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Two years have passed since the horrific attack of 7 October 2023, which profoundly impacted Jewish communities worldwide more than any event since the creation of the Jewish state.

Within Jewish communities it was shocking. For the Israeli government, it was a significant embarrassment. The whole Zionist endeavor rested on the presumption that the nation would prevent such atrocities from ever happening again.

Military action appeared unavoidable. But the response undertaken by Israel – the obliteration of Gaza, the killing and maiming of numerous non-combatants – represented a decision. This particular approach created complexity in how many US Jewish community members understood the October 7th events that triggered it, and it now complicates their observance of that date. In what way can people honor and reflect on an atrocity against your people during an atrocity being inflicted upon a different population in your name?

The Difficulty of Grieving

The difficulty in grieving stems from the circumstance where there is no consensus as to the significance of these events. In fact, among Jewish Americans, the recent twenty-four months have witnessed the breakdown of a half-century-old consensus on Zionism itself.

The beginnings of a Zionist consensus among American Jewry dates back to writings from 1915 by the lawyer and then future high court jurist Justice Brandeis titled “Jewish Issues; Addressing the Challenge”. But the consensus became firmly established following the six-day war that year. Earlier, American Jewry housed a fragile but stable coexistence among different factions that had a range of views regarding the need for Israel – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Previous Developments

That coexistence persisted throughout the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of leftist Jewish organizations, within the neutral Jewish communal organization, in the anti-Zionist religious group and other organizations. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the leader of the Jewish Theological Seminary, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance than political, and he prohibited performance of Hatikvah, Hatikvah, during seminary ceremonies in the early 1960s. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism before that war. Alternative Jewish perspectives existed alongside.

Yet after Israel routed adjacent nations during the 1967 conflict that year, seizing land such as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish perspective on the nation changed dramatically. The triumphant outcome, coupled with enduring anxieties of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in a developing perspective in the country’s critical importance for Jewish communities, and generated admiration in its resilience. Language concerning the remarkable quality of the outcome and the “liberation” of areas gave Zionism a religious, potentially salvific, significance. During that enthusiastic period, a significant portion of existing hesitation about Zionism dissipated. During the seventies, Commentary magazine editor Norman Podhoretz declared: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Consensus and Its Boundaries

The unified position left out strictly Orthodox communities – who generally maintained a Jewish state should only be established through traditional interpretation of the Messiah – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The predominant version of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was founded on the conviction in Israel as a democratic and liberal – though Jewish-centered – state. Many American Jews viewed the occupation of local, Syrian and Egyptian lands post-1967 as provisional, believing that a resolution was imminent that would guarantee a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and Middle Eastern approval of the nation.

Several cohorts of American Jews were raised with pro-Israel ideology an essential component of their religious identity. The state transformed into a key component within religious instruction. Israel’s Independence Day evolved into a religious observance. Blue and white banners decorated religious institutions. Summer camps integrated with Hebrew music and education of modern Hebrew, with Israeli guests instructing US young people national traditions. Visits to Israel expanded and reached new heights via educational trips during that year, providing no-cost visits to the nation was offered to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced nearly every aspect of the American Jewish experience.

Changing Dynamics

Ironically, in these decades post-1967, US Jewish communities became adept at religious pluralism. Tolerance and discussion between Jewish denominations increased.

Yet concerning the Israeli situation – there existed pluralism found its boundary. Individuals might align with a right-leaning advocate or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a Jewish state was a given, and challenging that perspective placed you beyond accepted boundaries – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine termed it in a piece in 2021.

Yet presently, under the weight of the ruin within Gaza, starvation, young victims and outrage over the denial within Jewish communities who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that agreement has broken down. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer