This year’s Z3 Conference, held Sunday in Palo Alto, radiated a very different mood than last year’s event, which took place just four weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.
In 2023, the conference, which each year examines the present and future of diaspora-Israel ties, was marked by grief, rage, helplessness and the sense that Jews were once again alone in the world.
This year’s all-day event at the Oshman Family JCC drew more attendees — 1,800 vs. last year’s 1,200 — and offered a sober assessment of what the past year has revealed about strengths and weaknesses of Jewish institutions in the U.S. and Israel. Speakers on Sunday exhibited less intensity than they did last year when many railed against the international community that so quickly turned from solidarity with Israel under attack to condemnation of its war against Hamas in Gaza.
This year, the opening session highlighted the demand for the immediate return of all 101 hostages still held in Gaza — and also shined a spotlight on the emergence of new, young Zionist voices.
Breakout sessions focused on the ongoing war and analyses of possible outcomes, as well as on the long-running issues of Arab-Jewish coexistence efforts, antisemitism on campus and the future of Zionism. But there were new areas of interest as well, including several sessions dealing with trauma and healing; the failures of Jewish legacy institutions; Jewish education post-Oct. 7; and the collapse of traditional alliances with other minority communities.
“We need you to advocate as if every one of you had family held hostage.” Alana Zeitchik, Z3 speaker
In his welcoming address, JCC CEO and Z3 founder Zack Bodner described the “surge” of diaspora Jews taking a stand this past year on Israel — either for or against — and urged the crowd not to think “in binary terms” about the Jewish state.
“Deep Jewish knowledge and personal connection equals Jewish pride,” he said, and deep knowledge doesn’t mean being in lockstep with Israeli policies.
“We have to embrace the complexity,” he said. “Our children are smart. We can’t continue to feed them white-washed fairy tales.”
Bodner and other speakers, at both the main and breakout sessions attended by J. reporters, spoke about the resilience of the Israeli grassroots, the people who “march against the government” on Saturday nights in Tel Aviv and then “drop everything and go down to the Negev,” as Bodner put it, to help with the harvest or to repair damaged kibbutzim.
“Oct. 7 reminded us that we don’t need a king or a leader. We know what to do,” said Z3 Project director Rabbi Amitai Fraiman, referring to the Biblical story of God giving the Israelites Saul as their king because they were incapable of leading themselves. The Z3 Project — Z3 is short for Zionism 3.0 — organizes the annual conference, runs a think tank and trains Jewish professionals.
Speakers also emphasized the need to move beyond words of sympathy for the hostages, their families and Israelis displaced by the war.
“Solidarity isn’t enough. We need you to take action for the hostages. We are one family; our pain is your pain. We need you to advocate as if every one of you had family held hostage,” said Alana Zeitchik, whose cousin’s husband is still held hostage in Gaza.
“We need you to speak truth to power by demanding a deal to bring them home now,” she continued, echoing those who accuse Israel’s current political leaders of caring more about military victory than the return of the captives.
Diaspora Jewish institutions also came under criticism. At a main session highlighting the newly published “Young Zionist Voices: A New Generation Speaks Out,” which features essays by dozens of mainly Gen-Z activists, the book’s editor, David Hazony, said that “the inability of our elite institutions to keep Jews safe” was a main motivation for the book.
“The pieces of a new Jewish spirituality are about to emerge,” he said, describing the 20-something writers featured in the book.
“We need a return to the big ideas of Zionism, liberalism and the core Jewish value of hope,” Avi Gamulka, a Hebrew University student, an adviser to the World Zionist Organization president and the author of one of the book’s 31 essays, told the audience. “We need a reason for waking up in the morning that is larger than yourself.”