T. Belman. A few weeks ago, I wrote Right-wing Zionism and progressive Jewish liberalism are irreconcilable in which I made the same point. Also read the comments.
Why the average American Jew still supports Obama.
By Dr Chaim Charles Cohen, INN
The American and Israeli Social Value Gap
A ‘funny thing’ is happening with regard to Congressional consideration of the Iran nuclear accord. A majority of rank-and-file Americans seem to oppose the accord, while a majority of rank-and-file Jews support Pres. Obama’s agreement. How did we arrive at this disturbing junction in Jewish history in which non-Jewish Americans are more ‘pro-Israel’ than Jewish Americans? The answer, put forth in this article, is very simple. American Jews, particularly those under 45, are increasingly enraptured by liberal social values, and, as a consequence, enraptured by Pres. Obama. And their allegiance to liberalism takes precedence over an ethnic based identification with Israel. And ‘to make things worse’ in the eyes of American Jewish liberals, Israeli society is increasingly embodying a set of traditional-religious, nationalistic social values that it rejects. This makes a positive identification with Israel even more difficult. Thus, Jewish support for Obama forcefully illustrates the more general phenomenon of a growing social value gap, and thus distancing, between American Jewish and Israeli society. And it is disturbingly unclear when, and how, this social value gap will ever be closed.
Their allegiance to liberalism takes precedence over an ethnic based identification with Israel.
This disturbing perception of the growing social-value distancing between American and Israeli Jewry was the sad sociological conclusion from the personally rewarding six weeks that I spent this summer in the midst of secular, liberal American Jewry, while vacationing with my three brothers and their families, and three Cornell University friends of fifty years (I was not religiously observant when I attended university.) This growing social cultural gap was most apparent at the moment of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing same-sex marriage. My brothers and friends felt joy at the culmination of a successful social revolution, while I heard a sad inner voice saying, “How much crazier can post modernity become?”
The liberal social idealism of American Jewry
My brothers and friends are warm, generous, socially idealistic, economically comfortable American citizens. Our dilemma is that their definition of social justice and social good is very different from that of Israel’s traditional-religious community. During my visit I learned that American Jewry’s social idealism and activism focuses on three topics:
1. Social justice understood primarily as increasing social equality and opportunities for America’s increasing multi ethnic and racial minorities
2. Increasing gender equality and rights including those of the LGBT community
3. Proper ecological care and development of our planet’s natural habitat and resources.
American Jewry, particularly those under forty, put into practice a strong set of social values, but one with little connection to their ethnic Jewish identity, and with little religious affiliation.
My family very well exemplifies American Jewry’s liberal social idealism. Two of my nephews are passionately involved and active in the ecological movement. Another nephew and niece are very involved in multi cultural ethnicity and gender issues. Another niece practices medicine in multi-ethnic poverty neighborhood.
Liberal American Jewry’s difficulty in understanding traditional Israeli Jewry
However, because of these liberal social values, my brothers and friends have a hard time understanding, and accepting as an legitimate alternative, the social culture of traditional and religious Israeli Jewry. First, it is hard for them to listen because of the static of the political animosity between Bibi Netanyahu and their political hero, President Obama. (My friend jokingly refers to Bibi as the Republican Senator from Israel.) Second, they similarly have a hard time differentiating between their 30 year political struggle with the evangelical American Christian right, and the social religious issues important to traditional and religious Jews in Israel.
But even when my friends can get past these stumbling blocks, it is still very difficult for them to positively appreciate and respect a social culture that they see as being overly parochial and particularistic. More specifically, it is very hard for them to respect our very staunch nationalistic perspective with regard to the Palestinian people. It is also very hard for them to respect as legitimate that we judge post-modern issues of gender, family structure and Jewish identity primarily on the basis of rabbinic authority and religious law given on Mount Sinai thousands of years ago.
Deep, deep in their hearts they have a faith that the Middle East conflict can be resolved according to the principles of the American civil rights movement.
Conclusion
We have arrived at a sad junction in Jewish history, where most of Diaspora Jewry does not understand the more traditional, more religious, and more nationalistic values of a majority of Israeli Jews. This is why a majority of under 45, rank-and-file American Jews support Pres. Obama, and not the Israeli government, concerning the Iranian nuclear accord.
