Good=Jews and Jews= Politicals, So Politics=Good??
Shmuel Rosner, correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, is hosting an online conversation this week with the executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Ira Forman.
So far, it’s been a pretty standard discussion of whether the Dems are truly as pro-Israel as the GOP, etc., etc. But Forman has also provided a very tidy summer of the history of Jewish political engagement in America.
To wit:
“Jewish Americans participate in all aspects of American politics to a degree which may be unequaled by any other minority group in America. Jews register and turn out to vote in very high numbers. Jews represent only about two percent of the population but they run for elected office in much higher numbers. A significant proportion of the most prominent political journalists are Jewish. Jewish Americans provide both parties (especially Democrats) a disproportionate share of their campaign contributions.”
So here’s my question: If Jews are the ultimate civic engagers, and they’ve gone full steam into politics, are the political cynics wrong after all? In other words, by the transitive property:
Good=Jews Jews=Politics Good=Politcs??
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30