; a Shabbat Eve celebration at the site of the former Railway Station, now a cultural centre, where the eight Reform congregations around Jerusalem came together in song and dance with a thousand participants; and the Shabbat morning service on the top of Bet-Shmuel, the wonderful Reform Centre overlooking the Old City. Like our Shabbat Resouled Service with music, processions, singing and dancing and seven Aliyot, with much enthusiasm it lasted two and a half hours!
Among the main speakers and workshop leaders were Nathan Sharansky (Head of the Jewish Agency), the daughter of Shimon Perez (who recited Kaddish at his funeral), Danny Fessler (Director of the Leo Baeck Educa$on Centre in Haifa) and Gilad Kariv, CEO of the Israel Reform Movement, well-known to us.
While at the 1949 Conference, so soon aer the Shoah, the mood was sober, serious and contemplative; the mood in 2017 was euphoric, confident and optimistic.
So we sang Chasack, Chasack venitchasek at the end of Leviticus with great conviction: “We are strong and will strengthen one another!”.
Harry Jacobi
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