The Jewish People Policy Institute released its 2018 assessment of the state of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel. The report describes nothing short of a paradigm shift--Conservative Jewish practice is " now seen as authentic and preferable by largely secular and traditional Israelis."

JPPI reports 12-13 percent of Israeli Jews identify as either Conservative or Reform --representing nearly 800,000 people --a near doubling from 7 percent just five years ago.

The report is a deep dive into issues of vital concern to Masorti and paints an encouraging picture. Notably, we see changed public attitudes: " pluralistic expressions of Judaism in general are positive ."

According to the report, " a majority of Israeli Jews favor granting recognition and equal rights to the movements on par with the Orthodox .  And, importantly, Israeli Jews are frustrated with the control of lifecycle events by the Orthodox Rabbinate and are increasingly seeking out non-Orthodox rabbis for these events.

T he NY Jewish Week quotes Executive Director, Gideon Aronoff, who calls this trend: “ something of critical importance: Under the most adverse conditions possible — an ultra-Orthodox monopoly and millions of tax dollars going to build up Orthodox communities and institutions alone — Israelis are still tending towards more progressive options.”

Responding the the report, Rabbi Robert Slosberg, Masorti Foundation Chair says: "This is huge ...We are clearly making progress but have a LONG way to go."

It's evidence that the hard work of Masorti Israel to build a democratic, pluralistic, traditional, but also modern, Judaism is succeeding. Secular and traditional Israelis increasingly thirst for an authentic Jewish life and " want to (re)connect to Jewish practice and text, but from a place of individuality, meaning, or tradition."   They will turn to Masorti when given an opportunity to experience it. For more, r ead the full report or our Masorti Matters Blog post.