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Marking two years after the deadly assault of the events of October 7th, an event that profoundly impacted world Jewry more than any event following the founding of the Jewish state.

For Jews the event proved profoundly disturbing. For the state of Israel, the situation represented a profound disgrace. The entire Zionist project had been established on the belief which held that the Jewish state would ensure against things like this repeating.

Some form of retaliation appeared unavoidable. Yet the chosen course that Israel implemented – the obliteration of Gaza, the killing and maiming of numerous non-combatants – represented a decision. And this choice created complexity in the way numerous US Jewish community members understood the October 7th events that triggered it, and currently challenges their observance of the day. How can someone honor and reflect on an atrocity affecting their nation during a catastrophe done to a different population in your name?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The difficulty in grieving exists because of the reality that there is no consensus regarding what any of this means. Indeed, within US Jewish circles, the recent twenty-four months have witnessed the collapse of a decades-long unity regarding Zionism.

The early development of Zionist agreement across American Jewish populations extends as far back as an early twentieth-century publication written by a legal scholar who would later become Supreme Court judge Justice Brandeis called “Jewish Issues; Addressing the Challenge”. But the consensus truly solidified after the 1967 conflict in 1967. Before then, Jewish Americans maintained a vulnerable but enduring coexistence between groups holding diverse perspectives about the necessity for Israel – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Background Information

This parallel existence endured throughout the post-war decades, within remaining elements of leftist Jewish organizations, within the neutral Jewish communal organization, in the anti-Zionist Jewish organization and comparable entities. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor at JTS, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance rather than political, and he forbade the singing of Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Additionally, Zionist ideology the centerpiece of Modern Orthodoxy until after that war. Jewish identitarian alternatives coexisted.

But after Israel routed adjacent nations in that war during that period, seizing land such as the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, the American Jewish relationship to Israel evolved considerably. The military success, along with enduring anxieties regarding repeated persecution, resulted in a developing perspective about the nation's vital role within Jewish identity, and a source of pride for its strength. Language about the remarkable nature of the success and the “liberation” of areas gave the Zionist project a theological, almost redemptive, meaning. In that triumphant era, considerable previous uncertainty toward Israel dissipated. In the early 1970s, Writer Norman Podhoretz declared: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Agreement and Restrictions

The pro-Israel agreement excluded the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed Israel should only be established via conventional understanding of redemption – however joined Reform Judaism, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and most non-affiliated Jews. The predominant version of this agreement, later termed left-leaning Zionism, was based on a belief in Israel as a democratic and free – albeit ethnocentric – nation. Numerous US Jews viewed the control of Palestinian, Syrian and Egypt's territories after 1967 as provisional, thinking that a solution was imminent that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance within Israel's original borders and regional acceptance of the nation.

Two generations of American Jews grew up with support for Israel a core part of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into a central part of Jewish education. Yom Ha'atzmaut became a Jewish holiday. Israeli flags adorned most synagogues. Seasonal activities became infused with national melodies and education of modern Hebrew, with visitors from Israel instructing US young people national traditions. Travel to Israel grew and peaked through Birthright programs by 1999, offering complimentary travel to the nation was provided to young American Jews. The nation influenced virtually all areas of Jewish American identity.

Shifting Landscape

Paradoxically, during this period post-1967, American Jewry developed expertise regarding denominational coexistence. Acceptance and communication across various Jewish groups increased.

However regarding support for Israel – there existed tolerance ended. You could be a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, but support for Israel as a majority-Jewish country was assumed, and questioning that perspective positioned you outside mainstream views – an “Un-Jew”, as a Jewish periodical labeled it in an essay that year.

Yet presently, during of the ruin within Gaza, food shortages, dead and orphaned children and outrage over the denial within Jewish communities who refuse to recognize their responsibility, that consensus has broken down. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer