Israel: The First Decade of Independence

33. American Jewry and Israel: The First Decade and Its Implications for Today

33 MELVINI.UROFSKY ________________________________ American Jewry and Israel: The First Decade and Its Implications for Today On 14 May 1948, the State oflsrael proclaimed its independence, and, according to one account, "the hills shouted for joy." Whether the hills actually shouted or not, American Jews did. As officials at the Jewish Agency building in New York unfurled the flag of the new nation, thousands of cheering people stopped traffic on East 68th Street in New York to literally dance the bora. Twenty blocks downtown a similar scene took place in front of the Zionist headquarters. That evening tens of thousands of Jews crowded into Madison Square Garden for the celebration sponsored by the American Zionist Emergency Council, and police estimated another 75,000 could not get in and listened to the proceedings on loudspeakers in the streets. Similar celebrations took place across the country. Surely the day of deliverance, for which Jews had prayed for centuries, had come.1 The time for celebration was short-lived, however, as the surrounding Arab nations launched a war to wipe out the new Jewish state. American Jews provided millions of dollars to help buy arms for Israel, and some 1,500, many veterans of the Second World War, served in Mahal, the brigade of international volunteers; thirty-eight of them died fighting alongside their Israeli brethren.2 "To you, the Republic of Israel," ran one editorial, "we American Jews dedicate ourselves anew.... We shall stand squarely behind you.... We extend our support and solidarity and pledge with all our might and resources to aid you in the building of the Jewish State."3 That support has been forthcoming ever since, and there is no question that in the more than four decades since, Israel has played an important role in American Jewish life. In his recent monumental history of American Jewry, Howard Morley Sachar declares that Israel has "function[ed] increasingly as the bedrock of American-Jewish identity altogether."4 Another study of Judaism in America and Israel has also noted the Israelocentric nature of American Judaism.5 Yet for all the love and devotion American Jews have lavished on Israel, in recent years both the enthusiasm for the Jewish state as well as support for its foreign policies have declined precipitately. The passion, as well as its limits, can be observed in the decade following the establishment of the Jewish state. 733 734 Melvin I. Urofsky One year after Israeli independence, Elliot Cohen, the editor of Commentary, noted that everywhere he went, he heard serious discussion among American Jews about how the new state would affect American Jewish life. No one knew exactly what form this influence would take, but there seemed to be a widespread assumption that even as Israel developed it own distinctive culture, it would have a significant impact on American Jewish life.6 First, and still an important factor in American Jewry's relationship with Israel is the Holocaust. While nothing could redeem the deaths of six million Jews and, as Abraham Joshua Heschel declared, to look on Israel as an atonement or compensation would be blasphemy, nonetheless "the existence of Israel reborn makes life less unendurable." Jews travel to Israel, Heschel noted, "for renewal, for the experience of resurrection." Abba Lessing put it quite bluntly: "Without Israel, the Holocaust is totally unbearable."7 Israelis have not been blind to this situation, and have made Yad Vashem an obligatory stop for visiting dignitaries as well as tourists. Israel and its military victories over its Arab neighbors also symbolized Jewish potency in contrast to the alleged passivity with which European Jews met their fate. Raul Hillberg's influential study of the Holocaust asserted that Jews meekly accepted their fate, while Hannah Arendt went even further, charging that European Jews had been "collaborationist" in their response to the Nazi exterrninations.8 While we now know about the many camp revolts and of Jews in all the antifascist undergrounds,9 in the 1950s American Jews had heard only of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The new Israeli, David Ben-Gurion claimed, "straightened the back ofthe Jew everywhere.... [Israel) revived Jewish heroism."10 The poet Karl Shapiro , long estranged from Jewish life, expressed this attitude in his poem "Israel," published shortly after the Israeli declaration of independence:11 When I think of the battle for Zion I hear The drop of chains, the starting forth of feet, And I remained chained in a Western chair. My blood beats like a bird against a...