Feelings of attachment to Israel declining among non-Orthodox American Jews, and are replaced by indifference and even alienation, study finds. Only 48% think Israel's destruction would be a personal tragedy for them, only 54% 'comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state'
Reuters Young non-Orthodox US Jews are becoming increasingly lukewarm if not alienated in their support for Israel in a trend that is not likely to be reversed, according to a study released on Thursday.
Blending into US society, including marriage to non-Jews and a tendency to look on Judaism more in religious terms than ethnic ones, is part of what's happening, the study found.
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I am not sure why this finding bothers me. Why should I care? Well, it does for whatever reason. Okay, here it is. Being Jewish, being Black or African American, being Chinese, being Mexican is a find thing. I wish I could say the same, since I have nothing of the kind to point to. Just a mass mogrel something vaguely European yellow dog somewhere back there and currently a member of the universal imperial and racist evil.
Here's the deal though. Everybody has to study their own history and find out what that means to them. They get to find out all sorts of really great things, as well as terrible things.
For various reasons I ended up studying early Zionism in German history. I discovered fascinating and difficult philosophical and political problems that have had tremendous impacts on 20thC history. In turn I re-discovered something great about US history that went straight to the heart of its 20thC history of successes and failures in civil rights, freedom of speech, separation of church and state, all the basic enlightenment principles.
I want to use Lenni Brenner here as an example. I have an affection for his weird crank like qualities. They remind me of the old days, when I was very young, when I was never sure I could trust the crazy ass commie Jewish radicals that got up on Sproul plaza, got the microphone and ranted on about US imperialism, racism, and solidarity with the oppressed of the earth. Was this insane conspiracy theory, who killed Kennedy crap, or was it real?
Brenner's own radical and ramsackle wonderings into history, Zionism, Israel, what it means to be an American Jew are a great lesson on point. So is Hannah Arendt. These are the kinds of treasures you get to discover along with all the humilating shit coming from Israel at the moment.
Getting into the human condition means getting your hands covered in shit and blood and complicity, and deeply disturbing thoughts, including your own passions and bigotries and ignorance. That is the game and you have to do it. That's what it means to be alive. As Stein said to Marlow, in Lord Jim, ``in the destructive element, you must emerce.'' Yes. In the end, nobody is going to come out of this either clean or alive.
CG