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It has been that mass murder of the events of October 7th, which deeply affected Jewish communities worldwide more than any event following the establishment of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was profoundly disturbing. For the state of Israel, the situation represented deeply humiliating. The whole Zionist movement rested on the presumption that Israel would ensure against similar tragedies from ever happening again.

Some form of retaliation was inevitable. Yet the chosen course undertaken by Israel – the obliteration of the Gaza Strip, the killing and maiming of many thousands of civilians – was a choice. This selected path made more difficult how many American Jews processed the initial assault that triggered it, and presently makes difficult their observance of the anniversary. How does one honor and reflect on an atrocity targeting their community in the midst of devastation being inflicted upon other individuals in your name?

The Complexity of Remembrance

The difficulty of mourning exists because of the circumstance where little unity prevails about the significance of these events. Actually, within US Jewish circles, the recent twenty-four months have witnessed the collapse of a half-century-old agreement on Zionism itself.

The origins of pro-Israel unity within US Jewish communities dates back to writings from 1915 by the lawyer and then future Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis called “The Jewish Problem; Finding Solutions”. But the consensus truly solidified following the 1967 conflict in 1967. Before then, Jewish Americans housed a vulnerable but enduring cohabitation among different factions that had diverse perspectives concerning the necessity for a Jewish nation – Zionists, neutral parties and anti-Zionists.

Background Information

That coexistence continued during the 1950s and 60s, through surviving aspects of Jewish socialism, in the non-Zionist US Jewish group, among the opposing religious group and similar institutions. For Louis Finkelstein, the leader at JTS, Zionism had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he did not permit performance of the Israeli national anthem, the national song, at religious school events in those years. Nor were Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism prior to that war. Jewish identitarian alternatives coexisted.

But after Israel routed adjacent nations during the 1967 conflict during that period, seizing land comprising the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, the American Jewish connection with the nation underwent significant transformation. The triumphant outcome, along with enduring anxieties regarding repeated persecution, resulted in an increasing conviction in the country’s vital role to the Jewish people, and created pride regarding its endurance. Language concerning the remarkable quality of the outcome and the reclaiming of land gave the Zionist project a spiritual, even messianic, significance. In those heady years, much of the remaining ambivalence toward Israel dissipated. In the early 1970s, Writer Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Unity and Restrictions

The pro-Israel agreement did not include strictly Orthodox communities – who generally maintained a nation should only emerge via conventional understanding of redemption – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The predominant version of this agreement, later termed left-leaning Zionism, was established on the idea regarding Israel as a liberal and free – albeit ethnocentric – nation. Countless Jewish Americans viewed the occupation of local, Syria's and Egyptian lands after 1967 as temporary, thinking that a resolution was imminent that would maintain a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and Middle Eastern approval of the state.

Multiple generations of US Jews grew up with support for Israel a core part of their Jewish identity. Israel became a central part in Jewish learning. Israeli national day became a Jewish holiday. National symbols adorned many temples. Summer camps were permeated with Hebrew music and the study of the language, with Israelis visiting instructing American teenagers Israeli culture. Travel to Israel expanded and reached new heights via educational trips by 1999, offering complimentary travel to the nation was offered to young American Jews. The nation influenced almost the entirety of US Jewish life.

Shifting Landscape

Paradoxically, in these decades after 1967, American Jewry grew skilled regarding denominational coexistence. Open-mindedness and discussion across various Jewish groups increased.

Except when it came to support for Israel – there existed diversity reached its limit. You could be a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country was assumed, and questioning that perspective positioned you outside mainstream views – a non-conformist, as a Jewish periodical labeled it in a piece in 2021.

However currently, during of the destruction in Gaza, food shortages, young victims and frustration over the denial by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that consensus has disintegrated. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer