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It has been that mass murder of October 7, 2023, which deeply affected global Jewish populations more than any event since the founding of the Jewish state.

For Jews the event proved deeply traumatic. For the state of Israel, the situation represented a profound disgrace. The entire Zionist endeavor had been established on the belief that the Jewish state would ensure against similar tragedies repeating.

Military action was inevitable. However, the particular response Israel pursued – the obliteration of Gaza, the casualties of tens of thousands ordinary people – was a choice. This particular approach made more difficult the perspective of many US Jewish community members understood the attack that triggered it, and currently challenges the community's remembrance of the anniversary. How does one honor and reflect on a horrific event targeting their community during devastation being inflicted upon other individuals connected to their community?

The Complexity of Mourning

The difficulty in grieving exists because of the fact that little unity prevails as to the significance of these events. Actually, within US Jewish circles, the recent twenty-four months have experienced the breakdown of a half-century-old agreement about the Zionist movement.

The early development of a Zionist consensus within US Jewish communities dates back to an early twentieth-century publication by the lawyer subsequently appointed supreme court justice Louis D. Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; How to Solve it”. However, the agreement really takes hold following the Six-Day War that year. Previously, US Jewish communities housed a delicate yet functioning coexistence among different factions holding a range of views concerning the necessity for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Previous Developments

This parallel existence endured during the post-war decades, in remnants of Jewish socialism, in the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist Jewish organization and comparable entities. For Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor of the theological institution, pro-Israel ideology had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he prohibited singing Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, at JTS ordinations in the early 1960s. Furthermore, Zionism and pro-Israelism the central focus within modern Orthodox Judaism until after the six-day war. Alternative Jewish perspectives coexisted.

However following Israel overcame adjacent nations during the 1967 conflict in 1967, occupying territories such as the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, the American Jewish connection with the country evolved considerably. The triumphant outcome, coupled with persistent concerns of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in a developing perspective about the nation's vital role within Jewish identity, and created pride in its resilience. Discourse concerning the remarkable aspect of the outcome and the “liberation” of land provided Zionism a religious, even messianic, meaning. During that enthusiastic period, much of previous uncertainty toward Israel vanished. During the seventies, Writer the commentator famously proclaimed: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Unity and Restrictions

The Zionist consensus did not include strictly Orthodox communities – who generally maintained a Jewish state should only emerge via conventional understanding of redemption – but united Reform Judaism, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and the majority of unaffiliated individuals. The common interpretation of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was based on a belief regarding Israel as a liberal and democratic – albeit ethnocentric – state. Countless Jewish Americans considered the occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Egypt's territories after 1967 as not permanent, thinking that a solution would soon emerge that would maintain Jewish demographic dominance in pre-1967 Israel and regional acceptance of the nation.

Two generations of US Jews were raised with Zionism a fundamental aspect of their religious identity. The state transformed into a key component of Jewish education. Israel’s Independence Day turned into a celebration. National symbols decorated most synagogues. Summer camps were permeated with Israeli songs and the study of the language, with Israeli guests and teaching US young people Israeli customs. Trips to the nation expanded and reached new heights through Birthright programs during that year, offering complimentary travel to the nation was provided to US Jewish youth. The nation influenced almost the entirety of Jewish American identity.

Changing Dynamics

Paradoxically, throughout these years post-1967, American Jewry developed expertise at religious pluralism. Open-mindedness and discussion among different Jewish movements expanded.

Yet concerning Zionism and Israel – there existed diversity found its boundary. Individuals might align with a conservative supporter or a progressive supporter, but support for Israel as a majority-Jewish country was a given, and questioning that position positioned you outside mainstream views – outside the community, as a Jewish periodical described it in an essay in 2021.

However currently, under the weight of the destruction of Gaza, starvation, dead and orphaned children and frustration about the rejection of many fellow Jews who avoid admitting their complicity, that agreement has broken down. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer