The Great Miscalculation Has Led to the Great Recalibration

In the aftermath of October 7, 2023, a seismic awakening has rippled through the Jewish world. The sense of shock, betrayal, and disbelief wasn’t just about the reactions that so many people had to the attacks on the streets and on social media in the United States.  It wasn’t just about the painful realization of what had been building beneath the surface for years- it was also about the fact that the organized Jewish community had been staunch supporters and advocates for so many liberal causes and it was these liberal groups of people who were the most critical and silent in the face of the Oct 7th butchery.   A recent high-level conversation with someone deeply familiar with the inner workings of the leading Jewish institutions reaffirmed the massive miscalculation that the organized Jewish community had made in relation to what their mission ought to be, what the levels of anti-Semitism truly were, as well as the effectiveness of their actions were.  The impact of these miscalculations has ultimately led to a more sober recalibration to the realities as they are

For years, major Jewish organizations operated under the assumption that antisemitism in America was largely a relic of the past. The idea that “antisemitism is dead” wasn’t just a fringe opinion—it had become, for many within the upper ranks of these institutions, a settled argument. And with that perceived victory, the mission shifted toward broader social justice initiatives.    : Intergroup bridge-building, support for other minority struggles, and a well-meaning but often misapplied interpretation of Tikkun Olam—the Jewish call to “repair the world.”

By embracing progressive ideologies rooted in intersectionality, which divide society into binary roles of oppressor and oppressed, many of these Jewish organizations unwittingly allowed Jews—and by extension, Israel—to be categorized as the oppressors. In supporting causes that framed the world through race-based narratives, they empowered movements and rhetoric that increasingly cast Zionism as colonialism and Jews as privileged white elites.

The warning signs were there.  While anti-Semitic incidents were being recorded what was not being taken into account was the cauldron of toxic attitudes that was being developed that didn’t have a way of expressing itself. In many ways the aftermath of October 7^th provided the opportunity for a host of different people and groups to finally express what had been developing for quite some time.

A 2017 article in Nonprofit Quarterly featured a study conducted by ” Hanna Shaul Bar Nissim, a postdoctoral Fellow at Brandeis University which found “ an average of 75 percent of the (philanthropic )money backing non-Jewish causes. It amounts to more than $9 billion every year flowing “to social, welfare, educational, health, research, science, advocacy, art, cultural and environmental causes, [including] tens of thousands of local and international nonprofits serving a wide range of ethnic and religious communities in the US, Israel, and elsewhere.”.  Many summits and other public communications were dominated by themes of racial justice, anti-bias education, and support for Black Lives Matter, even as anti-Semitic assaults in cities like New York hit record highs—many of them perpetrated not by far-right extremists but by individuals in communities that progressive Jewish groups had allied with.

The events of October 7—and the global reaction that followed—have served as a brutal wake-up call. Jews across the spectrum, particularly those in progressive spaces, were shocked to see former allies either silent or openly antagonistic toward Israel and the Jewish people. The betrayal was clear: the solidarity was never truly reciprocal.  The good news is that leadership within many Jewish institutions now appear to recognize the scope of the error. There is a growing movement—call it “the great recalibration”—to re-center the Jewish mission. It starts with internal education: reengaging synagogues (especially in the Conservative and Reform movements), educating clergy, and providing young Jewish people with the historical and ideological tools to counter anti-Zionist narratives.  Truth to power needs to be spoken—not just in political spaces but in communities and congregations far and wide.  It must be proclaimed clearly and confidently: Israel is not a colonizer. Zionism is not oppression. It is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people.

The challenges before the Jewish community was not created in a day and will not disappear in a day.  The great miscalculation has been supplanted by the great recalibration.  Through this experience the Jewish people will emerge stronger, more united, and with a better clarity of purpose to confront the very real threats that never went away.

Let the work begin anew—this time, with eyes wide open.