Rabbi’s Update 2/13/2026

Dear Friends:

Item:

On Tuesday morning of this week, antisemitic graffiti was discovered at Shaare Tefila synagogue in Olney. The main sign of the shul was spray painted with a swastika and “AZAB.” Two other signs, one expressing support for Israel and one which says “Hate Has No Home Here” (the same sign I have in front of my house) were also spray painted with “AZAB.” 

“AZAB” reportedly stands for “All Zionists Are Bastards.” Remember that a synagogue was vandalized with the slogan “AZAB” the next time you hear someone say that they don’t hate Jews, they just hate Zionists.

Item:

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the umbrella group of US and Canadian Jewish Federations, releases its 2025 “Survey of Jewish Life Since 2025.” The results measuring respondents’ attitudes towards Israel seem contradictory:

• Only 37% of North American Jews identify as Zionists.

• 71 percent of North American Jews feel either “strongly” or “somewhat” attached to Israel.

• 88 percent of North American Jews believe that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state.

How do we account for the fact that 88% of North American Jews support Israel’s existence as a Jewish, democratic state but only 37% identify as Zionists? As someone who strongly identifies as a Zionist, has been a lifelong dues-paying member of the Zionist movement, served several times as a delegate to the American Zionist Movement convention and been a candidate in the World Zionist Organization elections, I consider the 88% of Jews who support Israel’s existence as a Jewish, democratic state to be Zionists. But clearly we have a majority of the North American Jewish community who are Zionists but either don’t know or don’t believe that they are.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I consider that our synagogue and our movement of Judaism are poorly served by the label “Conservative” which at best does not accurately reflect who we are and what we stand for, and at worst actually deters people from affiliating with us despite the fact that they actually share our approach to Judaism. Is “Zionism” another term which might best be retired? Prior to 1948 being a Zionist meant that you supported the creation of a Jewish state in what was then known even by Jews as “Palestine.” (It should be noted that this was not a universally-held belief among American Jews and up until the late 1930s was supported by a small minority of American Jews.) What does the term “Zionist” mean today, other than a way for Jew-haters to deny that they hate Jews?

Last Shabbat I gave a Kiddush Konversation on the “Intermarriage Working Group” of the United Synagogue, the Rabbinical Assembly, and the Cantors Assembly. The video of the talk can be found here. Please note that for some reason, there is no sound for approximately the first five minutes so please either fast forward or just stick with it. 

If you or someone you know is in need because of having been laid off, or has  lost benefits of some type and needs immediate help, please let me know. I can access limited funds through the Jewish Federation almost immediately. For longer-term help, the Hebrew Free Loan Society will loan up to $18,000 interest-free and the Jewish Federation has set up a hotline to  access assistance at 703-JCARING.

As a reminder, I am having drop-in hours on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 at the shul. For my drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment -- that would negate the whole point of drop-in hours -- but I’d urge you to check and make sure I am there regardless as sometimes there are unavoidable pastoral or other emergencies which might take me away from the building. 

As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org 

rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by. 

Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Charles L. Arian