The Breakdown of a Zionist Agreement Among US Jews: What's Emerging Now.
Two years have passed since the horrific attack of the events of October 7th, an event that deeply affected global Jewish populations more than any event following the founding of Israel as a nation.
Within Jewish communities it was shocking. For Israel as a nation, it was deeply humiliating. The entire Zionist endeavor rested on the belief which held that the Jewish state could stop things like this from ever happening again.
Some form of retaliation was inevitable. However, the particular response Israel pursued – the obliteration of Gaza, the killing and maiming of tens of thousands ordinary people – was a choice. And this choice made more difficult how many American Jews understood the October 7th events that precipitated the response, and it now complicates the community's observance of that date. How can someone mourn and commemorate a horrific event targeting their community during a catastrophe experienced by a different population in your name?
The Difficulty of Mourning
The challenge in grieving stems from the fact that little unity prevails as to what any of this means. In fact, within US Jewish circles, the last two years have witnessed the disintegration of a fifty-year unity regarding Zionism.
The early development of pro-Israel unity within US Jewish communities can be traced to writings from 1915 by the lawyer and then future Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; Addressing the Challenge”. But the consensus truly solidified subsequent to the 1967 conflict in 1967. Previously, American Jewry housed a delicate yet functioning coexistence among different factions that had diverse perspectives about the need of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.
Background Information
Such cohabitation endured throughout the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of socialist Jewish movements, through the non-aligned American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and comparable entities. For Louis Finkelstein, the leader at JTS, the Zionist movement had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he prohibited singing Israel's anthem, the national song, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the centerpiece for contemporary Orthodox communities before the 1967 conflict. Jewish identitarian alternatives coexisted.
However following Israel overcame adjacent nations during the 1967 conflict in 1967, taking control of areas such as Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish perspective on Israel evolved considerably. Israel’s victory, along with persistent concerns about another genocide, produced an increasing conviction about the nation's vital role to the Jewish people, and created pride for its strength. Discourse regarding the extraordinary nature of the success and the freeing of territory assigned Zionism a spiritual, even messianic, importance. In those heady years, a significant portion of the remaining ambivalence about Zionism dissipated. During the seventies, Commentary magazine editor the commentator declared: “We are all Zionists now.”
The Consensus and Its Boundaries
The pro-Israel agreement left out strictly Orthodox communities – who typically thought Israel should only be ushered in via conventional understanding of the messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and the majority of non-affiliated Jews. The predominant version of the consensus, what became known as progressive Zionism, was established on the conviction regarding Israel as a democratic and free – while majority-Jewish – nation. Numerous US Jews viewed the control of local, Syrian and Egyptian lands following the war as temporary, assuming that a solution was imminent that would ensure a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and neighbor recognition of the nation.
Two generations of US Jews were raised with support for Israel an essential component of their Jewish identity. Israel became a key component in Jewish learning. Israeli national day evolved into a religious observance. National symbols adorned many temples. Youth programs integrated with Israeli songs and learning of the language, with visitors from Israel and teaching American youth Israeli culture. Trips to the nation increased and achieved record numbers with Birthright Israel in 1999, when a free trip to the nation was offered to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced nearly every aspect of Jewish American identity.
Shifting Landscape
Ironically, in these decades after 1967, US Jewish communities grew skilled at religious pluralism. Tolerance and dialogue between Jewish denominations increased.
Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – that represented tolerance found its boundary. One could identify as a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state was assumed, and criticizing that position categorized you beyond accepted boundaries – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine described it in a piece that year.
However currently, during of the devastation of Gaza, starvation, young victims and anger about the rejection of many fellow Jews who avoid admitting their involvement, that consensus has collapsed. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer