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It has been the horrific attack of October 7, 2023, which deeply affected Jewish communities worldwide like no other occurrence following the founding of Israel as a nation.

Among Jewish people it was profoundly disturbing. For the Israeli government, the situation represented deeply humiliating. The whole Zionist project was founded on the presumption which held that the Jewish state would prevent things like this occurring in the future.

A response was inevitable. However, the particular response undertaken by Israel – the widespread destruction of Gaza, the deaths and injuries of numerous of civilians – constituted a specific policy. This selected path made more difficult the way numerous Jewish Americans understood the initial assault that triggered it, and it now complicates their commemoration of the day. How does one grieve and remember an atrocity targeting their community in the midst of a catastrophe experienced by another people connected to their community?

The Difficulty of Grieving

The challenge of mourning exists because of the reality that there is no consensus about the implications of these developments. Actually, for the American Jewish community, the last two years have witnessed the disintegration of a fifty-year unity about the Zionist movement.

The beginnings of Zionist agreement across American Jewish populations can be traced to writings from 1915 written by a legal scholar who would later become high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis called “Jewish Issues; Addressing the Challenge”. Yet the unity became firmly established subsequent to the 1967 conflict in 1967. Earlier, American Jewry housed a fragile but stable coexistence between groups holding a range of views concerning the need of a Jewish state – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and anti-Zionists.

Previous Developments

That coexistence persisted during the 1950s and 60s, through surviving aspects of Jewish socialism, within the neutral US Jewish group, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and similar institutions. For Louis Finkelstein, the leader of the theological institution, the Zionist movement had greater religious significance instead of governmental, and he prohibited the singing of Israel's anthem, the Israeli national anthem, at JTS ordinations during that period. Additionally, Zionism and pro-Israelism the main element for contemporary Orthodox communities prior to that war. Different Jewish identity models remained present.

But after Israel routed neighboring countries in that war during that period, taking control of areas such as Palestinian territories, Gaza Strip, the Golan and Jerusalem's eastern sector, US Jewish connection with Israel underwent significant transformation. The triumphant outcome, coupled with enduring anxieties of a “second Holocaust”, produced a growing belief about the nation's essential significance for Jewish communities, and generated admiration regarding its endurance. Language concerning the extraordinary aspect of the success and the freeing of land assigned the movement a spiritual, even messianic, importance. During that enthusiastic period, a significant portion of the remaining ambivalence about Zionism disappeared. During the seventies, Writer Podhoretz stated: “Zionism unites us all.”

The Agreement and Restrictions

The Zionist consensus did not include strictly Orthodox communities – who generally maintained a nation should only emerge by a traditional rendering of redemption – yet included Reform, Conservative Judaism, Modern Orthodox and most unaffiliated individuals. The most popular form of the unified position, what became known as left-leaning Zionism, was based on a belief about the nation as a liberal and free – while majority-Jewish – country. Numerous US Jews considered the occupation of Arab, Syria's and Egypt's territories post-1967 as not permanent, thinking that a resolution would soon emerge that would ensure Jewish population majority in Israel proper and neighbor recognition of Israel.

Several cohorts of US Jews were thus brought up with Zionism a fundamental aspect of their identity as Jews. The nation became an important element within religious instruction. Israeli national day became a Jewish holiday. Israeli flags adorned many temples. Seasonal activities were permeated with Israeli songs and the study of the language, with Israelis visiting instructing American teenagers national traditions. Visits to Israel increased and reached new heights with Birthright Israel during that year, when a free trip to the country was provided to young American Jews. Israel permeated virtually all areas of the American Jewish experience.

Evolving Situation

Paradoxically, during this period post-1967, US Jewish communities developed expertise regarding denominational coexistence. Tolerance and communication among different Jewish movements expanded.

However regarding Zionism and Israel – that represented diversity reached its limit. Individuals might align with a conservative supporter or a liberal advocate, however endorsement of the nation as a majority-Jewish country remained unquestioned, and questioning that perspective placed you outside mainstream views – outside the community, as Tablet magazine labeled it in a piece that year.

However currently, during of the devastation within Gaza, famine, child casualties and anger about the rejection within Jewish communities who refuse to recognize their responsibility, that unity has disintegrated. The centrist pro-Israel view {has lost|no longer