A Shattered World: Jews and Israel After October 7

Authors

Michael Berenbaum, American Jewish University
Gilbert N. Kahn, Kean University

Files

Description

October 7, 2023, was a watershed event in contemporary Jewish history. What took place on that date challenged the two most basic assumptions of post-Holocaust Jewish life: that the future security of the Jewish people would be assured by an independent Jewish state backed by an army, and that the freedom for Jews in the Diaspora to live as Jews would be secured by democratic rights and liberties. The pogroms of October 7 and the worldwide explosion of antisemitism that followed—even preceding Israel taking military action against Hamas—challenged both assumptions. The Israel Defense Forces could not prevent a slaughter from occurring even in the independent State of Israel, and throughout the world democracies seem less secure than at any time in the post-World War II era.

The editors have turned to leading Jewish thinkers in the United States, Israel, and Europe to grapple with the implications of October 7 with respect to the Jewish future, the State of Israel, the relationship of Jews with Israel, and the character of Israel’s relationships in the world. A Shattered World is one of the first scholarly collections of essays to address the hard question of what the nature of the Jewish future should be.

ISBN

9781626711921

Publication Date

Winter 12-15-2025

Publisher

Purdue University Press

City

West Lafayette

Keywords

American-Israeli Relations, Jewish Identity Post-October 7th, The Enduring Trauma of October 7th, Zionism, Did Israel Commit a Genocide in Gaza, Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Holocaust Inversion, Pogroms, Holocaust, Jewish Future, Can a Just War be fought justly against Hamas, IDF, Hamas, Palestinians, Jewish-Palestinian Relations, Two State Solution, From the River to the Sea

Disciplines

History | Holocaust and Genocide Studies | Jewish Studies | Political Science

Comments

Open access publication of this title is supported by Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies.

Recommended Citation

Berenbaum, Michael and Kahn, Gilbert N., "A Shattered World: Jews and Israel After October 7" (2025). The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review. 17.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/casden/17