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It has been that horrific attack of the events of October 7th, an event that deeply affected Jewish communities worldwide more than any event since the establishment of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was shocking. For the Israeli government, it was a significant embarrassment. The whole Zionist project rested on the belief which held that the nation would prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

Some form of retaliation seemed necessary. But the response undertaken by Israel – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the casualties of numerous ordinary people – represented a decision. This particular approach complicated the perspective of many American Jews understood the initial assault that set it in motion, and presently makes difficult their remembrance of the anniversary. In what way can people grieve and remember a horrific event targeting their community in the midst of devastation being inflicted upon other individuals connected to their community?

The Complexity of Mourning

The complexity in grieving exists because of the circumstance where there is no consensus about the significance of these events. In fact, for the American Jewish community, the recent twenty-four months have seen the collapse of a fifty-year unity on Zionism itself.

The beginnings of Zionist agreement within US Jewish communities dates back to an early twentieth-century publication written by a legal scholar and then future supreme court justice Louis Brandeis called “The Jewish Question; Addressing the Challenge”. However, the agreement became firmly established after the Six-Day War during 1967. Earlier, American Jewry contained a fragile but stable cohabitation between groups that had diverse perspectives about the necessity for Israel – Zionists, non-Zionists and opponents.

Previous Developments

This parallel existence persisted throughout the post-war decades, within remaining elements of Jewish socialism, within the neutral US Jewish group, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Zionism was primarily theological than political, and he did not permit performance of Israel's anthem, the Israeli national anthem, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Nor were Zionism and pro-Israelism the central focus for contemporary Orthodox communities before that war. Alternative Jewish perspectives coexisted.

But after Israel routed its neighbors in that war that year, occupying territories such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish connection with Israel changed dramatically. Israel’s victory, combined with enduring anxieties of a “second Holocaust”, produced an increasing conviction in the country’s essential significance within Jewish identity, and generated admiration regarding its endurance. Language about the remarkable aspect of the victory and the freeing of areas provided the Zionist project a spiritual, potentially salvific, importance. During that enthusiastic period, much of previous uncertainty toward Israel disappeared. During the seventies, Publication editor Norman Podhoretz stated: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Consensus and Its Limits

The pro-Israel agreement left out strictly Orthodox communities – who typically thought a nation should only be ushered in via conventional understanding of the messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and nearly all non-affiliated Jews. The predominant version of this agreement, what became known as liberal Zionism, was founded on the conviction about the nation as a progressive and liberal – albeit ethnocentric – state. Numerous US Jews viewed the control of Palestinian, Syria's and Egypt's territories after 1967 as not permanent, assuming that a solution was imminent that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance in Israel proper and Middle Eastern approval of the state.

Multiple generations of American Jews grew up with support for Israel a core part of their identity as Jews. The state transformed into a key component within religious instruction. Israeli national day turned into a celebration. Blue and white banners were displayed in most synagogues. Summer camps integrated with Israeli songs and the study of modern Hebrew, with Israelis visiting educating American youth national traditions. Travel to Israel increased and achieved record numbers through Birthright programs in 1999, providing no-cost visits to Israel became available to US Jewish youth. Israel permeated nearly every aspect of US Jewish life.

Evolving Situation

Interestingly, throughout these years post-1967, Jewish Americans grew skilled regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and discussion across various Jewish groups grew.

Yet concerning the Israeli situation – that’s where diversity reached its limit. One could identify as a conservative supporter or a leftwing Zionist, yet backing Israel as a majority-Jewish country remained unquestioned, and criticizing that position categorized you beyond accepted boundaries – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine labeled it in writing in 2021.

Yet presently, amid of the devastation of Gaza, food shortages, dead and orphaned children and outrage about the rejection by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that unity has disintegrated. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer