American Jews and Israel

I was raised enough of a Jew to take some things for granted: certain blessings rolling off the tongue; instinctual skepticism of pork chops; good deeds ringing in my mind as "mitzvot"; a general support for Israel. I attended a Conservative Hebrew school as a child, lost my faith in God to Holocaust education, and have not voluntarily attended services since the seventh grade. Still, as many a secular, cultural, or spiritual Jew will tell you, you do not escape a Jewish upbringing by skipping services. I know well enough that the feelings toward Judaism and Israel instilled through my upbringing stalk my rational disinterest. These deep-rooted feelings give rise to such impossible desires as that the Jewish state should be different—more just, more compassionate, more understanding of oppression and tragedy—than any other. No amount of conscious secularization can uproot my concern for Israel's fate or waive the feeling that we owe a special empathy to oppressed peoples.