What October 7 has taught American Jews

How can we now begin to imagine “post-Oct. 7” American Judaism? American Jews now realize, perhaps more than ever before, that they are part of a people.

There is a perennial debate: Are the Jews a religious group, an ethnic group, a national group or a culture? The answer, now as always, is: all of the above.

People have asked me: “Do you have any family members who have been affected by what is happening?” My answer is: “All of them. They are all my family members. Every single one of them.”

I have often said the Jewish people are a small people, but we are a large family — and this crisis has driven that home — perhaps in ways many previously unconnected Jews could never have imagined. This crisis has cut through the entire “religious/not religious” dichotomy of Jewish life. It turns out to not be all that important. You don’t have to light Shabbat candles to feel empathy for Israel and her people.

Yes, American Jews still believe in “if I am only for myself … ” They still believe in universal social justice commitments. But, something happened over the last month. American Jews turned to their allies on the progressive left. What did they find? All too often, apathy, tone deafness or outright hostility.

Sigh. This is a lesson many Jews had learned decades ago. I certainly did, when I left the Left after the Yom Kippur War.

Today, a new generation of American Jewish activists is wondering: What do those progressive alliances mean to us? What do those alliances mean to our partners?

Today, a new generation of American Jewish activists is wondering: What do those progressive alliances mean to us? What do those alliances mean to our partners?

American Jews now realize, perhaps more than ever before, that Jew-hatred is a “clear and present danger.” Notice that I did not use the term “antisemitism.”

I am putting that term to rest, at least temporarily. It is too antiseptic — besides the fact that it was invented by an antisemite, Wilhelm Marr, to describe his ideology and to give it a polite scientific aura.

No. Let’s just call it “Jew-hatred.”

In the words of Jonathan Chait in New York magazine:  “It is often the case that a movement’s treatment of Jews serves as a broader indicator of its health. It’s not an accident that the Republican Party has become more attractive to anti-Semites as it has grown more paranoid and authoritarian. What the far left revealed about its disposition toward Jews is not just a warning for the Jews but a warning for all progressives who care about democracy and humanity.

“The pro-Hamas left is not merely indicating an indifference toward Jews. It is revealing the illiberal left’s inherent cruelty, repression and inhumanity.”

Let us be clear about the plain meaning of the oft-chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, there will be only Palestine — no Israel. 

This means there will be no Jewish state and, presumably, no Jews. There is a short list of the ways Jews can leave Israel: by ship, by plane and (my hands shake as I type these words) by body bags.

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a slogan that would turn Jews into refugees and victims again. Israel’s enemies — Hamas and its apologists and supporters — have no liberal wish list for the Jewish state. 

They do not want a better Israel, a more democratic Israel, a more inclusive Israel, even and especially a more “Palestinian friendly” Israel. They do not want a smaller Israel, which has made room for a Palestinian state.

They want no Israel. Some dare call this what it is — Jew-hatred.

Ironically, I write these words on Nov. 8 — on the eve of the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass that heralded the beginning of the Holocaust.

Been there, done that. No thanks.

https://religionnews.com/2023/11/08/october-7-hamas-american-judaism/