Unlike the Israeli left, I do not blame Prime Minister Netanyahu for this disheartening situation. I believe he is developing Israeli nationhood, and managing our security in the best way possible. I have limited answers how we should best deal with this growing Israeli-Diaspora social value gap.
But I have real faith that G-d is guiding Jewish history, and he will best deal with these dilemmas.
Felix Quigley Said:
This is a slanderous comment.
@ adamdalgliesh:
Excellent comment. Thank you.
Felix Quigley Said:
I am a ‘ live and let live” Westerner. What someone’s ” sexual orientations” is could care less. Hetro or homo sexual . I just don’t want to hear the varied details of your ” sexual practices”. However I do object when those practices are ” rubbed in my face”. I don’t support the ” LGBT community” forced support of their political objectives.
If Bruce Jenner etc. wishes to play dress up, don’t ask me to support him.
Felix Quigley Said:
Who cares about your concern !
The weakness in Dr. Cohen’s argument is that American Jews have embraced liberal-left values at least since the beginning of the twentieth century. And they are descended in large part from Russian Jews, who had embraced liberal or even leftist values before they emigrated to America. Thus the liberalism of most American Jews does not explain their current lack of support for Israel.American Jews were very supportive of Israel from the 1940s through the 1970s, even though they were just as liberal then as now. What has changed is that the assimilation of American Jews has accelerated, and both their religious and ethnic self-identification as Jews has declined. More and more American Jews no longer identify strongly with their own Jewishness, with the Jews as a people, or with Judaism. Intermarriage, secular values, and even conversion to other faiths has eroded their Jewish identity. True, liberalism has facilitated assimilation. But it is only an indirect cause in the decline of American Jewish support for Israel. The direct cause is their loss of a strong Jewish identity.
I am a Little concerned about the positions being taken up on Israpundit.
I have pointed out the confusión of Cohen in his 1/ that social justice is to be mixed up with social justice for illegal immigrants. That is a non sequitor. I am opposed to illegal immigration in hte sense that it is linked to the Islamic Jihad. Apart from that I challenge Cohen and others as to how these points are in conflict with the future of the Israeli struggle for a Homeland. I have had no answers. Certainly no real answers at all.
I go much further though. The leading commenters on Israpundit are certainly in favor of the enslavement of Yazidis and the murdering of Coptic Christians.
They are also in favor of the stirring up of hatred against homosexuals.
These are terrible positions for any Jewish blog to take up.
I am very much in favor of the right of any human being to beleive in the Almighty Creator as the origin of all life however when any dogma leads to the persecution in any way of homosexuals then I think that has to be very strongly rejected, and when there is indifference to the murder of Copts and Yazedis…same.
dove Said:
Prickly !!!!!!!!!!!
mar55 Said:
I am always buzzing around here looking for nectar.
@ mar55:
from the chit chat archives
mar55 says:
May 23, 2015 at 4:57 am
@ mrg3105:
honeybee and I were discussing cheese cakes. We both like to cook and bake. She is much better than I am at baking but, we never ask you to come uninvited into our conversation.
I can see what your problem is: It is called self righteousness. Dove is right. Who are you to be intruding yourself and judging people? At one point I thought I might ask you some questions when the time was appropriate.
I have changed my mind. You are too rigid to be able to answer anything whether religious or not. We know we can eat meat also. We simply have very good recipes and wanted to share experiences among ourselves. Go elsewhere with your opinions.
WHO is the one who has changed their tune mar55?
End of discussion please. You have made your point and I have responded.
@ mar55:
Say what? I could care less if Yamit contributes to this forum – I just don’t like some of the bantering back and forth. That’s why I try to avoid it. I don’t have to participate in it.
What about you? How come all of a sudden your picking on me about mrg when you had a few choice words to say to him yourself!! lol Practise what you preach woman.
I have every intention of enjoying the rest of my summer.
