JTA — Years ago, an Israeli colleague told me about the children’s book “Rivka’s First Thanksgiving.” Set in 1910, it tells the story of a 9-year-old Jewish immigrant persuading her family and her rabbis that she should be allowed to celebrate the holiday. The young girl writes: “You do not seem to understand that immigrants came to America to escape from mean, wicked people. … The Pilgrims were thankful and I think that we should be too.”

My colleague said something clicked for her: For American Jews, the United States was the promised land. Not just another exile to endure, but a different end to Jewish history. Rivka presented herself as a modern day Pilgrim, seamlessly integrated into the American story. Growing up, I never thought of myself as a Jew who happened to live in America. I thought of myself as a Jew, and as an American, and I never imagined it any other way.

As we arrive at the United States semiquincentennial — the 250th anniversary of the nation — American Jews have been upended. Surging antisemitism — measurable as separate from anti-Israel activism — and a fractured political landscape have left us unexpectedly vulnerable. Many look around and wonder if this unique land is turning into just another chapter of persecution.

To understand where we go next, we must realize how deeply America upended our aggadah (rabbinic folklore) and halacha (Jewish law). For millennia, Jews viewed the world through a simple framework. As we learn from midrash — ancient rabbinic commentary — we experienced four kingdoms, four eras of time: Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel followed by Babylonian exile, Persian antisemitism, Greek erasure of Jewish identity and finally Roman subjugation, rendering the Jews a disfavored minority in a sprawling empire. We were destined to remain second-class citizens waiting for balance to be........

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