Numbers: small voices add up
( “If she tells me that about him, what might she say about me?”)
Dear Rabbi Jacobs:
Voting for the 39th World Zionist Congress begins March 10 and ends May 4, 2025. My foreboding about surgery is another tiny voice.
We are many. We will not vote for your slate, which is painful for me.
American Jews can vote for our representatives at the 39th World Zionist Congress. This is considered the most effective way for us to have our voices heard in Israel, influence Jewish communities around the globe, and advocate for Zionism.
But it isn’t.
We are many.
Grandpa Sol, and his parents, Yael Kasinets, and Rochla Biegun arrived in 1902 on the SS Zeeland from Antwerp. They came from Pinsk, and my grandfather Solomon was six years old at the time. I don't know how they got to Antwerp, but I know they all left together, leaving nothing behind.
Some of the other brothers landed at the Port of Haifa ("Tsur Namal"), while two came here, and another was born here. In total, there were nine Kasinets brothers.
We are many.
“While many of us in the Diaspora may not, and probably never will, take up arms in this existential struggle, we are still engaged in a fight of our own,” Rabbi Weinberg wrote.
Solomon Kass enlisted in the Army in WWI, and he never talked about it.
Sol’s brothers in Haifa have been breeding chayalim for four generations. I'll return to that in a moment because our DNA spans Israel and America—not Mom’s DNA.
We are many.
Sol’s older son enlisted in the Navy in 1942. As a 17-year-old sailor in the Navy V-12 program, the USN sent him first to Hamilton Hall at Columbia for 2 1/12 years of pre-med classes. He did not take any liberal arts classes, even though he read Henry Steele Commager:
Then, he went to Downstate Medical College without graduating from Columbia, where he was made a physician and an officer at 21. He was AOA, second in his class despite profound ADHD, and more.
In 1952, President Truman recalled him for two tours of duty as a flight surgeon on the USS Kearsarge during the Korean War, totaling about 23 months. Below, you can see the two “Battle Stars” on the medal, below the red Legion of Merit on the top. His Navy pilots supported ground troops, night and day.
He never earned a college degree.
In your letter to me, when you compelled the re-issue of my Bar Mitzvah certificate by Rabbi Blake ( in the unneeded hostile words of WRT “at the request of Rabbi Jacobs”), which had previously been denied in silence, you stated:
“Your assessment and that of your contact at KKL is not accurate. Because of our prior successes in the WZC the vice-chair of KKL and several board members are Israeli, Hebrew speaking leaders of our Israeli Reform Movement who have had a very significant impact on KKL's priorities, policies and budgets.”
I requested a spreadsheet of accomplishments from 2020, but I still haven't received a response. I believe there is little reason to think my lawyer's contact at KKL is mistaken, as most lawyers do not mislead. Some do, I know, but usually not in writing. As Yuval Noah Harari says:”the vast majority of information is not truth. It’s information.”
So, what is the truth?
Voters, there are so few of us.
We are many. That is the truth.
Rabbi Danziger asserts that the “ultra-Orthodox have pledged to withdraw funding from Reform programs.”
I asked her for evidence. Silence. More information. What is the truth?
Grandpa Sol’s brothers and I have our DNA spread throughout Israel, and my five grandchildren and three sons, including the oldest, whom my mother chose not to meet, usually live in the Hula Valley.
We will not be going extinct anytime soon. I cannot say the same for the rest of you.
Rabbi Jacobs, small voices strengthen groups; small talk does not. Your state delegates gossip about the sons and fathers of soldiers, disparaging our fellow Jews without proof or apology. In the end, gossip destroys the gossiper, as those who hear it lose trust.
“If she tells me that about him, what might she say about me?”
The lack of small voices opens cracks in our brittle ship, which is made corrosive by the gossip’s small words seeping into the cracks, corroding our conversations, and undermining trust.
Reform Zionists ought to join the team, not just play their own game.
In 2020, less than 1.5%, or 31,483 voting Reform Jews, elected 39 of the 152 seats allotted to American Jews among the 1,800 worldwide delegates.
ARZA garnered 25% of the total allotted to the American Diaspora.
Every 807 votes secured one seat.
At this moment, we have enough to deny you two seats.
The Kass/Shapiro/xxxxx American-Israeli clan and its allies will not vote for ARZA in the U.S., nor for Reform Zionism’s delegation to Israel. Based on the 2020 voting ratio per seat, this will result in two fewer seats in 2025. So far.
Dad despised gossip and prohibited it.
That is why you, your mentor, and others trusted him.
My brother, sons, paternal cousins, and grandkids all agree on gossip. We are many because my father’s parents had 13n siblings. My mother’s parents had seven siblings. I haven’t contacted my mother’s Spiro/Lindenbaum cousins and probably won't because they love to gossip. It is a fecund clan.
Reform Judaism, the largest denomination among American Jews, has experienced a net gain from religious switching. According to the 2021 Pew Research Center Study on Denominational Switching, 28% of current or former U.S. Jews report being raised as Reform Jews, while 33% currently identify with the Reform movement. The URJ claims 2.2 million members across 819 congregations.
Not only did a mere sliver (1.5%) of us vote in 2020, but that small segment of our Movement—comprising both Members and those who align with its principles, representing 33% of American Jewry—was significantly underrepresented.
This is not an advanced statistics problem.
Every ARZA college caller should have the spreadsheet of ARZA accomplishments. It seems that you do not have one you are willing to share with this research nerd.
