Rav Doron Perez: Bringing Energy and Excitement to the Mizrachi Movement

The following is my piece in the March 19, 2020 edition of the Philadelphia Jewish Link about Rav Doron Perez, Chief Executive of the World Mizrachi Movement:

Rav Doron Perez: Bringing Energy and Excitement to the Mizrachi Movement

Over the past several months, he has been one of the most recognizable faces in the Modern Orthodox, pro-Israel community. With all of the excitement surrounding the recent elections to the World Zionist Congress (WZC), there has been one individual who has seemingly been at the center of it all.

As the Chief Executive of the Mizrachi World Movement, Rav Doron Perez played a pivotal role in the coordination of the Orthodox Israel Coalition (OIC), which is comprised of nine major Modern Orthodox, pro-Israel organizations: Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi, AMIT, Orthodox Union, Yeshiva University, Touro College, Bnei Akiva, Torah MiTzion, National Council of Young Israel, and Rabbinical Council of America.

“There are nine different organizations, which are not necessarily aligned on everything,” Rav Perez told me as we met on the sidelines of the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC. “Some have different focuses and they are from across the spectrum, and them coming together is a very big thing.”

“It’s been an effort based on relationships between the different organizations and ideological alignment, and those two together really create a very powerful coalition,” he added. “The incredible fact about this election is the unity. The fact that so many Modern Orthodox and Zionist organizations have come together under one banner is not a small thing.”

PJL Publisher Nachi Troodler with Rav Doron Perez

Rav Perez, who was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, made Aliyah when he was 18. After learning in yeshivot in Israel for many years and serving in the Hesder program in the IDF, Rav Perez returned to his roots and did shlichut in South Africa for 15 years. During that time, he served as Executive Director of Mizrachi South Africa, the Senior Rabbi of the Mizrachi Shul, and Head of the Yeshiva College school, which is the largest Torah school in South Africa. He moved back to Israel in 2014 to take the helm at the Mizrachi World Movement.

As we spoke, Rav Perez’s passion and boundless energy were evident. His desire to continue infusing the global religious Zionist movement with innovative initiatives and a renewed focus on Jewish identity and Torah values has motivated him to take bold steps to positively impact World Jewry.

The stakes of the recent WZC election were extremely high, with the allocation of nearly $1 billion annually for Jewish educational and communal causes for the next five years hanging in the balance. The elections to the WZC effectively affects what are referred to as Israel’s four national institutions, which existed before the State of Israel and founded the State of Israel: the World Zionist Organization, JNF Israel, the Jewish Agency, and Keren Hayesod.

“It’s called the parliament of the Jewish people because it’s the only place where Jews from organizations in Israel and every community around the world can sit on a combined board,” Rav Perez said while referring to the WZC. He noted that the WZC’s delegate makeup is roughly one-third from Israel, one-third from the United States, and one-third from the rest of the world.

The actual WZC is set to take place in October, after Sukkot, which is when the delegates will go vote. The next six months will be spent finalizing the OIC slate and determining who will actually be going to Israel to take part in the WZC.

Rav Perez offered some perspective on the Mizrachi World Movement, which he said has “historically been the Orthodox Torah voice in the world Zionist movement since it was founded in 1902.” The term ‘Mizrachi’ is an acronym for merkaz ruchani – a spiritual center. “The founders saw themselves as bringing the Torah, the spiritual values, to the Zionist movement,” said Rav Perez.

“In America, we decided not to call it the Mizrachi slate, because America, as opposed to many other communities around the world, has got such powerful and strong religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox institutions, which are so big and impactful,” he said while explaining how the name and makeup of the Mizrachi slate came to be. “We decided to call it the Orthodox Israel Coalition because it made sense to bond together.”

After the excitement over the recent WZC election fades, what can we expect over the next five years until the next election comes around, I asked Rav Perez.

“It shouldn’t be that we have to wait every five years to understand the relevance of these organizations,” he replied, referring to Israel’s four national institutions. “We should be hearing about it a lot more often….The issues facing Jewish communities around the world are not always being represented adequately in these institutions.”

“Zionist organizations in America and around the world are rediscovering the national institutions and running to have representation, because they realize these massive institutions can and should be impacted and held accountable by Jews running shuls and communities and organizations in America and around the world, and they understand the need to push them to be more committed and more in touch with the needs of the community,” he said.