The Encounter: This New America-Jewish Moment

We are finding ourselves experiencing a very different society than the one that most of us can recall from our earlier years. It is as if we have been transported to a new place and time. Many of our core beliefs and practices that described how we defined and understood who and what it was to be an American have all but disappeared.

This collective feeling, often manifesting as grief, anxiety, and distrust, is a response to the erosion of long-held assumptions and the increasing uncertainty of the future.

Arriving here in this space appears almost alien. Beginning with the political behaviors and actions of our leaders and encompassing the closing of some of our core commercial institutions, our inherited sense of order seems no longer to be present. Many of us grew up with a fixed orientation about our lives, we had a set of expectations about how our society would operate. The norms and practices of how we saw and engaged with our government seemed established. How we encountered our retail and business space also appeared fixed, just as our specific expectations about education, religion, and culture.

Loss of a Shared “Consensus Reality.” Polarization and distrust have undermined civic culture and the social contract.

Anxiety about the Future:  Escalating climate disruptions, economic uncertainty, and geopolitical instability contribute to a collective feeling of being overwhelmed.

An Appeal to Nostalgia: Political rhetoric, such as “Make America Great Again” explicitly taps into this sense of loss by evoking a simpler, myth-based perspective on change. These images of loss as we know are triggered by rapid shifts in economics, community, and identity that have unsettled traditional understandings of society. For many, these changes have triggered a conscious desire for a simpler, more stable past, though that past is often a romanticized ideal.

Today, the rhythms and tools of government have appeared to become undone, just as the marketplace and each of these other sectors have experienced significant disruptions. In some sense, even with the benefits of technology and the internet, our worlds somehow have narrowed and, in some instances, fallen away.

There are outcomes and even resulting behaviors, as we experience a countercultural response. Part of this reaction is expressed in the form of anger and at times even through violence. It can feel like one’s entire life is falling apart. The ego is challenged or overwhelmed by something threatening or potentially dangerous.

Sociologists observe in this moment a type of social anomie, where there exists a disconnection with reality. A 2025 report from the State of the Nation Project described Americans as “polarized and distrustful, worried and pessimistic”. A Harvard study, published last year, reported that 19% of the respondents felt that they were not “part of this country”.

But this is not only an American phenomenon, as the WHO (World Health Organization) report suggests, approximately 1 in 4 older adults experience social isolation and 5 to 15% of adolescents experience loneliness.

The loss of a stable economic base often triggers a decline in community vitality. The erosion of local social ties has left many feeling isolated and adrift, especially as the pandemic accelerated self-isolation. Gentrification also erodes historic neighborhoods, displacing residents and erasing the cultural identity of communities.

Americans feel a growing sense of economic inequality. This disparity fuels anger and distrust toward the economic system and creates social tensions within the broader society.

The US is experiencing an identity crisis, with a deep partisan divide over immigration, culture, and national history. Some view growing diversity as a threat, while others see it as a source of strength.

And the Jewish Question: For Jews, these issues are multi-fold. Beyond this shared national experience, America’s Jews are being negatively impacted by the Hamas War and the onslaught of anti-Semitic behaviors, generating additional levels of anxiety and fear. Indeed, for the first time in our lives, we are encountering Jewish hate. The upending of our sense of security as Jews has shaken us, contributing to a feeling of political homelessness.

In this moment Americans remain uncertain about the state of this union and Jews find themselves devoid a sense of security. Experiencing such disruptions has now become the new mantra of our lives!