Go vote! - The Jewish Standard

Many of us probably thought that we have a slight pause in elections.

It’s true that New Jersey, like Virginia but unlike any other state in the country, will elect a new governor this November; New Jersey’s Phil Murphy, like Virginia’s Glenn Youngkin, is term-limited. (To be precise, Youngkin is limited to one term and Murphy to two; each is finishing that term.) And New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams, the battered center of scandal and general weirdness, will be running again — or will he be? — or maybe another battered center of scandal and general weirdness, Andrew Cuomo, will run either alongside or instead of him, in a field of apparent thousands.

But still, that’s not many elections. Next year, 2026, will be different, with every seat in the House of Representatives up, as they are every two years. Control of the House in this midterm election, with the Republicans now holding all three power centers, will be an important and intense struggle. New Jersey’s now senior senator, Cory Booker, also will be up for re-election, although that race isn’t expected to be particularly tight.

And then of course 2028 will be biggest election of all, with not only the entire House and a third of the Senate but also the White House up for grabs.

So maybe we could breathe a little easier right now?

Um, no. At least not if you’re Jewish and have an interest in Israel.

The World Zionist Congress holds elections every five years. Voting is entirely online; it costs $5; it is open to all Jews outside Israel who are 18 or older, did not vote in the most recent Israeli election, and define themselves as Zionist; and its results can help guide the direction of the Jewish state. Okay, it’s not the same as voting for an actual member of the government, but it is a strong indication of interest and pointer of direction for Israel, whose government does care about what the rest of world Jewry thinks of it. At least sometimes. It is in charge of allocating about $1 billion in donations from the Jewish world outside Israel.

American Jews have been allocated 152 seats, and 21 slates are vying for them. That’s a large chunk of the entire congress.

Many of the parties are organized by religious streams — there’s the Orthodox Union’s Mizrachi, the Conservative movement’s Mercaz USA, and the Reform movement’s Vote Reform. There are right-wing and left-wing slates, parties that represent young Jews and Russian-American Jews and charedi Jews. There’s basically something for everyone.

Over the next few weeks, we hope to talk to some local representatives of some of these slates. And we hope that everyone who is eligible to vote registers, selects a slate, and then clicks on it. It matters.

To register, go to azm.org/elections.

—JP

Opinion

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