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Marking two years after the mass murder of the events of October 7th, which profoundly impacted Jewish communities worldwide unlike anything else since the founding of the state of Israel.

Among Jewish people it was shocking. For the Israeli government, it was a profound disgrace. The whole Zionist endeavor rested on the presumption that Israel would prevent things like this occurring in the future.

A response was inevitable. But the response that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the deaths and injuries of many thousands non-combatants – constituted a specific policy. And this choice complicated how many Jewish Americans processed the attack that set it in motion, and it now complicates their commemoration of that date. How can someone grieve and remember a tragedy targeting their community during an atrocity done to another people in your name?

The Complexity of Grieving

The challenge in grieving lies in the reality that little unity prevails as to the implications of these developments. 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 within US Jewish communities extends as far back as writings from 1915 authored by an attorney subsequently appointed Supreme Court judge Louis D. Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; Addressing the Challenge”. But the consensus became firmly established after the six-day war in 1967. Earlier, Jewish Americans maintained a fragile but stable coexistence across various segments which maintained a range of views concerning the necessity for Israel – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Historical Context

Such cohabitation endured through the 1950s and 60s, in remnants of leftist Jewish organizations, through the non-aligned Jewish communal organization, among the opposing Jewish organization and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor at JTS, pro-Israel ideology was more spiritual rather than political, and he forbade singing the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, at JTS ordinations in the early 1960s. Additionally, support for Israel the central focus of Modern Orthodoxy before the 1967 conflict. Jewish identitarian alternatives existed alongside.

However following Israel overcame neighboring countries in that war that year, seizing land such as the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish perspective on the nation evolved considerably. The triumphant outcome, combined with persistent concerns about another genocide, led to a growing belief regarding Israel's essential significance to the Jewish people, and generated admiration in its resilience. Language concerning the remarkable quality of the outcome and the “liberation” of territory gave Zionism a spiritual, almost redemptive, significance. In those heady years, a significant portion of existing hesitation about Zionism dissipated. During the seventies, Writer Norman Podhoretz stated: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Unity and Its Limits

The unified position left out Haredi Jews – who generally maintained a Jewish state should only be established by a traditional rendering of the messiah – yet included Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and most non-affiliated Jews. The predominant version of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was founded on the conviction in Israel as a liberal and liberal – while majority-Jewish – state. Countless Jewish Americans saw the control of local, Syrian and Egyptian lands following the war as not permanent, thinking that a resolution would soon emerge that would ensure a Jewish majority in Israel proper and neighbor recognition of the nation.

Multiple generations of US Jews grew up with Zionism an essential component of their identity as Jews. The nation became an important element within religious instruction. Yom Ha'atzmaut turned into a celebration. National symbols adorned most synagogues. Summer camps became infused with national melodies and the study of the language, with Israeli guests and teaching American youth national traditions. Visits to Israel expanded and achieved record numbers with Birthright Israel by 1999, when a free trip to the country was offered to young American Jews. The nation influenced almost the entirety of US Jewish life.

Changing Dynamics

Interestingly, during this period following the war, Jewish Americans grew skilled regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and discussion between Jewish denominations expanded.

However regarding Zionism and Israel – that represented tolerance ended. You could be a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state was assumed, and criticizing that perspective placed you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as a Jewish periodical labeled it in writing that year.

Yet presently, amid of the ruin of Gaza, famine, child casualties and outrage regarding the refusal of many fellow Jews who avoid admitting their complicity, that consensus has disintegrated. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer