The Orthodox Union is calling on synagogues to designate the Shabbat of April 17–18, Parshat Shemini, to promote voting for the Religious Zionist—Vote Torah Slate in the ongoing World Zionist Congress Elections. The election will have a direct impact on funding for religious day schools and camps in America and Israel. A prize drawing contest has been created with an opportunity to win $15,000, as an incentive for synagogues to promote voting.

Did you know your vote can determine:

MASA subsidies for Orthodox students attending yeshivot and seminaries in Israel

Annual budgets for teaching emissaries (morim shlichim) in Jewish communities around the world

Annual budgets for youth movements, like Bnei Akiva

Annual infrastructure budgets for Israeli communities in Gush Etzion and Jerusalem

Additional Orthodox seats on boards of funding organizations

The number of seats held by each party in the World Zionist Congress determines the staffing of the Jewish Agency, Keren Hayesod—United Israel Appeal, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael/Jewish National Fund, and the World Zionist Organization. In turn, budget allocations for each organization are a direct result of the number of board members representing specific ideologies and politics. As such, if the majority of World Zionist Congress delegates are Orthodox/Religious Zionists, the funding organizations will allocate a larger portion of the available budget to educational and communal programming that is important to the Torah-observant world.