Excellent analysis!

It would probably be interesting to think about Berlin’s experiences with his Jewish identity during the time he wrote “God Bless America.”

Overt anti-Semitism then was part of the ordinary fabric of American life. The evangelical Protestant eschatological fetishization of Zionism (and of an imagined Jewishness of their own invention) had not yet become popular. Jews faced serious obstacles in life whether they were observant or not.

Liberalism, agnosticism, and secularism were very popular among Jews in American intellectual circles, who often maintained a strong Jewish identity without much corresponding religious belief.

In Jewish enclaves like parts of New York City, and in the academy, Jews were busy working on social justice, advancing ideas that would lead to profound changes in American life, most would say for the betterment of society.

Berlin might best be “read" with all this in mind.