What lies ahead? The Jewish people’s uncertain transformational journey

The global Jewish community is moving to a fundamentally different socio-political state. In some measure this moment represents the most significant transition since our encountering modernity. The changes now underway will have profound impact on Jewish identity, practice, and communal organizing.

Already in this century, we have encountered the 2008 economic recession, the Madoff scandal, the rise of the social media revolution, the coming of age of Gen Z, the emergence of national conservatism, authoritarian regimes, and the growth of populist politics, and the global effects of the 2021 COVID pandemic. And more directly, the unfolding events of October 7^th and beyond have influenced and shaped this transformative moment. Each of these extraordinary influencers has and/or will contribute to a disruptive shift of power and practice.

Elsewhere, I have had occasion to identify and analyze the various “trigger factors” contributing to this new global Jewish reality.[1]. In these earlier publications, I laid out the historical, political, and ideological elements contributing specifically to the undoing of the contemporary Jewish story.

• This Moment: With the rise of both radical left and right political ideologies that are altering and undermining parts of the civic agenda, we are encountering a new era of disruption and uncertainty, challenging the status and state of Jewish political interests.
• The Downsizing: The demise of Western religious traditions will also leave Judaism in a more precarious place, as our institutions and leaders contend with shifting demographic realities and with changing cultural and social norms, further weakening religious engagement.
• The Rise: The emergence of new political, ethnic, and religious powers and players will be competing for access and influence, and in the process, our community will experience a corresponding loss of space in the public square.
• The Impact: We are encountering a new and fundamentally different generation (Gen Z), whose orientation, politics, and social behaviors appear in conflict with existing Jewish priorities, beliefs, and practices, as represented by their disconnection with Israel and their rejection of the Zionist idea.
• The Challenge: The impact of social media and AI must be seen as upending core beliefs and undermining the idea of “truth”. In the Jewish context, these new technologies are creating major challenges to our defense of Israel and in connection with the status of Judaism and the welfare of Jews.
• The Undoing: Israel is facing both external threats and internal challenges, contributing to new pressures on its democracy and in connection with its Diaspora relationships. Many of the core sustaining and distinctive factors that supported the Jewish nation-state experience are likely to disappear or become minimized. We are experiencing a profound disconnect on the part of many Jews with the case for Israel.
• The Transition: The decline of Jewish power and influence within the United States, and possibly elsewhere among democratic societies, has become evident, further eroding our community’s standing and endangering Israel’s political standing.
• The Reality: The new antisemitism is eroding the social and political status of Jews, just as it is undermining Jewish security across the globe.
• The World Scene: With the shifting of political power within nations, as we experience the rise of both right-wing authoritarian and left-wing socialist regimes, we are likely to see a disruption to traditional political alliances and relationships impacting Israel’s political standing and core Jewish interests.

In each of these operational areas we are seeing radical shifts impacting the state and status of the Jewish communal enterprise.

Both the scope and substance of such external structural and policy changes will require the re-imaging of the Jewish communal system. Considering that many of the elements that comprise this transformational moment are influencing the behaviors and beliefs of Jews about their collective well-being.

We must prepare our community in dealing with the dynamic cultural, social, and political shifts that are present:

• Our political status and standing are changing here and elsewhere.
• Political and demographic factors are negatively contributing to a decline of the impact and visibility of Judaism, Jewish ideas, and Jewish personalities.
• We have entered a new age of Jewish hatred and hostility, where Israel, Jews, and Judaism will experience increased challenges and threats.

The contributing elements associated with such changes include the significant demographic and generational ingredients that are reshaping the current political equation and Jewish communal relevance.

How we access, organize, serve, and engage fellow Jews represents a major test for our community. Correspondingly, the organizing model that currently defines how our community is constructed leaves significant and essential constituencies outside of its delivery system and others feeling less connected to its mission and vision.

Where Do We Go from Here?

There are profound implications associated with how as a community we will harness this opportunity to be proactive and transformational. Or will we revert to Jewish history? Is this moment in fact “returning” us to an earlier place of identity, behavior, and belief, where we once again find ourselves sitting outside of the forces of power and influence? [2]

Modern Jewish identity crumbles, and its crumbs are molded by the horrors of Oct. 7, into a pre-modern Jewish identity. We are now more Jewish, in the deep-rooted sense, but also in the victimized sense. Sunlight is now a bit less inviting, a bit less familiar. We once again read by the lamp. 

How we both understand both what is happening and how best to respond to these extraordinary new realities will be the most essential test of our community in modern times.

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[1]

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/the-end-of-the-jewish-century-1918-2018-why-this-period-has-been-unique-in-the-annals-of-jewish-history/

https://scriptions.huc.edu/scriptions/a-new-moment-in-time-judaism-in-the-pandemic-age

https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/362373/thinking-the-unthinkable-the-unmaking-of-the-american-jewish-experience/

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/whiteness-as-the-new-measure-of-anti-semitism/

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/reimaging-the-american-jewish-communal-model/

[2] https://jewishjournal.com/cover_story/372964/the-return-to-jewish-history/#:~:text=We%20have%20returned%20to%20Jewish,thousand%2Dyear%2Dold%20suffering.