After almost four decades of service, Rabbi John Levi has retired from the Council of The King David School (KDS) in Melbourne.
In the 1970s a group of visionaries dreamed of opening a progressive Jewish school in Melbourne. That dream became a reality in 1978 when 45 students attended the first year of KDS.
Dear Steve,
I hope you have been enjoying the summer and finding time for some vacation and relaxation. I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you recent developments in our movement.
First and foremost, last night, the Israeli government passed an unheard of before bill: subverting a Supreme Court decision, the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) parties pushed a bill to effectively ban non-Orthodox, i.e. Reform and Conservative converts from bathing in municipal Mikvaot (ritual baths). We cannot stress enough the magnitude of harm that this bill causes. The bill allows municipal councils to sign agreements with the State regarding convert bathing in Mikvaot, but refuse to do that same with other bodies, with the explicit goal of subverting the recent Supreme Court decision, mandating religious councils to allow Reform and Conservative converts to bathe in public Mikvaot.
Understanding the Kotel: What’s at Stake for Progressive Jews
With so many news outlets reporting updates about the Kotel – from AP to Times of Israel to The Washington Post – it’s easy to get distracted from what the struggle is really about. The Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), just posted the introductory video below to help explain what’s at stake and what we’re fighting for.
