Rabbi Steven Wernick gathers a cadre of community leaders for a series of conversations on politics, culture, social existence and Jewish life. Each session will be streamed over Zoom and broadcast to Facebook and YouTube. Grab a cup of coffee and log on to join us.

Reb Steve will share coffee with Rachel Azaria, a social entrepreneur who served as a Jerusalem deputy mayor and city council and member of the Israeli parliament and ran social change organizations. They will have a discussion about Judaism, democracy and the upcoming elections.

This week's conversation will be broadcast live to the Beth Tzedec Facebook page and YouTube channel. Comment with your questions for Rachel on either platform!

Rachel Azaria is a social entrepreneur who served as a Jerusalem deputy mayor and city council and member of the Israeli parliament and ran social change organizations.

Before her political activity, she was a social activist in environmental organizations and led an orthodox feminist organization concerning women’s rights. Azaria established the Yerushalmim municipal political party in 2008, representing pluralistic views and working on behalf of young families, by improving the level and conditions of education and by lowering the cost of living. Azaria was the leading voice in the campaign against segregating and disappearing women from the public sphere. She instructed the work towards breaking the monopoly of the Rabbanut, especially in the issue of Kashrut, a reform that was adopted recently by the government.

In 2012, Azaria held a thinking group in the Hartman Institute to find a way to rethink the Israeli tribes. In 2013, Azaria was reelected to the municipality and was appointed Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem on behalf of Yerushalmim. As Deputy Mayor, Azaria held the Preschool Education and Status of Women portfolios.

Azaria was elected to the 20th Knesset and served as a member of the Finance Committee, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and the Ethics Committee. During her term as MK, Azaria passed laws relating to working moms, and worked against laws which aimed to minimize pluralistic Judaism.  In January 2017 she was appointed Chairwoman of the Reforms Committee where she promoted reforms initiated by the government in banking and finance.

In mid-2019, Azaria took a leave from her political work to concentrate on Israeli democracy. She established two think tanks on the relationship between the Jewish and democratic State. She established and heads the democratic renewal movement working In collaboration with President Herzog's office and the Knesset Visitors Centre we are planning this year’s events.

She is the author of “Guided Revolution" (Kineret, Zmora, Dvir- Publishing House, Ltd. 2020), in Hebrew about effective social change in Israel.

Azaria is the chairwoman of Life and environment, the Israeli union of environmental NGO's. 

Azaria holds a B.A. in psychology and general studies (with honors) and an M.A. in conflict resolution from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is also a graduate of the Educational Leadership School at the Mandel Institute. Prior to her university studies she served a full term in military service.

Rachel Azaria was born in 1977 in Jerusalem. Her father made Aliyah from Tunisia and her mother from the USA. Rachel Azaria is married, has four children, and lives in Jerusalem.