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It has been that deadly assault of the events of October 7th, which deeply affected global Jewish populations more than any event since the founding of Israel as a nation.

Among Jewish people the event proved deeply traumatic. For Israel as a nation, it was a significant embarrassment. The whole Zionist movement had been established on the belief which held that the nation would prevent things like this from ever happening again.

Military action was inevitable. But the response Israel pursued – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the casualties of numerous ordinary people – constituted a specific policy. This particular approach complicated the way numerous US Jewish community members processed the attack that triggered it, and currently challenges the community's commemoration of that date. How can someone grieve and remember an atrocity against your people during devastation being inflicted upon a different population connected to their community?

The Complexity of Remembrance

The complexity of mourning lies in the circumstance where no agreement exists as to the significance of these events. Indeed, for the American Jewish community, the recent twenty-four months have experienced the disintegration of a decades-long agreement on Zionism itself.

The origins of pro-Israel unity within US Jewish communities dates back to a 1915 essay written by a legal scholar who would later become high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; Addressing the Challenge”. However, the agreement really takes hold after the six-day war in 1967. Before then, Jewish Americans maintained a delicate yet functioning cohabitation across various segments which maintained different opinions concerning the need for Israel – Zionists, neutral parties and opponents.

Historical Context

This parallel existence endured throughout the post-war decades, through surviving aspects of leftist Jewish organizations, through the non-aligned American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist Jewish organization and other organizations. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the leader of the theological institution, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance than political, and he forbade performance of the Israeli national anthem, the Israeli national anthem, during seminary ceremonies in those years. Furthermore, Zionist ideology the centerpiece for contemporary Orthodox communities before that war. Jewish identitarian alternatives remained present.

But after Israel defeated adjacent nations in that war during that period, taking control of areas comprising the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish relationship to the country evolved considerably. The triumphant outcome, combined with longstanding fears regarding repeated persecution, resulted in an increasing conviction regarding Israel's vital role within Jewish identity, and generated admiration for its strength. Language concerning the remarkable quality of the success and the “liberation” of land provided Zionism a theological, almost redemptive, meaning. In those heady years, considerable the remaining ambivalence toward Israel dissipated. In the early 1970s, Commentary magazine editor Norman Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Consensus and Its Boundaries

The pro-Israel agreement did not include strictly Orthodox communities – who largely believed Israel should only emerge through traditional interpretation of the messiah – yet included Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and most unaffiliated individuals. The predominant version of the unified position, later termed progressive Zionism, was established on the idea about the nation as a liberal and liberal – though Jewish-centered – country. Countless Jewish Americans considered the administration of local, Syrian and Egypt's territories following the war as temporary, assuming that a resolution would soon emerge that would maintain a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and neighbor recognition of the nation.

Two generations of Jewish Americans grew up with support for Israel a core part of their Jewish identity. Israel became an important element of Jewish education. Israeli national day became a Jewish holiday. National symbols were displayed in most synagogues. Youth programs were permeated with national melodies and education of modern Hebrew, with Israeli guests educating American teenagers national traditions. Trips to the nation grew and reached new heights via educational trips by 1999, offering complimentary travel to the nation was offered to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced almost the entirety of US Jewish life.

Changing Dynamics

Interestingly, during this period after 1967, American Jewry developed expertise regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and dialogue between Jewish denominations increased.

Except when it came to the Israeli situation – that represented diversity ended. You could be a right-leaning advocate or a progressive supporter, but support for Israel as a Jewish state was a given, and questioning that position positioned you outside mainstream views – an “Un-Jew”, as one publication described it in a piece in 2021.

But now, under the weight of the ruin of Gaza, starvation, young victims and anger over the denial by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that agreement has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer