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Two years have passed since that deadly assault of October 7, 2023, an event that deeply affected world Jewry more than any event following the establishment of the state of Israel.

For Jews it was profoundly disturbing. For Israel as a nation, it was a significant embarrassment. The whole Zionist endeavor rested on the belief which held that Israel would ensure against such atrocities from ever happening again.

Military action appeared unavoidable. However, the particular response Israel pursued – the comprehensive devastation of Gaza, the casualties of many thousands of civilians – constituted a specific policy. This selected path made more difficult how many Jewish Americans grappled with the attack that triggered it, and currently challenges their remembrance of the day. How does one grieve and remember an atrocity targeting their community during a catastrophe experienced by a different population in your name?

The Challenge of Remembrance

The challenge in grieving exists because of the reality that little unity prevails regarding the implications of these developments. Actually, within US Jewish circles, the last two years have seen the breakdown of a half-century-old consensus about the Zionist movement.

The origins of Zionist agreement among American Jewry extends as far back as a 1915 essay written by a legal scholar subsequently appointed Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis titled “Jewish Issues; How to Solve it”. But the consensus really takes hold subsequent to the six-day war in 1967. Earlier, US Jewish communities contained a fragile but stable cohabitation between groups that had diverse perspectives concerning the need for a Jewish nation – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Background Information

That coexistence persisted through the 1950s and 60s, through surviving aspects of Jewish socialism, in the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee, among the opposing religious group and other organizations. Regarding Chancellor Finkelstein, the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Zionism was primarily theological rather than political, and he prohibited the singing of Hatikvah, Hatikvah, during seminary ceremonies in the early 1960s. Additionally, support for Israel the main element within modern Orthodox Judaism before the 1967 conflict. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

Yet after Israel routed neighboring countries in the six-day war in 1967, seizing land including Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, the Golan and East Jerusalem, US Jewish connection with Israel changed dramatically. The triumphant outcome, along with persistent concerns of a “second Holocaust”, led to a growing belief about the nation's critical importance to the Jewish people, and created pride in its resilience. Rhetoric concerning the extraordinary aspect of the outcome and the reclaiming of areas assigned the movement a religious, even messianic, significance. In that triumphant era, considerable existing hesitation about Zionism vanished. In the early 1970s, Writer Norman Podhoretz stated: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Consensus and Its Limits

The unified position excluded Haredi Jews – who largely believed a Jewish state should only be established by a traditional rendering of the messiah – yet included Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and the majority of non-affiliated Jews. The common interpretation of this agreement, later termed left-leaning Zionism, was based on a belief regarding Israel as a liberal and free – albeit ethnocentric – country. Many American Jews saw the control of Palestinian, Syrian and Egypt's territories after 1967 as temporary, assuming that a solution was imminent that would ensure Jewish population majority within Israel's original borders and Middle Eastern approval of the nation.

Multiple generations of US Jews were thus brought up with pro-Israel ideology a core part of their identity as Jews. The nation became a key component of Jewish education. Israel’s Independence Day turned into a celebration. National symbols decorated religious institutions. Summer camps were permeated with Hebrew music and the study of the language, with Israelis visiting and teaching American teenagers Israeli culture. Trips to the nation grew and achieved record numbers through Birthright programs in 1999, when a free trip to the country was provided to US Jewish youth. The nation influenced nearly every aspect of US Jewish life.

Evolving Situation

Ironically, during this period post-1967, US Jewish communities grew skilled in religious diversity. Acceptance and communication between Jewish denominations grew.

Except when it came to Zionism and Israel – there existed diversity ended. Individuals might align with a rightwing Zionist or a liberal advocate, yet backing Israel as a Jewish homeland was assumed, and questioning that narrative positioned you beyond accepted boundaries – outside the community, as a Jewish periodical described it in writing recently.

Yet presently, amid of the destruction within Gaza, food shortages, dead and orphaned children and frustration regarding the refusal by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their responsibility, that agreement has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer