Rabbi Sacks in Jerusalem for the WZC
Good evening everyone from Israel! I’m sitting here with the lights of the city of Jerusalem behind me. First and foremost, I want to share how emotional it was to walk down the long hallway of Ben Gurion airport today and see only 13 hostage posters remaining. I was filled with both a wave of gratitude for the hostages who have come home alive since I was last here, but also a sense of heartbreaking sadness…because the people smiling from the remaining photos are not coming back to hug their families. Every day, I am still praying for the respectful return of 13 bodies - and even as I write this message, Hamas has announced that it will return ONE of them tonight at 9pm Israel time. I pray that the families of all those who remain in Gaza can finally bury their loved ones in peace
I am here in Jerusalem this week for the 39th World Zionist Congress. Every 5 years, Jewish leaders from every denomination, and from every political perspective, and from all over the world gather in Jerusalem. Often called “The Parliament of the Jewish People,” the World Zionist Congress brings together representatives from Jewish communities around the world to decide on the key issues affecting the Jewish people in Israel and around the world.
The World Zionist Organization was founded by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland in 1897 at the first World Zionist Congress. Even then, the country’s founders knew that to succeed, the State of Israel had to be a project of the entire Jewish People. The World Zionist Organization and the World Zionist Congress are one way for diaspora Jewish communities to have a say in the important Issues facing the Jewish People and Jewish State. Every 5 years, the Congress elects the new leadership of the WZO, sets its agenda for the upcoming 5 years, and influences the allocation of significant funding of about $1 billion annually – to institutions in Israel and to Jewish institutions all over the world.
So what are some of the topics that we are debating and discussing this year?
Resolutions include significant topics such as…
What are the official positions of the World Zionist organization about the boundaries and borders of the state of Israel?
Increasing support and security for growing liberal Jewish communities in Israel and around the world
Creating studies and funds for those who need mental health support here in Israel and around the world following October 7th
Promoting women’s leadership in Jewish institutions here in Israel and around the world
How to bolster local community efforts to combat antisemitism
These topics hit at the very core of what it is to be a part of the Jewish people right now, and I am honored and proud to represent Reform and Progressive communities from all over the world and to bring Reform and Progressive Jewish values strongly into these conversations.
Today was already a full day…
I landed in Tel Aviv at 9:30am this morning and went straight to Jerusalem to join with other reform/progressive representatives in a day of preparation for the official congress which starts tomorrow. I was back on the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College where I first studied to become ordained, and we review the resolutions all together. Here at the congress, the Union for Reform Judaism creates a bloc with other progressive and reform communities – we all caucus together under the name and the organization Artzenu.
In the evening, we had a full Arzenu caucus gathering, where I was honored to lead songs of peace and the Hatikvah anthem. The evening concluded with a stirring address by Member of Knesset Rabbi Gilad Kariv – a Reform rabbi who brings his values and convictions into the Knesset every day.
It has been a long day…and, I have to say thank you – to all of you. It is because we all voted in the World Zionist Congress that Rabbi Black and I can be here to lift our community’s Jewish values. In the 2025 congress, Americans increased their vote over 80% from the vote count in 2025 and in the United States, the Reform Movement secured the LARGEST number of delegates. It is because of all of YOU that our voices can help shape our homeland.
I can’t wait to share with you what will happen tomorrow.
Check back for daily updates from Israel!
Rabbi Elizabeth Sacks serves as Senior Rabbi and CEO of Temple Emanuel Denver. Together with Senior Rabbi Emily Hyatt, she is the first woman to lead Temple Emanuel’s Reform Congregation in its 150 –year history.
Rabbi Sacks first joined Temple Emanuel in 2012 as Cantor/Educator. From 2012-2015, she designed and developed the learning and engagement team at Temple Emanuel, overseeing innovative family engagement initiatives, creating an adult learning vision, and piloting the position of Director of Learning and Engagement. In 2016, she became the Senior Cantor of Temple Emanuel Denver, and in 2023, the Temple Emanuel Board of Trustees appointed her as a CEO of the congregation. In 2024, Rabbi Sacks and Rabbi Hyatt were chosen to be Senior Rabbis of Temple Emanuel Denver.
Raised in New York, Rabbi Sacks was ordained as a cantor in 2007 by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) and is a rabbi through Shalom Hartman Institute Rabbanut North America. She was a recipient of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship in Jewish communal leadership and earned several awards as a cantorial student for Talmud, Midrash, and Traditional Hazzanut. Rabbi Sacks holds a B.A. in Jewish Studies and Music from Harvard University, where she was active in the leadership of Harvard Hillel. From 2007-2012, Rabbi Sacks served as the Associate Cantor at Central Synagogue in New York, where she focused on worship, education and young professional engagement.
In addition to her congregational work, Rabbi Sacks serves and advises national Reform Movement organizations across the country. She was a longstanding member of the executive committee of the HUC-JIR Council of Alumni, served on the URJ Task Force for Congregational Ethics, the Ethics Task Force of the American Conference of Cantors, is a past chair of the HUC-JIR Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music Alumni Association, and is a frequent presenter at conferences and panels on the topic of worship design and ritual innovation. Rabbis Sacks was the invited author of commentaries on the book of Deuteronomy for reformjudaism.org, the featured cantor at the 2019 Union for Reform Judaism Biennial Shabbat morning worship, and the primary voice on the app Pocket Torah Trope. Rabbi Sacks, her husband and two children, live in Denver and enjoy hiking and exploring the mountains together.
