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Two years have passed since the deadly assault of October 7, 2023, an event that deeply affected global Jewish populations like no other occurrence following the establishment of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was deeply traumatic. For Israel as a nation, it was a profound disgrace. The entire Zionist movement had been established on the belief that Israel would prevent things like this repeating.

Military action was inevitable. However, the particular response that Israel implemented – the widespread destruction of Gaza, the killing and maiming of tens of thousands non-combatants – represented a decision. This selected path made more difficult the way numerous Jewish Americans grappled with the initial assault that triggered it, and it now complicates their observance of that date. In what way can people grieve and remember an atrocity targeting their community in the midst of devastation done to other individuals connected to their community?

The Challenge of Grieving

The complexity of mourning lies in the reality that no agreement exists regarding the implications of these developments. Actually, among Jewish Americans, the last two years have experienced the disintegration of a half-century-old unity about the Zionist movement.

The beginnings of pro-Israel unity within US Jewish communities dates back to an early twentieth-century publication authored by an attorney and then future high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis called “The Jewish Problem; How to Solve it”. However, the agreement truly solidified after the six-day war in 1967. Previously, American Jewry contained a delicate yet functioning parallel existence across various segments that had diverse perspectives regarding the requirement for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Historical Context

This parallel existence endured throughout the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of leftist Jewish organizations, within the neutral US Jewish group, within the critical religious group and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance rather than political, and he prohibited singing Israel's anthem, the Israeli national anthem, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Furthermore, support for Israel the centerpiece for contemporary Orthodox communities until after the six-day war. Jewish identitarian alternatives remained present.

Yet after Israel routed adjacent nations in the six-day war during that period, occupying territories including the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish relationship to Israel evolved considerably. Israel’s victory, along with enduring anxieties about another genocide, produced an increasing conviction about the nation's critical importance within Jewish identity, and generated admiration regarding its endurance. Rhetoric regarding the extraordinary nature of the success and the reclaiming of territory assigned Zionism a religious, even messianic, meaning. In that triumphant era, a significant portion of previous uncertainty toward Israel dissipated. In the early 1970s, Commentary magazine editor the commentator stated: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Unity and Its Boundaries

The Zionist consensus did not include the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed a nation should only emerge via conventional understanding of redemption – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and the majority of unaffiliated individuals. The most popular form of this agreement, later termed progressive Zionism, was founded on the idea regarding Israel as a progressive and democratic – though Jewish-centered – state. Many American Jews considered the occupation of Arab, Syrian and Egyptian lands following the war as temporary, assuming that a resolution would soon emerge that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance within Israel's original borders and regional acceptance of the nation.

Several cohorts of US Jews grew up with pro-Israel ideology a fundamental aspect of their identity as Jews. The nation became a central part of Jewish education. Israel’s Independence Day turned into a celebration. Israeli flags were displayed in religious institutions. Youth programs integrated with Hebrew music and the study of modern Hebrew, with visitors from Israel and teaching American teenagers Israeli customs. Visits to Israel grew and reached new heights with Birthright Israel during that year, offering complimentary travel to Israel was offered to Jewish young adults. Israel permeated almost the entirety of the American Jewish experience.

Evolving Situation

Ironically, throughout these years after 1967, Jewish Americans developed expertise at religious pluralism. Open-mindedness and dialogue between Jewish denominations grew.

Except when it came to support for Israel – that’s where pluralism reached its limit. Individuals might align with a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a majority-Jewish country was a given, and criticizing that narrative categorized you beyond accepted boundaries – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine described it in an essay recently.

But now, under the weight of the devastation of Gaza, famine, dead and orphaned children and outrage regarding the refusal by numerous Jewish individuals who avoid admitting their complicity, that consensus has broken down. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer