Zionists address Jewish issues

Last December, the World Zionist Organization descended on Jerusalem for its 33rd International Congress. On Sunday, past representatives of that Congress -- including Israel's consul general for the region -- converged on the Penn campus for a meeting and educational seminar. The focus was quite different from that of the December Congress, where participants were told that the body would dissolve itself in 1999. Instead, Sunday's meeting -- sponsored by Hillel and the University Student Department of the World Zionist Organization -- was designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Zionism and the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel. About 50 people attended the event. It was also an "educational seminar of sorts, meant to emphasize the importance of keeping the Zionist movement alive and where we want to see it in the future," according to Hillel representative and College sophomore Aileen Goldstein. The seminar began with an introduction to Zionism, or Jewish nationalism for the State of Israel. Early speakers presented a historical timeline extending from the first large-scale immigration to Palestine to the creation of the modern nation of Israel. Stephen Steinberg, assistant to University President Judith Rodin and a historical philosophy lecturer who served as an academic observer to the 33rd congress, then spoke of nationalism as a philosophical problem. Steinberg explained that "reinventing and reconceiving Zionism in the 20th century is necessary because it is a central feature in the understanding of what it means to be a Jew in today's world." Phyllis Haas, an elected representative to last December's congress in Jerusalem, noted that representatives from Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism were "constantly at odds with one another as we went through the entire congress." She said she hopes that the branches of Judaism will soon develop a cooperative relationship based on mutual respect and work together toward Zionist goals. "Israel is the glue that holds us all together," she noted. The audience was then divided into discussion groups which addressed issues including the mission of the World Zionist Organization itself and the westernization of Israeli culture. The conference also addressed issues that affect native Israelis, as Yael Sharfstein, an Israeli national who helps Israeli emigres settle in Philadelphia, discussed American Jews' tendency to idealize Israel and its citizens. She noted that Americans should not expect Israelis to be more religiously observant simply because of their nationality. The afternoon's program concluded with a speech by Dan Ashbel, the consul general of Israel for the mid-Atlantic states, who reminded the audience that even though American Jews may want to call the political shots for Israel, it is the Israelis that must pay the price of sometimes-unwanted American interventions.