@ dove:
Dove, I’m not trying to sell you on yamit82 anymore than I’ll sell you on the Aussie you like to argue with about anything and everything. Any private emails have not been disparaging anyone but more of a personal nature about family. I do not like when people fight unnecessarily and any comments of my would have been of that nature. What happen to you? there was a time when you did like yamit82 a lot and you even had a friendship with him. In the past he has been kind to all of us. About being a MCP don’t you think after reading him for such a long time that he likes to be contrary? If he knows he can do something to be annoying you can see him whether male or female he likes to pinch the panda. Personal characteristics should not detract from his contributions to the forum. That applies not only to yamit82 but to anyone else as well. I do not think that my comments will trigger ‘catty’ comments since I do not participate in any ‘catty’ behavior and do not have the kind of friends who would do that. I’m too old for playing games. I hope you have a great summer and relax with your family. Next time we meet you will be more cheerful. Relax, you are young. Enjoy your youth. Enjoy your friends. Tomorrow the sun will shine again.
@ mar55:
You are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to disagree with you. Yamit is a MCP to the nth degree and YES I do take that personally. He has repeatedly said many things about women that I cannot condone.
I would appreciate it if you would stop from time to time trying to sell me on Yamit and then sending me personal emails that differ from what you say in a public forum.
Thank you kindly. ( Yes Bear I have learned a few things from you.)
P.S. I could care less if you stopped liking me. That IS a very juvenile thing to say. Was I suppose to take that as a threat? I have much more important things to do than entertain this dialogue and fortunately I am well connected with Jewish men and women in my neighbourhood who deserve and get my respect since they freely give it.
Now watch, your comment is going to trigger ‘catty’ comments from other friends of yours – just like it always has. Thanks alot. That’s not being a friend at all!! 🙁
@ dove:
Dove, yamit is yamit and we all have our idiosyncrasies. Arrogance in many cases go with people who are brilliant. We cannot claim to be free of it. At one time or another we all have suffered of the very same syndrome. We are adults and should learn to accept people as they are.
Can you say you have not been arrogant when arguing with mrg3105? Does it mean I should stop liking you? Of course not. You take things very seriously and make it personal.
Many people confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness.
Let yamit82 be yamit and you should continue being what you are. We are all in the same boat for the same cause and should try to get alone. Yamit82 politically has been and oracle in this forum and everyone knows it. None of us is perfect but we all have good qualities. Concentrate in the good. Be well and enjoy the rest of the summer.
@ honeybee:
honeybee: the comment was not directed at yamit82. I agree yamit82 had a good comment.
Glad to see you around here.
It is likely that Iran will increase their focus on killing diaspora Jews… It is unlikely that the american diaspora Jews support for the Iran deal will bring them peace or security. Iran will see this as an abondonment not only of Israel but of the Jews, and American Jews especially. I predict that terror from Iran reaches to american Jews long befor it can effect Israelis. The diaspora is the target of choice for Iran as proven by past adventures. They will choose american Jews to highlight that no one can do anything to protect them.
@ Bear Klein:
Bear in Arms of the Law
http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=7033431
@ honeybee: Sorry no. What is it?
@ Bear Klein:
Did you see ” Bear in the Arms of the Law” ??
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/time-for-american-jews-to-admit-it-obama-is-anti-semitic-and-anti-israel/#.Vd4li3lN4FM.facebook
Felix Quigley Said:
Speak for yourself Felix, Sugar !!!!!!!!!
Felix Quigley Said:
1. B.S.
2. B.S.
3. B.S.
Ted Belman Said:
Amen, his post was wonderful !!!!!!! Your kind comments toward Yamit82 will aid him as he slowly emerges from Santa Elena Canyon Big Bend, TX.
Goldi Said:
Wait till the first time someone calls them a ” dirty Jew” !!!!!!!!!!
dove Said:
Pearls before swine. Darlin you don’t know a gem when you read it.
There is only the one comment above which is worth anything and that is the comment which shows that the majority of American Jews are opposed to the American Deal with Iran. Why do people on this blog continually lie, why are they habitual liars and are so not caring about facts and truths?
