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It has been the mass murder of the events of October 7th, an event that shook Jewish communities worldwide unlike anything else since the establishment of the state of Israel.

Among Jewish people it was profoundly disturbing. For the state of Israel, the situation represented deeply humiliating. The entire Zionist endeavor rested on the presumption which held that the nation would prevent things like this occurring in the future.

A response appeared unavoidable. But the response that Israel implemented – the comprehensive devastation of the Gaza Strip, the casualties of numerous non-combatants – represented a decision. And this choice made more difficult the way numerous US Jewish community members understood the attack that precipitated the response, and it now complicates their observance of the anniversary. How can someone honor and reflect on a tragedy against your people during an atrocity being inflicted upon another people in your name?

The Difficulty of Mourning

The challenge in grieving stems from the circumstance where little unity prevails about the significance of these events. Actually, among Jewish Americans, the recent twenty-four months have witnessed the disintegration of a half-century-old agreement about the Zionist movement.

The origins of pro-Israel unity among American Jewry dates back to writings from 1915 authored by an attorney who would later become high court jurist Louis D. Brandeis titled “The Jewish Question; Finding Solutions”. But the consensus became firmly established after the six-day war in 1967. Previously, Jewish Americans housed a vulnerable but enduring coexistence among different factions holding diverse perspectives concerning the need for Israel – pro-Israel advocates, non-Zionists and opponents.

Previous Developments

Such cohabitation persisted throughout the mid-twentieth century, within remaining elements of leftist Jewish organizations, through the non-aligned American Jewish Committee, in the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism and similar institutions. In the view of Louis Finkelstein, the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Zionism had greater religious significance rather than political, and he forbade performance of the Israeli national anthem, the Israeli national anthem, at JTS ordinations in those years. Furthermore, Zionist ideology the central focus of Modern Orthodoxy until after the 1967 conflict. Different Jewish identity models existed alongside.

However following Israel defeated its neighbors in the six-day war during that period, seizing land including the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan and East Jerusalem, US Jewish relationship to the country underwent significant transformation. The military success, along with longstanding fears of a “second Holocaust”, produced an increasing conviction about the nation's essential significance for Jewish communities, and created pride regarding its endurance. Rhetoric regarding the “miraculous” nature of the victory and the reclaiming of territory provided the Zionist project a theological, even messianic, importance. In those heady years, much of previous uncertainty toward Israel disappeared. In the early 1970s, Publication editor Podhoretz famously proclaimed: “We are all Zionists now.”

The Unity and Restrictions

The pro-Israel agreement did not include the ultra-Orthodox – who largely believed Israel should only emerge through traditional interpretation of redemption – however joined Reform Judaism, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and nearly all unaffiliated individuals. The most popular form of the unified position, later termed progressive Zionism, was founded on the conviction about the nation as a liberal and democratic – albeit ethnocentric – country. Many American Jews viewed the administration of Palestinian, Syria's and Egypt's territories post-1967 as temporary, assuming that a resolution would soon emerge that would maintain a Jewish majority within Israel's original borders and regional acceptance of the state.

Two generations of US Jews were raised with support for Israel an essential component of their Jewish identity. The state transformed into an important element of Jewish education. Israeli national day evolved into a religious observance. Blue and white banners adorned most synagogues. Summer camps became infused with Israeli songs and education of modern Hebrew, with Israeli guests educating American teenagers Israeli customs. Visits to Israel increased and achieved record numbers with Birthright Israel by 1999, when a free trip to Israel became available to Jewish young adults. The state affected virtually all areas of Jewish American identity.

Changing Dynamics

Interestingly, during this period post-1967, US Jewish communities developed expertise at religious pluralism. Acceptance and discussion across various Jewish groups increased.

Yet concerning the Israeli situation – that’s where pluralism reached its limit. Individuals might align with a rightwing Zionist or a leftwing Zionist, yet backing Israel as a Jewish state was a given, and criticizing that perspective positioned you outside mainstream views – outside the community, as a Jewish periodical described it in a piece in 2021.

However currently, amid of the devastation in Gaza, famine, child casualties and outrage about the rejection of many fellow Jews who avoid admitting their involvement, that agreement has collapsed. The moderate Zionist position {has lost|no longer