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It has been the horrific attack of October 7, 2023, which shook Jewish communities worldwide unlike anything else since the creation of the state of Israel.

Among Jewish people the event proved shocking. For Israel as a nation, the situation represented a profound disgrace. The whole Zionist project rested on the belief which held that the nation would prevent similar tragedies from ever happening again.

A response seemed necessary. However, the particular response Israel pursued – the widespread destruction of the Gaza Strip, the casualties of many thousands of civilians – represented a decision. This particular approach complicated how many US Jewish community members grappled with the initial assault that precipitated the response, and presently makes difficult their commemoration of the anniversary. In what way can people mourn and commemorate a horrific event against your people during devastation being inflicted upon a different population in your name?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The challenge of mourning stems from the fact that no agreement exists regarding the significance of these events. Actually, for the American Jewish community, the last two years have witnessed the collapse of a half-century-old consensus on Zionism itself.

The beginnings of Zionist agreement among American Jewry extends as far back as writings from 1915 by the lawyer and then future supreme court justice Louis D. Brandeis titled “Jewish Issues; How to Solve it”. But the consensus truly solidified subsequent to the Six-Day War that year. Previously, American Jewry contained a fragile but stable coexistence among different factions holding diverse perspectives regarding the necessity of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Historical Context

This parallel existence continued during the mid-twentieth century, in remnants of socialist Jewish movements, in the non-Zionist American Jewish Committee, among the opposing American Council for Judaism and similar institutions. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Zionist movement was more spiritual than political, and he prohibited the singing of Hatikvah, Hatikvah, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Furthermore, support for Israel the central focus within modern Orthodox Judaism until after the 1967 conflict. Different Jewish identity models existed alongside.

But after Israel overcame adjacent nations in the six-day war in 1967, occupying territories such as Palestinian territories, Gaza, the Golan and East Jerusalem, the American Jewish relationship to Israel evolved considerably. The triumphant outcome, combined with persistent concerns regarding repeated persecution, resulted in an increasing conviction regarding Israel's critical importance within Jewish identity, and created pride in its resilience. Discourse concerning the remarkable aspect of the victory and the freeing of areas gave Zionism a theological, almost redemptive, meaning. In those heady years, considerable existing hesitation about Zionism disappeared. In the early 1970s, Publication editor the commentator famously proclaimed: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Consensus and Its Limits

The pro-Israel agreement excluded Haredi Jews – who typically thought a nation should only emerge by a traditional rendering of the Messiah – but united Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and most unaffiliated individuals. The common interpretation of this agreement, later termed left-leaning Zionism, was established on the idea in Israel as a liberal and democratic – albeit ethnocentric – country. Many American Jews saw the occupation of local, Syrian and Egypt's territories after 1967 as not permanent, thinking that an agreement was forthcoming that would ensure Jewish population majority in Israel proper and neighbor recognition of the state.

Multiple generations of Jewish Americans were thus brought up with pro-Israel ideology a fundamental aspect of their identity as Jews. The state transformed into a central part of Jewish education. Israel’s Independence Day became a Jewish holiday. Blue and white banners decorated many temples. Youth programs integrated with Hebrew music and the study of the language, with Israeli guests instructing American teenagers Israeli customs. Trips to the nation grew and reached new heights with Birthright Israel during that year, offering complimentary travel to the nation was provided to US Jewish youth. Israel permeated almost the entirety of Jewish American identity.

Evolving Situation

Interestingly, throughout these years following the war, American Jewry became adept regarding denominational coexistence. Acceptance and discussion between Jewish denominations grew.

Yet concerning the Israeli situation – there existed tolerance reached its limit. Individuals might align with a right-leaning advocate or a leftwing Zionist, however endorsement of the nation as a Jewish state was a given, and criticizing that narrative positioned you beyond accepted boundaries – an “Un-Jew”, as a Jewish periodical termed it in writing recently.

But now, amid of the devastation of Gaza, famine, dead and orphaned children and anger about the rejection by numerous Jewish individuals who decline to acknowledge their involvement, that consensus has broken down. The liberal Zionist “center” {has lost|no longer