Please somebody answer my points more directly. I am not interested in Jefferson intis debate and introducing Jefferson is an evasión. So why evade?
the 3 points are
“1. Social justice understood primarily as increasing social equality and opportunities for America’s increasing multi ethnic and racial minorities
2. Increasing gender equality and rights including those of the LGBT community
3. Proper ecological care and development of our planet’s natural habitat and resources. ”
I have pointed out that point 1 of Cohen confuses issues. That is he confuses “ilegal immigration” with the first part of the point…result confusing!
I asked what is wrong with these qualities and have not had an answer. Can I have an answer from anybody?
@ bzman:Thanks for joining our discussion. I hope you continue to contribute.
American Jews and Israel
The post and comments suffer from the same malaise – their perspective is limited by American Jewish experience unfolding within the past century when the value of being a Jew as an heir to a covenant regarding a particular land was replaced with a dazzling array of investment options. Few of these strategies brought American Jews closer to Israel as heirs rather than donors. The proclaimed centrality of Israel did not register in the young minds as the mainstream refuted any aspect of Jewish ‘chosenness’ except, maybe, hero-worship of illustrious personalities born as Jews. The disappearance of the covenantal nature of Israel was not the mainstream doing only. Orthodox communities and even some ‘Zionist’ in America opposed creation of Israel as a state of our own. This is the first and the most significant cause of American surrender of Israel.
The second factor was the loss of the objective fear of the “Other”. Because Holocaust was seen as the first bookend of Jewish History, it is but impossible to place American Jewish identity within the context of centuries old dramas of Russian and Polish Jewry – with its constant losses of life and property, the uncertainty of existence and the permanency of atrocities committed by our neighbors. Even the most recent genocidal events before, during and after WW1 that led to the waves of aliyah to Palestine are beyond average knowledge and comprehension. The sad part is not the loss of our history but the loss of its key lesson – we cannot expect to be equal with and among other people and nations. American experience deluded Jews that it is possible, just as it deluded the Jews of Spain, Portugal, Austria, Ukraine, Germany, Russia, Poland. Like most Jewish people before us, we believe that our reality is the most advanced and secure. Like others we take root in the land not our own and we loose sight of the interruptible nature of life and the bottled up homicidal hatred of the Jew, no matter when and where he appears.
It is true that some comments here reflected on the choice of “equality” as the favorite value of American Jewry. I believe that our belief in its capacity to restrain (at least) the anti-Jewish suspicions, blame and jealousy is misplaced. This is not the place to analyze this chimera yet to gobble up the Western Jewish civilization, but with the sacredness of covenant gone, nothing could stop American Jews from reverberating with horror of atrocities or dramas in every distant land…except their own! And when they did act on their humanitarian impulses, ‘as Jews’ that did not ask for nor received reciprocity when it came to existential threats to Jews.
Even when Israel remained in the bright spot of our collective visions, the spiritual obligations of ownership were replaced by civil responsibilities. In America and Canada this often took the form of tax-deductible donations and purchase of Israeli Bonds. Have you noticed the nose-dive these activities have taken over the past decades? Here are some reasons. Israel was constantly presented as a needy country experiencing one crisis after another. Aside from emotional and financial fatigue, the most recent developments created a cognitive paradox. On the one hand Israel needed more support from American Jews while on the other hand emerging as a Middle-East military super-power, a Start-up nation, a beacon of intellectual and technological development. This paradox cannot be and ,alas, was not resolved by Taglit and similar programs. Until the empty space in the Jewish heart is filled with the personal and intimate sense of right to that Land, things will go from bad to worse.
