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Two years have passed since the mass murder of October 7, 2023, an event that shook Jewish communities worldwide unlike anything else following the establishment of Israel as a nation.

For Jews it was shocking. For the Israeli government, the situation represented a significant embarrassment. The entire Zionist endeavor had been established on the belief which held that the Jewish state could stop such atrocities from ever happening again.

Some form of retaliation was inevitable. But the response Israel pursued – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the casualties of numerous of civilians – was a choice. And this choice created complexity in the perspective of many US Jewish community members processed the attack that set it in motion, and presently makes difficult their remembrance of the day. How does one grieve and remember a horrific event affecting their nation in the midst of a catastrophe experienced by a different population connected to their community?

The Complexity of Grieving

The complexity of mourning lies in the reality that there is no consensus as to the implications of these developments. Indeed, for the American Jewish community, the recent twenty-four months have experienced the breakdown of a half-century-old agreement about the Zionist movement.

The origins of pro-Israel unity among American Jewry extends as far back as writings from 1915 written by a legal scholar who would later become supreme court justice Justice Brandeis titled “The Jewish Problem; Addressing the Challenge”. However, the agreement really takes hold following the six-day war in 1967. Earlier, US Jewish communities housed a delicate yet functioning cohabitation across various segments which maintained a range of views concerning the requirement for a Jewish nation – Zionists, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Background Information

That coexistence persisted through the post-war decades, in remnants of socialist Jewish movements, through the non-aligned American Jewish Committee, within the critical religious group and other organizations. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the head at JTS, the Zionist movement was more spiritual rather than political, and he did not permit the singing of Hatikvah, the national song, at JTS ordinations in those years. Furthermore, support for Israel the centerpiece of Modern Orthodoxy prior to the 1967 conflict. Alternative Jewish perspectives coexisted.

However following Israel overcame its neighbors during the 1967 conflict that year, seizing land including Palestinian territories, Gaza, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish relationship to the country changed dramatically. Israel’s victory, coupled with persistent concerns of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in a growing belief about the nation's vital role within Jewish identity, and created pride for its strength. Language concerning the “miraculous” nature of the success and the freeing of land assigned the movement a spiritual, almost redemptive, significance. In those heady years, much of previous uncertainty toward Israel disappeared. In the early 1970s, Publication editor Norman Podhoretz declared: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Agreement and Restrictions

The Zionist consensus excluded strictly Orthodox communities – who generally maintained a Jewish state should only be established by a traditional rendering of redemption – yet included Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and the majority of non-affiliated Jews. The most popular form of this agreement, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was founded on a belief in Israel as a liberal and democratic – though Jewish-centered – state. Countless Jewish Americans considered the control of Palestinian, Syria's and Egyptian lands following the war as temporary, believing that a resolution would soon emerge that would maintain a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and neighbor recognition of the state.

Several cohorts of US Jews were raised with support for Israel an essential component of their religious identity. The nation became a key component in Jewish learning. Yom Ha'atzmaut turned into a celebration. Israeli flags adorned many temples. Youth programs were permeated with Israeli songs and learning of the language, with Israelis visiting instructing American teenagers Israeli culture. Travel to Israel expanded and reached new heights through Birthright programs during that year, when a free trip to the country was provided to US Jewish youth. Israel permeated almost the entirety of the American Jewish experience.

Shifting Landscape

Interestingly, in these decades after 1967, American Jewry grew skilled in religious diversity. Open-mindedness and dialogue among different Jewish movements expanded.

However regarding Zionism and Israel – that’s where diversity reached its limit. One could identify as a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a majority-Jewish country was assumed, and criticizing that perspective categorized you outside the consensus – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine termed it in writing recently.

But now, under the weight of the devastation in Gaza, food shortages, young victims and anger about the rejection within Jewish communities who decline to acknowledge their complicity, that consensus has broken down. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer