New Zionists

Through a qualitative analysis and broad historical contextualization of personal interviews, this book shows how American Jewish “Millennials” who are not religiously orthodox approach Israel and Zionism as galvanizing solutions to the thinning of American Jewish identity, and (re)root themselves through “Israeliness”—an unselfconscious and largely secular expression of national kinship and solidarity, as well as of personal and communal purpose, that American Judaism scarcely provides.

The New Zionists: Young American Jews, Jewish National Identity, and Israel by David L. Graizbord is a rich, thought-provoking look at the deep Identity Zionism of the Zionists of Generation Y. Zeroing on the American Jewish bridge-builders who love the Jewish State, Professor Graizbord shows how many of them integrate their spiritual and national identities in their love of the Jewish state. The result is not only a fascinating portrait of American Jewish youth—but of many aspects of American youth more generally., David Graizbord's study of American Jews' postures toward Israel and Jewish peoplehood in the early 21st century challenges assumptions about their alleged disengagement or the much-discussed "greying" of the pro-Israel cohort. Based on interviews with 18-to-30-something mainly secular young adults, The New Zionists asks why the Zionist idea remains salient for those seeking "something greater than themselves": an identity that is neither privatized nor essentially faith-based. Going beyond the culture wars and the survey data, Graizbord's provocative reconsideration of the inner worlds of committed young Jews is a robust response to critics of collectivist ideologies.

David Graizbord is associate professor of Judaic studies at the University of Arizona.