Abstract
The relationship of Diaspora Jews has been the focus of intense, sometimes bitter debate, both before and after the establishment
of the State of Israel. The creation of Israel in the shadow of the Holocaust and the “ingathering” of Jews from around the world in its first decade muted critical voices, even those who had been ambivalent. In the early years of the state, what began as harsh rhetoric about shlilat ha’golah (negation of the Diaspora) and the impossibility of full Jewish life outside of Israel, moderated and Diaspora Jews learned to love Israel, without feeling guilty about not making aliya. In particular among American Jews, perhaps the
most settled Jewish Diasporans, Israel became a focus of extraordinary pride.