Our platform omits support for the Druze, as I previously encouraged last December, before the Platform was released, here:
Now, the IDF has made a firm commitment, the same one I wanted us to make, to the Druze—even beyond the Litani River.
ARZA leadership wants a two-state solution and Haredi conscription, but we will not advocate for the one minority who volunteer to bleed with us, and in our stead?
It remains unclear whether Reform Zionism still firmly supports a two-state solution after the October 7th revelations. ARZA Leadership conducted a survey that I participated in before issuing its slate. What were the findings related to this question? Is there a disconnect between leadership and the Movement?
Do you wonder why the IDF is protecting the Syrian Druze?
Some of us choose to fight for the people beside us and those behind us, not just for the ones in front of us who applaud.
American Reform Jews likely aren’t voting in large numbers for other slates, but the composition of the slate evokes immense apathy and sorrow in my wounded heart, not merely a quiet protest. Why was there only a 1.5% voter yield in 2020?
Now, it's not so quiet. We are many, and we abhor gossip and adore the Druzim.
Is it the slate or a significant rejection of its stated positions on issues concerning World Jewry?
Can you afford to lose us? Yes, you can—and you have.
You have decided to defend two gossips.
By speaking together, our smaller voices deserve better representation. You could have gained from our insights, our connection with Israeli society, our language skills, and our love for the Druze.
Reform should achieve more than a 1.5% voting yield for its 2025 slate.
Our previous slate in 2020 is full of ordinations, some of whom speak Hebrew very well. However, we lack Arabic speakers and Jews with hands-on experience in Arabic-speaking countries, as well as significant representation from our Sephardic and Mizrahi communities.
Also, almost one-fifth of Americans identify as neurodivergent.
You have decided to abandon “small voices.”
Please consider that if we are a massive shadow minority in America, then statistically, we are equally present in American Jewry. Considering how many Nobelists are Ashkenazi, we may be more than you think.
Gossips drive us away from your ship because we are their targets. We will no longer hide in silence and absorb their abuse.
Participation is a response to our spiritual needs.
Every one of us, all Reform Jews, has a deep desire to belong.
None of us wear Joseph’s multicolored cloak.
Many of us are your utility infielders, lead-off hitters willing to step up to a fastball, base stealers, and switch hitters. We are ready to get on base by any means necessary and then aim for the double steal, but you favor the dramatic home run pitch, even when you’re behind in the late innings and facing a lineup you can’t compete with.
We disagree because we want to survive.
We are heading into the late innings against teams with significantly more advantageous demographics.
The compounding interest problem, the birth rate of the ultra-right here and worldwide, is not just a gentle breeze in our faces. The recent sacrifices of our Religious Zionist brothers in the IDF Officer Corps ought to be an awakening call.
This is not an advanced statistics problem.
Reform Zionists ought to have welcomed us on the team.
If we consider ARZA Delegates, elected by such a tiny sliver of our membership, to be a working partnership or, at minimum, a reflection of our diversity, then we could never regard any member as second class. That is what gossips do; they create a second class to elevate themselves.
There is no hierarchy in our Movement. In a participatory business model, there should be no superiors or inferiors; even the tiny voice should have representation if we choose to participate. Small voices never detract; they stimulate discussion with alternative views and new ideas.
Including minorities who can be right, even when they are partly or wholly in error, assures all Reform Jews that they still have the right to compel a thorough discussion on important issues. A well-heard minority, the small voices, are, therefore, our chief protection against an uninformed, misinformed, hasty, or angry majority.
Or gossip’s misinformation.
It is crucial to understand that while minorities in ARZA, whether groups or individuals, have the right to representation, this does not give them the power to block decisions or overturn longstanding commitments.
If we all have the right to belong to ARZA, then we should also have delegates like us because we are not homogeneous. Most of us did not attend HUC-JIR. The small voices encourage us to participate and assure us that we are being heard here and in Jerusalem.
We asked that you listen well to our small voices, include us at the table, and then edit the gossip from the table. You decided not to do so.
To start, consider the Druzim. Less than 2% of Israel’s population (similar to the percentage of Reform Jews who voted for the 2020 ARZA slate):
They bleed with Israel (13 Druze have died in Gaza), and they should be at Israel’s table as equals. We ought to be screaming this; however, who are we to scream for the Druze?
More importantly, consider the example of Druzim. That they chose to bleed with us when they were not compelled to do so is a lesson Reform Jews ought to emulate.
The IDF has now crossed the river to protect Syrian Druzim.
You disagree by your silence.
Singularly, you did the right thing when you compelled Rabbi Jonathan Blake to reissue my Bar Mitzvah certificate;
Singularly, you did the right thing when you supported me after the June 7th assault by an antisemite neighbor.
Gossips are failed bullies;
Gossips are anti-kindness;
Gossips are your opposite.
ARZA empowers gossips.
I am confident that ARZA will perform well in 2025. However, it will not do as well as it could have with an unconditional apology from a known gossip and two highly qualified delegates, one of whom is neurodivergent.
We are many, and we will vote together, but not for Reform Zionism.
We won't go extinct anytime soon. If you don't strengthen our leadership, I can't guarantee the same for the rest of you.
If Rabbi Danziger’s imprudent speculation is correct, perhaps a bit of defunding from our opponents will help you understand that our Movement is in danger from within, not from outside.
Kol HaKhavod.
B'Shalom, and Shabbat Shalom!
(((Philippe)))
©Philippe du Col, 2025.