“Traitors. You are traitors. You betray us and betray yourselves.” This is what Haggai Segal, one of Israel’s leading columnists, wrote about American Jews in Makor Rishon, one of Israel’s leading journals, on the eve of Israel’s Independence Day (“Fresh fight over aliyah, just in time for Yom HaAtzmaut,” eJewishPhilanthropy, April 22). He later retracted the word traitor, but stood by the crux of his argument. And what was the response of the leaders of American Jewry? Silence! Any antisemitic attack against Jews leads to outcry, but the delegitimization of the entire community was met with submission, exactly when an unapologetic defense was called for.  

Twelve days ago, Segal published his article, “Last call to American Jewry,” in which he accused the community of “denying redemption” (sarvanut geulah) despite its inevitable demise due to assimilation and antisemitism. He argued that the failure of American Jews to acknowledge the messianic nature of our era, their failure to make aliyah and their embrace of diasporic existence are underlying reasons for many of Israel’s strategic shortcomings. In his despair, Segal suggested an ultimatum with sanctions: If most American Jews are still in America by 2031, they should not be numbered among the Jewish People, and the Jewish Agency should discontinue its work among their communities. 

Vladystock/Getty Images

The core of Segal’s argument is normative. He measures American Jews by their aliyah to Israel and their contribution to the process of messianic redemption. His outlook reflects a condescending worldview of superiority over Jewish existence in the Diaspora, particularly among non-Orthodox Jews in America. In fact, he wholeheartedly dismisses the fundamental legitimacy of American Judaism.

Segal’s article was widely noticed in Israel and among world Jewry, generating multiple responses. Some argued for the usefulness of American Jewry to Israel due to its financial and political support. Others reprimanded Segal’s style, while accepting his framing of Aliyah as the ultimate goal of all Diaspora Jews. A third group wondered why Segal directed his wrath at American Jews, while ignoring the Haredi population or the Israeli Diaspora. Altogether, Segal met with strong pushback, which led to a partial retraction. What was missing was a response by a leader of American Jewry who would refute Segal’s outlook and offer a compelling vision for their community’s future. 

In his seminal book Leadership Without Easy Answers, Ronald Heifetz describes four essential roles of a leader in a position of authority: to protect and feed the community — to ensure its security and its well-being — as well as to assign roles and resolve conflicts. While American Jewry does not have a president or chief rabbi who has formal authority over all American Jews, it has multiple organizations — such as the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, Jewish Federations of North America, American Jewish Committee and Anti-Defamation League — that repeatedly claim to speak for the entire community. None of them rose to defend Jewish life in America. 

Standing up for American Jewry is easy when it is viewed as a unitary societal entity, despite its heterogeneity. Its mission is similar to that of the state of Israel and equally important and inspiring: to serve the long-term well-being of the Jewish People. That mission is served by Israel and by American Jewry from different societal ecosystems; while one is a sovereign nation, the other is a “Great Diaspora.” 

For millennia, the Jewish People has been a multi-centered civilization. In ancient and now contemporary times, Diaspora communities have existed alongside Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. Indeed, 2,600 years of continued Jewish life in the Diaspora and 372 years of American Judaism prove that American Jewry is a continuation of Jewish history and a long-lasting expression of our civilization. 

Furthermore, like Bavel and Jerusalem, Israel and American Jewry are a whole that is larger than the sum of its parts: their creative tension has led to cultural and spiritual growth, there is ongoing movement between the two centers and each is a safety net for the other. In other words, a vibrant Diaspora is not an affront but an imperative to Zionism.

It is needless to state the obvious: American Jewry has much to be proud of and little to apologize for. American Jewry embraced millions of European Jews who escaped Europe in the 1880s through the 1930s, perhaps thereby saving world Jewry; offered critical support to Zionism and Israel; contributed pivotally to the exodus and absorption of Soviet and Ethiopian Jewry; and is standing up to antisemitism worldwide. Furthermore, Modern Orthodoxy, progressive Judaism, the evolving roles for women in Judaism and even the practice of celebrating a bat mitzvah are just a few of the many distinct contributions of American Jewry to Judaism worldwide. 

A response from American Jewish leaders to Segal’s assault could have also inspired American Jews about the future of American Jewry, which is now in flux. The history of American Jewry, particularly during the interwar period, shows that it can evolve. Its makeup as a network of communities guarantees resilience. In other words, standing up to Segal would have been as much about defending a legacy as it is about defining a destiny.

Gidi Grinstein is the founder of Reut and the author of Flexigidity: The Secret of Jewish Adaptability. Grinstein leads AJ2054, an initiative to engender a decade of renewal for American Jewry.