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Marking two years after that mass murder of October 7, 2023, which profoundly impacted global Jewish populations like no other occurrence since the founding of the Jewish state.

Among Jewish people it was shocking. For Israel as a nation, the situation represented a significant embarrassment. The entire Zionist endeavor rested on the assumption that Israel could stop similar tragedies occurring in the future.

Some form of retaliation seemed necessary. But the response undertaken by Israel – the obliteration of the Gaza Strip, the casualties of many thousands non-combatants – constituted a specific policy. This selected path created complexity in the perspective of many US Jewish community members understood the initial assault that precipitated the response, and it now complicates the community's commemoration of the day. In what way can people grieve and remember a horrific event targeting their community in the midst of an atrocity done to a different population attributed to their identity?

The Challenge of Mourning

The complexity of mourning stems from the fact that little unity prevails about what any of this means. Indeed, among Jewish Americans, the recent twenty-four months have experienced the breakdown of a fifty-year consensus regarding Zionism.

The origins of a Zionist consensus among American Jewry can be traced to a 1915 essay by the lawyer subsequently appointed Supreme Court judge Justice Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; Addressing the Challenge”. But the consensus really takes hold after the six-day war that year. Earlier, US Jewish communities maintained a fragile but stable parallel existence across various segments which maintained different opinions regarding the need for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Background Information

This parallel existence continued through the post-war decades, in remnants of Jewish socialism, through the non-aligned US Jewish group, among the opposing American Council for Judaism and other organizations. For Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor at JTS, Zionism was more spiritual than political, and he prohibited singing the Israeli national anthem, the Israeli national anthem, during seminary ceremonies in those years. Nor were Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism until after that war. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

But after Israel defeated its neighbors during the 1967 conflict in 1967, taking control of areas comprising Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish connection with the country changed dramatically. The military success, combined with longstanding fears about another genocide, produced an increasing conviction regarding Israel's essential significance for Jewish communities, and a source of pride in its resilience. Language about the extraordinary nature of the victory and the “liberation” of territory assigned the Zionist project a spiritual, potentially salvific, meaning. In those heady years, considerable the remaining ambivalence about Zionism disappeared. In that decade, Publication editor Podhoretz stated: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Consensus and Its Limits

The Zionist consensus left out the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed a nation should only emerge by a traditional rendering of the Messiah – but united Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The most popular form of this agreement, what became known as progressive Zionism, was based on the conviction in Israel as a liberal and democratic – though Jewish-centered – nation. Countless Jewish Americans viewed the control of Palestinian, Syria's and Egyptian lands post-1967 as temporary, assuming that a solution was imminent that would ensure a Jewish majority in pre-1967 Israel and Middle Eastern approval of the state.

Two generations of Jewish Americans grew up with Zionism a fundamental aspect of their religious identity. The nation became a central part in Jewish learning. Israel’s Independence Day turned into a celebration. Israeli flags adorned many temples. Seasonal activities became infused with Hebrew music and education of the language, with visitors from Israel educating US young people Israeli culture. Trips to the nation expanded and achieved record numbers through Birthright programs during that year, offering complimentary travel to Israel became available to young American Jews. The state affected almost the entirety of Jewish American identity.

Changing Dynamics

Interestingly, during this period post-1967, US Jewish communities became adept regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and communication among different Jewish movements grew.

Yet concerning support for Israel – there existed pluralism ended. One could identify as a right-leaning advocate or a leftwing Zionist, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state was assumed, and questioning that narrative placed you outside mainstream views – an “Un-Jew”, as Tablet magazine termed it in a piece in 2021.

Yet presently, during of the devastation within Gaza, starvation, young victims and anger regarding the refusal by numerous Jewish individuals who refuse to recognize their complicity, that consensus has broken down. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer