Connect with us

RSS

This Passover, Vote in the World Zionist Congress Election

People stand next to flags on the day the bodies of deceased Israeli hostages, Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, are handed over under the terms of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

It was said that the early Zionist activist Nachum Sokolow was fluent in 70 languages — all of them Yiddish. It was a joke, of course. But like all good Jewish jokes, it hid a deeper truth.

Sokolow, one of the forgotten giants of the early Zionist movement, really was a linguistic marvel. Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, Spanish, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, German, and English — he wrote and spoke them all fluently. In an age before Google Translate, Sokolow was Google Translate. But every language he spoke had a singular purpose: advancing the cause of Jewish nationalism.

Sokolow put his linguistic wizardry to remarkable use. In 1917, in a now barely remembered triumph of early Zionist diplomacy, just months before the Balfour Declaration was signed, Sokolow pulled off one of the most improbable coups in Jewish history: he secured a letter of support for Zionism from the Vatican.

As the representative of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), Sokolow met with Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Pope’s Secretary of State, and made the case for Jewish return to the Land of Israel. Somehow — perhaps with a dash of Latin and a well-timed Biblical reference or two — Sokolow won the Cardinal over.

Soon afterward, the Vatican issued a letter expressing sympathy for Jewish national aspirations in Palestine. When asked later how Sokolow had managed such a diplomatic miracle, one Vatican insider quipped: “He made it sound like Zionism was a branch of Catholicism.”

Sokolow described the encounter in his memoir: “The Cardinal Secretary of State received me very courteously … He told me that the aspirations of the Jewish people for a national home in Palestine were understandable and natural, and that the Holy See would not oppose any measures that might be taken to realize them.

He was right. On May 4, 1917, Pope Benedict XV described the return of the Jews to the Holy and as “providential — God has willed it.”

The Vatican’s support came just months before the Balfour Declaration, and Sokolow, together with Chaim Weizmann, used it to show Great Britain and the Allies that Zionism had moral backing that extended beyond the Jewish world.

So while the Vatican’s letter didn’t make headlines the way Balfour’s letter did, it played a subtle but significant role in paving the way for the eventual creation of the State of Israel.

There’s something wonderful about that story. It reminds us that even in the darkest, most complex times, a few words — spoken in the right tone, in the right room, by the right person — can change the course of history.

Which brings me to today — and to the action you can take, specifically through the WZO and the vital work it continues to do for the Jewish people in Israel and across the globe.

I’m not sure if you’ve ever voted in a WZO election — or even knew such elections existed. But if you care about the Jewish future, about Israel, and about Jewish education and continuity, then the WZO ballot should matter to you. Every five years, Jews in the Diaspora get a rare opportunity to directly influence the course of Jewish history — just like Nahum Sokolow did — by voting in the WZO elections.

It’s not a national election, and there are no political parties in the usual sense. But the stakes are high. This is the mechanism through which hundreds of millions of dollars are allocated to organizations that educate, inspire, and strengthen the Jewish people’s connection to Israel. It’s the closest thing we have to a global Jewish “town hall” — and your voice is needed now more than ever.

And it’s especially fitting that this election is taking place as we approach Pesach and over Pesach — the festival of redemption. Because Pesach was not only about leaving Egypt. It was also about entering Eretz Yisrael.

When God appeared to Moshe in Egypt and renewed the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God didn’t just promise liberation — He promised a destination: וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרַיִם… וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ – “I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt … and I will bring you to the Land” (Ex. 6:6–8).

The Exodus was never meant to be an end in itself. It was the beginning of something far more significant. A promise fulfilled. The entire purpose was to ensure that the Jewish people would make it to the Promised Land — and live there as a free nation under God. The question is: Do we still believe in that promise? Do we live it? Do we teach it? Do we defend it?

Some might say: But we live in the United States — or France, or Australia, or the UK. Why should we have a say in what happens in Israel?

The answer is simple: because Israel belongs to all Jews, not just those who live within its borders. It is our shared inheritance. Our shared story. Our shared destiny. The WZO election is one of the few formal mechanisms through which Diaspora Jews get a voice in shaping that destiny.

And if ever that connection felt distant, October 7th made it devastatingly clear: we are all in this together. It didn’t matter whether you were in Ashkelon or Atlanta, Jerusalem, or New York: the grief was universal, the fear was shared, and the resolve that followed — the unshakable determination to stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel — proved once again that Am Yisrael is one family. One body. One soul.

The WZO allocates funds to Zionist education, aliyah programs, youth movements, Hebrew language initiatives, and efforts to build bridges between Jews around the world and their ancestral homeland. But those funds don’t float in a vacuum. They are guided by the values and policies of those elected to its governing bodies. That’s why it matters who’s at the table. And that’s why your vote matters.

In the face of rising antisemitism, growing global pressure on Israel, and relentless efforts to distort the moral clarity of Zionism into something shameful, we cannot afford to stay silent. We must not retreat from our principles. We must not apologize for our identity or our inheritance.

The WZO ballot is one meaningful way to act. It may not feel as dramatic as crossing the Red Sea, but it’s how we stand tall and say: We are here. We are proud. And we will not yield our place in history, or our voice in the present.

This Pesach, as we sit around our seder tables and recount our miraculous journey from slavery to freedom, let’s also remember that our freedom was always tied to a destination: the Land of Israel. Voting in the WZO election is a small but powerful affirmation that we still believe in that destination — and in the destiny it represents.

לשנה הבאה בירושלים — Next year in Jerusalem. But this year — make your voice count. To vote in the WZO elections, use this link: https://www.votezoacoalition.org/

The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California. 

The post This Passover, Vote in the World Zionist Congress Election first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

Continue Reading

RSS

Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

Continue Reading

RSS

Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News