In recent weeks, many in our community have been getting the false message that Zionism is incompatible with Progressive values. Many Jews have been told that they have to choose. Many have been made to feel unwelcome in Progressive spaces. This has been particularly true in realms where our Jewish teens, college students and young adults live. Zioness was created to uphold the shared values of Zionism and Progressivism.

On Friday, December 1, Civil Rights attorney Amanda Berman, founder and Executive Director of Zioness will speak at Congregation Beth Israel’s Friday evening Shabbat Services. Zioness, “Unabashedly Progressive, Unapologetically Zionist” is a national coalition of Jewish activists and allies, fighting to advance social, racial, economic, environmental, and gender justice in America. The organization is “committed to fighting for Zionism and the inclusion of Zionists in social justice spaces, because Zionism is itself a progressive value: the movement for liberation and national self determination of the Jewish people in our indigenous homeland.”

The program is co-sponsored by PDX Hillel.