Sep

5 2019

The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism: Past, Present & Future (TBE)

5:00PM - 8:00PM  

Temple Beth El 2702 Arbor Drive
Madison, WI 53711
(608) 238-3123 associate@tbemadison.org

Contact Kendra Sager
(608)298-7493
associate@tbemadison.org

Rabbi Ariella Graetz-Bartuv will speak about how the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) is continuing to make strides for Israel’s future while working to protect the previous achievements of the Reform movement. Rabbi Graetz-Bartuv will also speak about how each of us, as American Jews, can help and engage actively in this mission. As Israel's liberal Jewish religious movement, IMPJ is catalyzing pluralism and acceptance of diversity throughout the nation in the hope that, alongside the American Reform movement, Israel and the Jewish people as whole will create a more inclusive Jewish society that welcomes all Jews, both Israeli and those of the diaspora, no matter what style they pray.

Rabbi Ariella Graetz-Bartuv was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, in the Israeli rabbinical program. She has held transdenominational leadership positions in kibbutzim, summer camps, schools, and congregations. After she was ordained, she left Jerusalem with her husband and three children, relocating to a new kibbutz (Kibbutz Hannaton) to create a home for Jews from all religious streams. Her work there was successful, and she was chosen by the kibbutz members to work as their community manager to promote culture, pluralism, and unity between the kibbutz members and residents of the surrounding area. Today, she leads the Emet veShalom Reform congregation in Nahariya, bringing liberal Judaism to Israel’s periphery, and she is involved with other rabbinical, educational, and communal projects serving hundreds of families in the area each year. Rabbi Graetz-Bartuv and her family live in an Orthodox village in the lower Galilee, where she creates new connections and raises awareness about pluralistic Judaism. She is the daughter of a Conservative rabbi; her parents are among the founders of Conservative Judaism in Israel. Rabbi Graetz-Bartuv defines herself as an Israeli product of liberal Judaism.

Her presentation will be followed by a dinner hosted by the Kesher Israel Committee.

Sponsor: Temple Beth El, TBE Kesher Israel Committee