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Marking two years after that mass murder of the events of October 7th, which deeply affected world Jewry like no other occurrence since the establishment of the state of Israel.

Within Jewish communities the event proved shocking. For the Israeli government, it was a profound disgrace. The entire Zionist endeavor rested on the belief which held that the nation would ensure against things like this occurring in the future.

A response appeared unavoidable. But the response Israel pursued – the obliteration of Gaza, the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands ordinary people – was a choice. And this choice made more difficult the perspective of many US Jewish community members understood the October 7th events that triggered it, and currently challenges their remembrance of the anniversary. How can someone grieve and remember a tragedy against your people during devastation experienced by a different population in your name?

The Difficulty of Remembrance

The difficulty surrounding remembrance stems from the reality that there is no consensus regarding the significance of these events. Indeed, among Jewish Americans, the last two years have experienced the breakdown of a half-century-old unity regarding Zionism.

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 Justice Brandeis named “Jewish Issues; Finding Solutions”. Yet the unity really takes hold subsequent to the 1967 conflict in 1967. Previously, American Jewry contained a fragile but stable parallel existence across various segments which maintained a range of views concerning the requirement for a Jewish nation – Zionists, neutral parties and opponents.

Historical Context

Such cohabitation persisted throughout the post-war decades, within remaining elements of socialist Jewish movements, within the neutral US Jewish group, within the critical American Council for Judaism and comparable entities. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Zionist movement had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he prohibited singing Israel's anthem, the national song, during seminary ceremonies during that period. Nor were Zionist ideology the main element of Modern Orthodoxy before the six-day war. Alternative Jewish perspectives remained present.

But after Israel defeated its neighbors during the 1967 conflict in 1967, occupying territories including the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, US Jewish relationship to the nation underwent significant transformation. The military success, coupled with enduring anxieties about another genocide, produced an increasing conviction about the nation's essential significance to the Jewish people, and generated admiration for its strength. Language about the “miraculous” quality of the success and the reclaiming of territory assigned the Zionist project a religious, potentially salvific, significance. In those heady years, considerable the remaining ambivalence toward Israel vanished. In that decade, Writer the commentator stated: “Everyone supports Zionism today.”

The Unity and Restrictions

The unified position excluded Haredi Jews – who generally maintained Israel should only emerge by a traditional rendering of the Messiah – however joined Reform, Conservative Judaism, contemporary Orthodox and nearly all non-affiliated Jews. The predominant version of the unified position, later termed liberal Zionism, was founded on a belief about the nation as a progressive and free – while majority-Jewish – nation. Many American Jews saw the control of Arab, Syria's and Egyptian lands post-1967 as provisional, believing that a resolution was imminent that would maintain Jewish population majority in pre-1967 Israel and neighbor recognition of the nation.

Two generations of American Jews were raised with pro-Israel ideology a fundamental aspect of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into a key component within religious instruction. Yom Ha'atzmaut became a Jewish holiday. Israeli flags decorated most synagogues. Summer camps were permeated with Israeli songs and education of the language, with Israeli guests educating American teenagers Israeli culture. Trips to the nation expanded and peaked via educational trips during that year, offering complimentary travel to Israel became available to Jewish young adults. The nation influenced almost the entirety of US Jewish life.

Shifting Landscape

Ironically, during this period post-1967, US Jewish communities developed expertise in religious diversity. Open-mindedness and communication among different Jewish movements grew.

Except when it came to the Israeli situation – that’s where tolerance found its boundary. One could identify as a right-leaning advocate or a leftwing Zionist, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country was a given, and questioning that position categorized you outside mainstream views – outside the community, as Tablet magazine labeled it in writing in 2021.

Yet presently, under the weight of the destruction of Gaza, famine, child casualties and frustration regarding the refusal of many fellow Jews who avoid admitting their involvement, that agreement has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer