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Marking two years after that mass murder of the events of October 7th, which shook world Jewry unlike anything else following the founding 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 endeavor was founded on the assumption which held that the Jewish state would prevent things like this occurring in the future.

A response appeared unavoidable. Yet the chosen course undertaken by Israel – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the deaths and injuries of numerous non-combatants – was a choice. This particular approach created complexity in the perspective of many American Jews grappled with the attack that precipitated the response, and it now complicates their remembrance of the day. How does one mourn and commemorate a horrific event against your people while simultaneously an atrocity done to another people in your name?

The Challenge of Mourning

The challenge surrounding remembrance stems from the reality that no agreement exists as to the implications of these developments. Actually, for the American Jewish community, the recent twenty-four months have witnessed the breakdown of a half-century-old unity regarding Zionism.

The early development of a Zionist consensus among American Jewry dates back to an early twentieth-century publication authored by an attorney who would later become high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis called “Jewish Issues; Finding Solutions”. However, the agreement really takes hold following the Six-Day War during 1967. Before then, US Jewish communities maintained a fragile but stable parallel existence among different factions that had diverse perspectives regarding the requirement of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Background Information

That coexistence endured through the 1950s and 60s, within remaining elements of socialist Jewish movements, within the neutral US Jewish group, among the opposing religious group and similar institutions. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Zionism was primarily theological than political, and he prohibited the singing of Hatikvah, the national song, at religious school events in the early 1960s. Additionally, Zionist ideology the main element of Modern Orthodoxy until after that war. Jewish identitarian alternatives existed alongside.

However following Israel overcame its neighbors in the six-day war in 1967, taking control of areas such as the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish relationship to Israel changed dramatically. The military success, combined with enduring anxieties about another genocide, led to a growing belief regarding Israel's vital role to the Jewish people, and generated admiration regarding its endurance. Rhetoric concerning the “miraculous” nature of the outcome and the “liberation” of territory assigned the movement a spiritual, almost redemptive, significance. In those heady years, much of the remaining ambivalence about Zionism disappeared. In that decade, Writer Norman Podhoretz stated: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Agreement and Its Boundaries

The Zionist consensus left out Haredi Jews – who generally maintained a nation should only be established by a traditional rendering of the Messiah – however joined Reform, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and the majority of non-affiliated Jews. The common interpretation of the unified position, identified as left-leaning Zionism, was founded on the conviction about the nation as a liberal and liberal – while majority-Jewish – country. Many American Jews viewed the occupation of Palestinian, Syria's and Egypt's territories post-1967 as temporary, assuming that a resolution would soon emerge that would ensure a Jewish majority within Israel's original borders and neighbor recognition of Israel.

Several cohorts of US Jews grew up with pro-Israel ideology a fundamental aspect of their identity as Jews. The nation became a key component in Jewish learning. Yom Ha'atzmaut became a Jewish holiday. National symbols adorned many temples. Seasonal activities integrated with Hebrew music and learning of modern Hebrew, with visitors from Israel instructing American teenagers national traditions. Trips to the nation expanded and achieved record numbers with Birthright Israel during that year, when a free trip to the nation was offered to young American Jews. The nation influenced almost the entirety of the American Jewish experience.

Evolving Situation

Paradoxically, during this period after 1967, American Jewry grew skilled in religious diversity. Acceptance and discussion across various Jewish groups increased.

However regarding support for Israel – there existed pluralism reached its limit. One could identify as a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country was assumed, and challenging that perspective categorized you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as one publication described it in a piece recently.

But now, during of the destruction of Gaza, food shortages, young victims and outrage regarding the refusal within Jewish communities who refuse to recognize their responsibility, that agreement has collapsed. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer