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Two years have passed since the horrific attack of October 7, 2023, an event that shook global Jewish populations unlike anything else following the founding of the Jewish state.

Within Jewish communities it was shocking. For the Israeli government, it was deeply humiliating. The whole Zionist project was founded on the presumption which held that the nation would ensure against things like this occurring in the future.

Some form of retaliation was inevitable. Yet the chosen course that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the casualties of many thousands of civilians – represented a decision. This selected path complicated the perspective of many US Jewish community members processed the attack that precipitated the response, and presently makes difficult their commemoration of the anniversary. In what way can people grieve and remember an atrocity against your people in the midst of devastation experienced by other individuals attributed to their identity?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The challenge surrounding remembrance exists because of the circumstance where there is no consensus as to what any of this means. Indeed, among Jewish Americans, this two-year period have seen the collapse of a decades-long unity about the Zionist movement.

The origins of a Zionist consensus within US Jewish communities dates back to a 1915 essay authored by an attorney who would later become supreme court justice Louis Brandeis named “The Jewish Problem; Addressing the Challenge”. Yet the unity really takes hold after the Six-Day War in 1967. Before then, Jewish Americans housed a fragile but stable coexistence among different factions holding a range of views about the requirement for Israel – Zionists, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Historical Context

This parallel existence endured during the mid-twentieth century, through surviving aspects of Jewish socialism, through the non-aligned US Jewish group, among the opposing religious group and similar institutions. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the head of the theological institution, the Zionist movement was primarily theological than political, and he forbade singing Israel's anthem, Hatikvah, at JTS ordinations in those years. Additionally, Zionism and pro-Israelism the centerpiece for contemporary Orthodox communities until after that war. Alternative Jewish perspectives existed alongside.

But after Israel overcame neighboring countries during the 1967 conflict during that period, occupying territories including Palestinian territories, Gaza, Golan Heights and Jerusalem's eastern sector, the American Jewish connection with the country underwent significant transformation. The military success, along with longstanding fears of a “second Holocaust”, resulted in a growing belief about the nation's vital role to the Jewish people, and generated admiration in its resilience. Language concerning the remarkable aspect of the victory and the “liberation” of land assigned the movement a theological, even messianic, importance. During that enthusiastic period, much of existing hesitation regarding Zionism vanished. In the early 1970s, Commentary magazine editor Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Agreement and Its Limits

The unified position excluded Haredi Jews – who typically thought a nation should only emerge through traditional interpretation of the Messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all non-affiliated Jews. The most popular form of the unified position, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was based on the conviction regarding Israel as a democratic and liberal – though Jewish-centered – nation. Numerous US Jews saw the control of Palestinian, Syria's and Egyptian lands after 1967 as not permanent, assuming that a resolution was forthcoming that would maintain Jewish population majority within Israel's original borders and neighbor recognition of the nation.

Two generations of American Jews grew up with Zionism an essential component of their religious identity. The nation became an important element within religious instruction. Yom Ha'atzmaut evolved into a religious observance. Israeli flags adorned most synagogues. Youth programs were permeated with Hebrew music and education of contemporary Hebrew, with Israelis visiting and teaching US young people national traditions. Visits to Israel grew and peaked through Birthright programs in 1999, when a free trip to the country was provided to young American Jews. The nation influenced almost the entirety of the American Jewish experience.

Changing Dynamics

Paradoxically, during this period after 1967, Jewish Americans became adept regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and communication between Jewish denominations expanded.

Yet concerning support for Israel – that represented tolerance reached its limit. One could identify as a right-leaning advocate or a progressive supporter, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country remained unquestioned, and criticizing that narrative placed you outside the consensus – a non-conformist, as one publication labeled it in a piece in 2021.

But now, amid of the ruin of Gaza, food shortages, child casualties and outrage over the denial within Jewish communities who avoid admitting their complicity, that agreement has broken down. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer