Returning to Judaism through Zionism: Will it save American Jewry? - opinion

Theodor Herzl defied the conventional wisdom of the 1890s. The prevailing view in his milieu was that European Jew-hatred was over since it was religious-based, and now Europe is secular.

Indeed, when a new secular ideology called antisemitism emerged, many dismissed it as merely a political view. After all, there were concerns about the “Jewish occupation of Europe” – in culture, music, banking, and business, which the antisemites argued, pollutes humanity.

Yet Herzl’s European Jewish circle ignored his warnings that antisemitism was the new existential threat. One Jewish acquaintance explained to him: The opposition is not to Judaism but to liberalism.

We see similar dynamics today: as the existential threat to Judaism has shifted from antisemitism to Israel-bashing and anti-Zionism, many American Jews still explain that the opposition is not to Judaism but to Zionism.

Using antisemitism to unify Jews 

But Herzl also had a deeper insight: He recognized that antisemitism can save European Jews, on a trajectory toward assimilation: “There, in antisemitism lies the will of God to benefit [the Jews] – for it pushes us towards one another and unifies us,” he wrote.

Herzl conceived a new ideology to capture this God-given benefit: Zionism. He stated clearly: “Zionism is the return to Judaism, even before the return to the land of the Jews.” Sadly, most European Jews did not return.

Some 130 years later, the Jewish state Herzl envisioned is under a dual assault: a physical one from Iran and its proxies, and an ideological one from the West. This indeed, has pushed Israelis toward one another. But can the assault on Judaism also benefit the core of the American Jewish community, which has been on a trajectory toward assimilation?

One of its legendary leaders, Malcolm Hoenlein, a former head of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, certainly believes so: “October 7 occasioned a revolution for American Jewry,” he shared with The Jerusalem Post. Stunningly, “there were 140 to 160 new Jewish organizations and initiatives that were created in the last year alone!”

The transformation of Judaism

As discussed in my Jerusalem Post Judaism 3.0 column and in the Judaism 3.0 think tank, we are in the midst of a historic transformation of Judaism: Zionism is becoming its organizing principle. Both Jews and non-Jews increasingly relate to Judaism through the prism of Zionism and the Jewish state – in the positive and negative alike (Judaism 3.0). 

Therefore, it is only natural that age-old opposition to Judaism is expressed through anti-Zionism and Israel-bashing. As some noted, October 7 turned Judaism 3.0 from a thesis to a depiction of day-to-day life, as Jews were pulled into their Judaism through Zionism – on college campuses, in the workplace and in social circles.

But just as Herzl posited that the 20th-century assault on Judaism can save European Jewry, Hoenlein maintains that the 21st-century assault on Judaism can save American Jewry: “Jewish organizations are attracting broader Jewish audiences – people that previously had no connection to Judaism or organized community.” This includes influential American Jews: “There are CEOs, business leaders, Jews that had no interest in engaging in Jewish causes, and since October 7, are doing a lot.”

Still, many American Jews tout the slogan of “Zero tolerance to antisemitism” (the threat to Jews and Judaism of the previous century), while tolerating and even partaking in Israel-bashing and anti-Zionism (the threat to Jews and Judaism of the 21st century).

This is akin to European Jews in the 1940s touting: “Zero tolerance to religious-based Jew-hatred” (the threat to Jews and Judaism of previous centuries), alongside tolerating and even partaking in antisemitism (the threat to Jews and Judaism of the 20th century).

Moreover, according to election exit polls conducted by J-Street, which Hoenlein dismisses as bogus, only 14% of American Jews listed Israel as one of their top two voting issues! This is while Israel is at war, missiles are coming in, and over 100, mostly Israelis, are held hostage in Gaza. This perhaps is reminiscent of the 1944 election, when American Jews failed to use their political leverage on President Roosevelt to bomb the extermination camps, where European Jews were being murdered.

Renewed fear of dual loyalty?

Indeed, back then, and for the following 80 years, it was explained that American Jews in positions of power – in the media, State Department and other government agencies – fear being suspected of having “dual loyalty,” and had therefore developed an obsessive anti-Israel bias.

But the American public has since shifted. Surveys indicate broad support for the Jewish state, as its soldiers are fighting a seven-front war – a war on terrorism that also benefits the West and the United States.

This awakens the question of “dual loyalty” – but in reverse: While it is becoming increasingly clear that the Western assault on Judaism is a proxy for an assault on America, some powerful American Jews still accuse Israeli Jews of being “a Pariah opposed by the rest of the world” and of “dehumanizing others.” This in turn fuels the assault and gives it legitimacy.

Yet Hoenlein – whom for full disclosure, I served alongside on the board of the America-Israel Friendship League for 20 years – believes that there is a seismic shift coming.

Hoenlein, who meets world leaders on a regular basis, shared a conversation he recently had with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “I told the prime minister that Israel has to start building a lot of affordable housing.” This, he said, is due to an anticipated post-war inflow of American and European Jews – some making aliyah, and others what he calls “half-aliyah.”

We have witnessed quite a few miracles in the last year, such as sustaining thousands of incoming missiles, the Hezbollah beeper attack, as well as the astonishing mutual assurance and unshakable resolve of Israeli society. Are we about to see another?

Are American Jews about to return to Judaism through Zionism – physically or ideologically – just as Herzl envisioned?

Hoenlein certainly thinks so: “This is revolutionary… October 7 and the reaction to it radically changed many in the American Jewish community.” Judaism is indeed going through a historic transformation. This leads to new existential threats, but also unleashes enormous opportunities. 

The writer is the author of a new book, The Assault on Judaism: The Existential Threat Is Coming from the West. He is chairman of the Judaism 3.0 Think Tank and author of Judaism 3.0: Judaism’s Transformation to Zionism (Judaism-Zionism.com).

His geopolitical articles are featured on EuropeAndJerusalem.com