Tampa woman to attend 36th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem

Carol Simon, a member of Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Tampa, will be one of only 60 American Jewish leaders representing the Conservative movement at the Congress. Carol Simon of Tampa will join some 60 American Jewish leaders representing the Conservative movement at the 36th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem from June 15-17.

Simon, a national leader with Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, is an alternate delegate to the Congress. She believes she is the only person from the Tampa Bay area who will be attending the Congress.

“I am so excited about this,” Simon said. “I am looking forward to learning as much as I can while there.”

The job of the Congress, comprised of representatives from almost every Jewish organization worldwide, is to elect officers of the World Zionist Organization (WZO) and decide policies for its affiliates, including the Jewish Agency for Israel, which is responsible for such activities as aliyah (immigration) to Israel.

A total of 500 delegates from around the world will attend the Congress this year, with some 250 additional delegates appointed by international Jewish organizations for speeches, workshops, committee meetings and plenary sessions, according to the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism website.

The attendees to the Congress will address topics such as anti-Semitism worldwide, developing young Zionist leaders, and the relationship between Israel and Jews in the Diaspora.

The WZO was established in 1897 by Theodore Herzl, often credited with being the founder of modern Zionism, to create a homeland in Israel for the Jewish people. The Congress, established shortly thereafter, has met every four-five years since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948.

This year will be the first since 1980 that delegates to the Congress were not elected, but rather designated by participating Jewish organizations. The cancellation of elections was attributed to “a crippling financial shortfall,” according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Simon’s name was submitted by the Women’s League to the MERCAZ USA, a Zionist group based in New York, among the organizations charged with sending a delegation to the Congress. MERCAZ USA, supports religious pluralism in Israel, including the Masorti Conservative movement, and works to strengthen the connection between Israel and the Diaspora.

Simon attributes her selection as an alternate delegate to the years of volunteer work she has done on behalf of Women’s League, an umbrella organization that works with Sisterhoods in Conservative synagogues across the country, including extensive trav- eling and speaking engagements.

In 2008 she also chaired the national convention in Detroit, which drew some 500 delegates from across the country. Currently she serves as Training Services Chair for Women’s League.

Simon, who moved to Tampa from Miami with her husband, Jeff, in 2003, cannot vote as an alternate delegate, but all attendees will participate on all sessions. She said only the top two international officers of Women’s League are voting WZO delegates.