On the eve of America\u2019s 250th birthday, patriotism is on my mind \u2013 thinking how to observe this milestone for our country while also examining my expression of national pride.\n<\/p>\n
As a political liberal I frequently analyze the most common patriotic displays as potentially dangerously simplistic. At sporting events or the rare political rallies I attend, I often find myself in tension between support for my team or the cause at hand and discomfort with mob mentality and mass formation \u2013 aware of how the latter is a critical component down the slippery slope toward totalitarianism. It may sound extreme or overblown, but my thought progression remains. It is also not lost on me how my Jewish identity and our history informs this acuity.\n<\/p>\n
Simply put, the basic demonstrations of national pride have never felt satisfactory. Flag waving and the like leaves too much space for interpretation. What does my doing so symbolize? What am I signaling that I support? Does it hint at certain complicities?\n<\/p>\n
My patriotism is too complex to fit on a protest placard and too aspirational to be reduced to only a flag. Only when such expressions are simultaneously balanced with honest, constructive critique have I felt I could stomach them.\n<\/p>\n
With such an approach, it is understandable \u2013 but not justified \u2013 why I and my fellow liberals are accused of hating America. Or why my organization J Street, a group that prides itself on nuance, is tagged on the far-right as not pro-Israel. In both applications the conduct can be similarly misperceived.\n<\/p>\n
But when faced with such falsehoods, I\u2019m reminded of a few sources of wisdom.\n<\/p>\n
American abolitionist Frederick Douglass in an 1846 letter wrote:\n<\/p>\n
\u201c[T]he best friend of a nation is he who the most faithfully rebukes her for her sins\u2014and he her worst enemy who, under the specious and popular garb of patriotism seeks to excuse, palliate, and defend them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Yes, I have high expectations for America that are unlikely to be met in my lifetime. Is that unfair? Maybe. But a nation does not need to be coddled. It can endure tough love and will ultimately be fortified by it. A citizenry with no appetite to deliver or receive self-criticism, as bitter as it may taste at times, will eventually find its country hollowed out and brittle.\n<\/p>\n
Famed Israeli author Amos Oz, z\u201dl, when receiving an award in 2015 for outstanding contributions to Israeli society, was quoted<\/a> as saying: \u201cI love Israel even at moments when I cannot stand it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n This feels like a relatable sentiment for many about their own countries when they are displeased by the directions being taken. Indeed it would often be easier to walk away in abandon over disagreement. Like any connection, it takes a deep, mature love to stay in relationship and try to fix it.\n<\/p>\n When it comes to Israel specifically, there is vibrant political debate within the country. For Diaspora Jews, we have been told by communal leadership and Israeli thought leaders that we have a stake in the country\u2019s well-being. And yet the organized Jewish community has applied a very narrow definition of acceptable involvement and critique from those outside Israel\u2019s borders. Perhaps those like J Street receive harsher rebuke because our critiques are not toothless. We don\u2019t file it and sit on our hands. We ask ourselves what our role is as American Jews and what we can do about it.\n<\/p>\n