As a founder of an America-Israel Museum I am all but familiar with the dynamics of our attitudes towards the National Jewish Home: at the beginning of the 20th Century, it ranged from openly hostile to lukewarm to irrelevant. The inexcusable failure of American Jewry to save the Jews of Europe did not change American Jewish mind-set even with the unfolding of the second post-Holocaust drama – the presence of over a million homeless Jews stranded in post-war Europe. For up to five years after the war these survivors could not reach Israel. It was not until the creation of the State of Israel that the euphoric infatuation of American Jews replaced what I see as the lack of desire to bring safety to the Jews of Europe en masse. They were seen by too many as uneducated, accented, smelly, black coated hordes of Jews, so different from their Americanized peers and relatives. The dirty secret may be that they were looked upon as an embarrassment, a threat to the imperfect and shaky gains made by those who had outgrown their parental immigrant legacy. Fear of their own being a threat to societal standing has long been a unspoken part of our tribal dynamics (just think of our attitudes today towards, haredim, Russian Jews, Persian Jews and even Israelis in America). The May 14, 1948 brought a resolution to this mixture of fear and guilt. Israel emergence was a redeemeing event and money flow immediately became a vehicle for forgiveness. It did not last long. The generations that came after the WW2 experienced no such guilt of failing to redeem the captive millions. The great struggle for Soviet Jewry freedom provided secular Jews with the sense of atonement for sins of their fathers but even that faded quickly as Russian Jews became a fodder for essentially anti-Semitic charges of worthlessness as (American) Jews and still sellable depiction of our innate criminality.
These factors combined, it is apparent that American Jews are predestined to choose their investment of capital of ‘being a Jew’ into the strategy of ‘normalcy’ sometimes exaggerated, sometimes quite natural. This requires them to reject their claim for the land of Israel as the penultimate proof of their morality and worthiness. Based on the faulty premise that this will be recognized and valued by the Others, they are a threat to our future. It remains to be seen, however, to what extent the rise of militant Islam would bring back the imperative to reacquire our own spiritual weaponry not merely to stay alive but to prevail in the infinite game of life.
Yamit’s comment was automatically blocked because of its length. I approved it immediately.Yes his comments are sometimes too much for some of us to take but that doesn’t make them wrong. I appreciate that he contributes to Israpundit because he shares both his great knowledge with us and his sometimes outrageous (to some) opinions. He makes us think.
The sad truth is that American Jews for the most part, especially the younger ones lack education in Israel’s current situation. For one they are too busy with every day life, and on the other hand they don’t care to delve into the real problem. Then there are the ‘prominent’ Jews who are eager to stay close to ‘authority’, be it the devil himself.
Do they really think they are exempt of the spreading-rampant Antisemitism throughout
the globe?
Liberal Jews undermine Israel.
Is my statement so out of line with the facts?
My perspective: liberal Jews = socialists = antisemite. No different from European socialists who despise Jews.
@ mar55:
Yamit sometimes gets out of line and you know it. It actually takes away from whatever knowledge he has. Knowledge is easy to find elsewhere if it means one doesn’t have to sift through a bunch of rhetoric.
@ Ted Belman:
Ted, can you restore yamit82 comment?
Whatever his attitude has nothing to do with his well thought comments. They show research, thoughtfulness, scholarship and logic. He has been an oracle in this forum when it comes to Israeli politics. Please ask your IT person to re-program the system to avoid yamit82’s comments from being boated again.
Some of us are very appreciative of his commentary.
@ honeybee:
LOL.
https://youtu.be/Go7gn6dugu0
RandyTexas Said:
Ah those Northern Yankee types !!!!!!!!!!!!
@ dove:
Sorry Darlin, but you will never obtain a prophet’s level of intellect.
@ honeybee:
hMMM. Never knew there was such a thing as a self righteous prophet. You stroke is already over inflated ego waaaaaaaaay toooooooooo much!!
Many American Jews, as well as all of those associated with the left in general are “religious”. They are devotees to a Godless religion which replaces traditional ideas with progressive dogma. Reality? facts? They are hardly regarded. What matters is the direction the movement takes. It is like being in the belly of the whale. You go where the whale goes. Right now Obama is the head of the whale. For the time being, the “true believers” will follow his lead. There is no reasoning or strategy that will turn them. They have sold themselves. Forget them. Peeling off the uninformed by making them aware, awakening the sleeping, that is about the only way to win people over. Even then it may be too little too late. We shall see.
yamit82 Said:
A prophet is not appreciate.
Nothing has changed. The devotion of American Jews to Israel has always been illusory. There was never any doubt that when the going got tough, American Jews would default. Just ask the victims of Holocaust. If you are counting on liberal Jews for anything but betrayal, you have not been paying attention.
