The Collapse of a Zionist Agreement Within American Jewish Community: What's Taking Shape Now.
Two years have passed since the mass murder of the events of October 7th, an event that profoundly impacted world Jewry like no other occurrence following the creation of Israel as a nation.
Among Jewish people the event proved deeply traumatic. For the state of Israel, it was a significant embarrassment. The whole Zionist movement had been established on the assumption which held that Israel could stop such atrocities repeating.
Some form of retaliation appeared unavoidable. But the response that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the casualties of tens of thousands non-combatants – represented a decision. And this choice created complexity in how many American Jews processed the initial assault that triggered it, and it now complicates their remembrance of the anniversary. How can someone honor and reflect on a tragedy affecting their nation during an atrocity done to other individuals in your name?
The Difficulty of Grieving
The difficulty surrounding remembrance exists because of the reality that little unity prevails as to the implications of these developments. Indeed, within US Jewish circles, this two-year period have witnessed the breakdown of a half-century-old unity on Zionism itself.
The early development of a Zionist consensus across American Jewish populations extends as far back as writings from 1915 written by a legal scholar subsequently appointed high court jurist Justice Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; Finding Solutions”. Yet the unity truly solidified after the six-day war in 1967. Before then, US Jewish communities housed a fragile but stable coexistence between groups which maintained diverse perspectives concerning the necessity of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, neutral parties and anti-Zionists.
Background Information
Such cohabitation persisted through the mid-twentieth century, through surviving aspects of leftist Jewish organizations, in the non-Zionist US Jewish group, among the opposing religious group and comparable entities. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the chancellor at JTS, Zionism was primarily theological rather than political, and he prohibited performance of Hatikvah, the national song, during seminary ceremonies in those years. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the central focus of Modern Orthodoxy until after the six-day war. Jewish identitarian alternatives remained present.
But after Israel overcame adjacent nations in that war that year, taking control of areas comprising Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish relationship to the country evolved considerably. The triumphant outcome, along with longstanding fears of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in a developing perspective regarding Israel's vital role within Jewish identity, and created pride in its resilience. Rhetoric regarding the remarkable aspect of the success and the reclaiming of land gave Zionism a religious, almost redemptive, meaning. During that enthusiastic period, considerable previous uncertainty regarding Zionism disappeared. During the seventies, Writer Norman Podhoretz stated: “Zionism unites us all.”
The Unity and Its Limits
The Zionist consensus did not include strictly Orthodox communities – who largely believed a nation should only be ushered in by a traditional rendering of the messiah – however joined Reform, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and the majority of secular Jews. The common interpretation of the unified position, later termed progressive Zionism, was established on the conviction in Israel as a progressive and democratic – albeit ethnocentric – country. Countless Jewish Americans considered the administration of Arab, Syria's and Egypt's territories after 1967 as provisional, thinking that a solution would soon emerge that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance in pre-1967 Israel and neighbor recognition of Israel.
Multiple generations of US Jews grew up with support for Israel an essential component of their religious identity. The nation became a key component within religious instruction. Yom Ha'atzmaut became a Jewish holiday. National symbols decorated religious institutions. Summer camps were permeated with national melodies and the study of contemporary Hebrew, with Israelis visiting educating American youth Israeli customs. Trips to the nation grew and achieved record numbers through Birthright programs by 1999, providing no-cost visits to the country was provided to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced almost the entirety of Jewish American identity.
Evolving Situation
Paradoxically, in these decades after 1967, US Jewish communities grew skilled regarding denominational coexistence. Open-mindedness and dialogue between Jewish denominations expanded.
Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – that represented diversity reached its limit. You could be a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a majority-Jewish country remained unquestioned, and challenging that narrative placed you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as Tablet magazine labeled it in a piece that year.
But now, during of the devastation of Gaza, famine, dead and orphaned children and frustration over the denial within Jewish communities who avoid admitting their complicity, that agreement has broken down. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer