Proud American Jewish Zionist

I was a troubled teen. None of the people I have met since then can believe it, but it’s true. I was a teenager of the 60’s and all that entailed. Fortunately, I had enough self-awareness to know that I was troubled–though I might not have put it that way–and I knew that just to go off to college like all of my Jewish peers would simply have been a road to failure. I also knew that to overcome my troubles, I needed to get away, to escape the “scene of the crime.” I figured that I could run away and join a commune in Arizona, a popular destination for young hippies, or I could run away and join a commune in Israel. My family was an example of your typical “high holiday Jews,” and Zionism was barely a word I would have recognized. But not wishing to totally alienate myself from my parents, I opted for a commune in Israel, i.e., kibbutz.

To make a rather long and complicated story short and concise, that experience changed my life. Everything that I have been since then and that I am to this day is a product of that experience. I ended up staying in Israel for two years. Not only did I become a knowledgeable and committed Jew, but I also became an ardent Zionist.

But let’s face it, the Zionism of 1970, the Zionism of the kibbutz, is not today’s Zionism. That Zionism was kibbutz Zionism, labor Zionism, the Zionism articulated in Israel’s Declaration of Independence, a Zionism that, at least in theory, was committed to the development of a just and equitable society. It seemed that the old anthem of the early Zionist pioneers still held sway: anu banu artza livnot ulehibbanot bah, “we have come to the land to build and to be built by it.” It was a society still focused, yes, on soldiers, but also farmers and workers. Indeed, even what was then known as the National Religious Party had a distinctive kibbutz/labor slant.

That Zionism is now mostly gone. It is now the Zionism of the 2018 so-called “Nation-state Law,” which essentially turns Israel into an ultra-nationalist ethno-state. The 1948 declaration’s call for “complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants” was converted in 2018 to [t]he right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people.” The guarantee of 1948 that the State of Israel “will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants” has been transformed into this formulation: “The state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.” The Zionism of equality, pluralism and a commitment to equal civil rights is now a Zionism of ultra-ethno-nationalism. The Zionism of the Nation-state Law is not the Zionism that changed my life and earned my ardent support.

But let’s face it: much of this attitude is a reflection of the fact that in addition to being a Jew and a Zionist, I am also an American. When I am asked if I am an American Jew or a Jewish American, my reply is “yes.” My Jewishness is highly conditioned by my Americanness and vice-versa. As an American, I am committed to the ideals of equality, pluralism and equal rights for all. As a descendant of east European migrants, my empathy for the migrant is part of my DNA. Moreover, as a Jewish American, this empathy for the migrant, as well as the demand for justice and compassion, to see each human being as created in the image of the divine is a key factor in my personal commitment to Torah–to being in a covenant relationship with God.

Diaspora Judaism in general, and American Jewry in particular, are faced with a terrible conundrum these days. The overwhelming majority of us are Zionists, but that same majority overwhelmingly values the western ideals of pluralism, equality and human rights. Indeed, commitment to those ideals are what have allowed American Jewry in particular to thrive. Those values are being significantly eroded in the ultra-ethno-nationalism that is today’s Israeli Zionism. We must boldly step forward and support those institutions and organizations–here and in Israel–that advocate for a Zionism that advances those values.