Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion congratulates our distinguished Israeli rabbinical alum Rabbi Gilad Kariv ’03, President and CEO of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism and attorney, on being the first Reform Rabbi elected to Israel’s Knesset (Parliament). His election represents a milestone for Israel’s Reform Movement, which he celebrated as part of his campaign platform as #4 on the list of the founding party of the State of Israel.
Kariv is positioned to be the leading voice and ambassador of progressive religious values and pluralism. A proud, public proponent of Reform Judaism, he offers a message of freedom of religion and conscience and a rethinking of the relationship between religion and state in Israel. His election reflects the impact of the growing liberal Jewish cultural and religious communities and programs on Israeli society.
HUC-JIR has a long history of support for the State of Israel, with the establishment of our Jerusalem campus in 1963, the launching of our Year-In-Israel Program for all rabbinical, cantorial, and dual Master’s degree education students 51 years ago, and the creation of our Israeli Rabbinical Program in the late 1970s. Rabbi Kariv is one of more than 115 Israeli Reform rabbis ordained to date who are having an impact on Israeli society in congregations, community centers, schools, and through public service. We take pride in their many accomplishments in advancing the values of pluralism and egalitarianism in the Jewish State.
Rabbi Naamah Kelman
Dean, Taube Family Campus, Jerusalem
Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D.
President