Time will tell if October 7, 2023, was a turning point in Jewish history, but that is the premise of Young Zionist Voices, a collection of thirty-one essays by Gen‑Z Jews. In this context, the letter “Z” refers not only to the contributors’ age, but also to their stance on Israel. These Gen-Zionist Jews face a world in which Jew-hatred is openly expressed and may threaten their safety.
In his Introduction, David Hazony, editor of the collection, refers to the essayists as “a new generation of Jewish thought leaders” with “an energy, determination, and strength of spirit” that inspire with their commitment to the Jewish people. Listening to their voices, he concludes that it is impossible to feel discouraged about the Jewish future.
The essayists are mainly from the United States, but there are several from Israel, Australia, and England. Many are college or graduate students, and they hold a range of views on Israeli politics, religion, and social activism.
The essays are personal, with the writers examining their own backgrounds and experiences and the choices and challenges they now face in defining and expressing their Jewish identity.
In her essay “Young Jews Are Finally Learning to Fight Back,” Alissa Bernstein of Los Angeles describes the responses to October 7 as “fight, flee, or freeze.” To her, the choice is clear: the response must be to fight. Her peers, she writes, now understand that “ to be a Zionist is to be a fighter for the Jewish people … to show the world that we will not be destroyed.”
Hebrew University student Avi Gamulka observes that in their response to October 7, young Jews in Israel and around the world stepped up and in doing so “offered the hardest commodity to come by during those awful months: hope.”
Rebecca Guzman, a student at Stern College for Women in New York, refutes the positions of anti-Israel Jews, arguing that “Zionism is inherent to Jewish identity.”
“We are proud Zionists, proud Jews, and proud Americans,” writes Shabbos Kestenbaum, who was a student at Harvard and filed a lawsuit last year against the university, charging antisemitism. More than 150 students from universities around the country have filed similar suits.
Issy Lyons, a student at the Columbia-Tel Aviv universities dual program, has written a powerful essay on justice, which “is at the core of Jewish thought, embedded in Jewish tradition, and central to our national identity.” And Reform rabbinic student Ofer Chizik delves into the importance of being Jewish.
There are many ideas in this collection and one will not agree with all of them. But it is stimulating, refreshing, and — most importantly — hopeful to get a glimpse of how young people are thinking and defining their Jewish commitment post-October 7.
