One of the highlights of a conference held in the US last week was a panel discussion featuring three of the most distinguished and influential figures in American Jewish life.

Their conversation surveyed the complex challenges facing American Jewry today: the recent election of Mamdani as mayor of New York City; the rising antisemitism and anti-American rhetoric promoted by prominent media personalities; the troubling growth of extremism on both the political right and left; and the broader cultural shift from a politics of responsibility to a politics of resentment.

Recognizing how these developments threaten the next generation, the moderator asked the panelists what Jewish ideas and Jewish leadership can offer in response. The answers were thoughtful. They emphasized the need to help our students reconnect with the Bible, to encourage them to reclaim their Judaism, and to deepen their engagement with Jewish practice. One panelist cited Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s observation: “People respect Jews who respect Judaism.”

They also stressed the centrality of Jewish education—especially day-school education—and insisted that Zionism and Israel be taught as essential elements of Jewish identity.

Finally, they argued for cultivating in our children, through lived experience, the dual commitments of being patriotic Americans and proud Jews, making clear that “Americanism and Judaism” are “completely fused.”

I wholeheartedly agree with much of this vision. Teaching our children the central ideas of the Bible, encouraging them to embrace Jewish observance, and strengthening Jewish education—all these are absolutely critical. As someone who has spent his entire career in Jewish education, I affirm these passionately. And as someone who made aliyah over thirty years ago, I welcome their insistence that Zionism be integral to the Jewish educational mission.

Yet I respectfully, but firmly, disagree with one major assertion: the idea that Americanism and Judaism are fully “fused,” and that we must teach our students to be both patriotic Americans and proud Jews. Here is why.

For the Bible, Israel is not a distant place for which we express support from afar or visit on occasion, but where we are meant to live and realize God’s vision.

God’s very first command to Abraham is, “Go forth from your native land… to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1–3). Embedded in this command is God’s plan to create, through Abraham, a great nation—one that would bring blessing to all humanity.

To be a “nation” implies a political and territorial identity, defined by sovereignty, governance and land. It is for this reason that God repeatedly promises Abraham both offspring and the Land of Canaan (Genesis 12:7;

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)