My comment botted, not shocked or disappointed. I will publish it elsewhere. 🙂
Thomas Jefferson was a zealous defender of the wall of separation between church and state. For that, American Jews should be thankful. But, as with Adams, we should not ignore Jefferson’s attitude toward Judaism. While Thomas Jefferson upheld freedom of Jews in America to hold fast to their faith, he belittled Judaism in private. In an 1803 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson accused Jews of having a “degrading and injurious” understanding of God that was “imperfect” and was devoid of “sound dictates of reason and morality.” Jews “needed reformation,” the Founding Father wrote, “in an eminent degree.”
Seventeen years later, in a letter to William Short, Jefferson claimed “Moses had bound the Jews to many idle ceremonies, mummeries and observances, of no effect towards producing the social utilities which constitute the essence of virtue.” It was Jesus, Jefferson wrote, who “exposed their futility and insignificance.”
Jefferson was the creature of his place and time. He could write the famous words that all men are created equal yet own African slaves. The logic of his political ideology led him to defend freedom of religion in America, while at the same time ridiculing the Jewish faith. In fact, there were many Jews who agreed with Jefferson that the Judaism of the ghetto was superstitious and tribal.
I am a great admirer of the Protestant men who founded the American Republic. But I am troubled by the reality that most of the founders only knew Jewish reality through the “Israelites” of the Hebrew Bible and had little understanding of Jewish history, belief and culture as they all developed in the Diaspora. The granting of religious freedom was not done with an understanding of the rich heritage of Judaism. Rather, this freedom was given with the understanding that it would be used to negate traditional Jewish identity. It was simply the logical outcome of political ideology, not love of Jews.
And, if American Jews, want to understand why your numbers are dwindling and your influence waning, perhaps you should realize that America, as a nation, addresses your needs as Americans, but is indifferent to your fate as Jews.
The American Exile will end, whether by Assimilation or Antisemitism — more likely, by a combination of both.
When the nation-state of Israel was resurrected in 1948, it was home to a mere 5% of World Jewry. Today, it constitutes the largest Jewish community in the World, and is home to almost 50% of World Jewry. And Israel’s Jewish community is the only one in the World with a positive net birthrate.
Due to ongoing terrorism and the enduring hostility of much of the World, Israel may not seem safe for the individual Jew. Yet, it is the only country in the World that is safe for the collective Jew.
If the Jewish people are to have a Future, it will only be found in Israel. American Jews can either be a part of that Future, or they can simply disappear.
At 5,200,000 strong, American Jewry will not vanish overnight. But its days are numbered. I say fuck em either they are with us or with those who wish to destroy us and whether they concede it or not they themselves…. There are still many Jews who support us and care about us. Those are the ones that should be strengthened not the obvious majority who wouldn’y know a chupa from a challah…
http://www.thetower.org/2261-poll-u-s-jews-disapprove-of-iran-nuke-deal-overwhelmingly-reject-it-when-given-more-info/
The premise of the article is based on the writers personal beliefs and not opinions of the majority of American Jews per the poll.
American Jews don’t see Israel’s progressiveness. All they see is the Occupation and the settlements and the fence in the most negative terms. So our task is two fold to show them how progressive we are and 2) to show them that the occupation and the settlements are legal. We also have to make the case that Israel follows international law even more than the Us does.
@ Felix Quigley:There is nothing wrong with those values in and of themselves. But there may be unintended consequences such as we have with multiculturalism. While obama is also anti-American, this is not something that liberal Jews embrace. So Cohen is right to ignore that.
The problem as Cohen and I see it is that Israel wants to be more Jewish and American Jews want to run away from their Jewish connection.
I have written to Cohen suggested he write an article in which he shows American Jews that Israel shares their progressive values. That’s the way to reach American Jews. Even Zionism is a progressive value if it is seen as a national liberation movement.
I do not understand. What is wrong with any of these as priorities? I make exception witht he problema of ethnic minorities invading America as ilegal immigrants but what is wrong with the rest?
Does Cohen mean that Judaism, not modern or ancient, just Judaism, stands for opposing these things? That really beats me. Why would it oppose these things.
The issue of Obama is the issue of hostility to America as an independent state but he does not touch on that. It seems outside of the consciousness of Cohen.