Helen Shardey’s final message as the President of ARZA
After four years, my term as President of ARZA Australia is drawing to a close, as is my term as Vice-President of the Union for Progressive Judaism. It has been a pleasure and a fantastic experience to hold these positions.
The role of President, with the support of the ARZA team gave me the opportunity to help guide the Australian Progressive Movement’s Zionist responsibilities in support of Israel and Progressive Judaism. This was complemented by being elected to the role of Vice-President for the UPJ. I believe these dual roles had many benefits. It meant that with the co-operation of the Moetzah, now the Assembly of Rabbis and Cantors, Progressive Judaism in Australia has been able to speak with ONE VOICE. In this regard our three Progressive organisations, ARZA, the UPJ and the ARC often combined publicly to express our views on issues in unison, through statements, press releases and occasional opinion pieces.