Why Jews Should Not Be Liberals Page 4
So there we have it: Judaism and conservatism, twins in philosophy and, anticipating the future, twins in political thinking and action.
WHY AMERICAN JEWS
ARE STILL LIBERALS
There is no group, other than black Americans, that has so consistently voted Democrat in both local and national elections these past two generations as have American Jews. In the most recent presidential election of 2000, 79-80% of voting Jews voted for Democrat, Al Gore. This voting is in contrast to every other segment of America that eventually attains success in the financial and social worlds. All of the other segments, whatever their national origin, culture, color, or occupation, at least divide their voting in reasonable percentages. Not so the Jews. In the 1998 Congressional elections, it is estimated that 80-85% of voting Jews voted Democrat, and this was in the face of a soon to be impeached Democrat president. American Jews voted for FDR in the 1930s-40s, in the 80-90% range, and although this percentage has varied through the years, declining to perhaps 60% Democrat during the Reagan years, the graph again shows an upward trend.
The question is why'? What is there about liberal Democratic policies that so attract Jews in America? What is it about the past sixty-five years that has so influenced American Jews politically to make them vote as almost a monolithic block'? Throughout their history it appears that Jews and Judaism have never presented a united front. There have always been conflicts and differences of opinion. Witness today's Israel. Why cannot Jews here at least split their vote fifty-fifty, similar to the current division in Israel between the parties aligned to Likud and those aligned to Labor?
Why is it important to the future of this nation that Jews change their political bias'? Why is it perhaps important to the future of Judaism in America for this political change to occur'? Hopefully answers to these questions will emerge from the following pages.
Finally, how can this change be brought about? I have no illusions that this change will come quickly, but I believe a start must be made somewhere, and I am hopeful this writing will contribute to that beginning.
If one were to list the principle reasons for this liberal political attitude of American Jews, it might include the following (I am indebted to Nathaniel Weyl's The Jew In American Politics for several of these points), which will be discussed in greater detail in the pages to follow.
1. Jews in America, having attained a superior financial status on the average, feel some guilt for their prosperous state. To assuage that guilty feeling, it becomes natural for them to support any policy that "helps the poor and less fortunate."
2. Jews in America are still fearful of latent anti-Semitism, as represented in their minds by the Religious Right. Since this group appears to be predominantly conservative politically, they must be opposed.
3. Jews in America, becoming more secular and distant from their Orthodox origins, have substituted government assistance for their Jewish charitable institutions.
4. Jews in America desire to be thought of as not that different from their Christian fellow Americans, and thus are easy prey for all of those "feel good" programs which promise to solve the nation's problems.
5. Jews in America are concerned that if they express too independent a thought, such as school choice or welfare elimination, they will be categorized with those who are "hard hearted," a category Jews abhor.
6. Jews in America, in spite of their extensive scholarship and academic achievements, still do not really understand the workings of the free market or the miraculous results this free market has accomplished in this country.
7. Jews in America still believe that government contains certain miraculous powers, which if used correctly can bring about the nirvana right here at home. As Rabbi Daniel Lapin wrote recently in his book, America's Real War, there is something within the Jewish make-up that demands action to bring about desired results. Since the liberals believe that only by using the force of government can these results be swiftly achieved, Jews flock to this philosophy, while ignoring the results that invariably are the opposite of those that were intended.
8. Jews in America, although somewhat of an elite group, are still fearful of standing out too much from the crowd. Thus they ignore their Jewish belief of individual freedom, and what their thousands of years struggle has been about. This was not always the case. Prior to the FDR regime, American Jews were fairly evenly divided between the Republican and Democratic parties. It has only been since FDR that Jews have gravitated en-masse to the Democratic Party.
9. Jews in America have continued to select leaders of the major Jewish organizations who are confirmed liberals. These leaders present this liberal image to the country at large as the natural Jewish position with the corresponding following by the rank and file, with no real Jewish opposition other than a few Jewish public figures. The fact that today's liberals resemble the socialists of past days somehow escapes their thinking. Unfortunately the majority of the rabbis, Reform and Conservative, tend to support those leaders. Only the Orthodox rabbis, a much smaller number, hold out for traditional Jewish values.
10. Jews in America simply don't recognize who their true friends are, continue to be emotional about their politics to the detriment of not using their intellectual analysis, and thus remain political sheep to their liberal sheepdogs.
11. Finally, Jews in America conveniently ignore the history of their people, which has been an everlasting search and struggle for individual freedom. Throughout their history, Jews have sought only to be left alone to live their lives as they chose and to worship as they believed. For thousands of years, they were denied this freedom, wandering from land to land until by the grace of God they landed in this free land of America. Jews must always guard this freedom from the oppression of government with all the strength they possess. As secular liberalism, with its corresponding growth of government, has attained more power in America, for no other reason Jews should reject today's liberal philosophy and gravitate to the conservative or libertarian principles.
This last point, perhaps more important than any other, is the one that appears to be most overlooked as to why Jews in America should be violently opposed to any political party which advocates increased powers to government. That is because the age-old struggle by Jews worldwide has been to live their lives in freedom, without control by a government, no matter what form it took. Since the days of Abraham, who took his flocks and his families to find a land of freedom, Jews have only wanted to be left alone to live and worship as they chose. Only in America, for over three hundred years, have Jews been accepted as full citizens with all the rights and freedoms as possessed by other citizens. Only in America have Jews been able to make their way without any government sponsored controls or discrimination. Therefore, Jews must be almost paranoid in their opposition to any meaningful increase in government powers. It has been largely the Democratic Party that has expanded the powers of the federal government, beginning mainly with the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. (It is somewhat ironic that FDR's original campaign platform promised to reduce federal spending by 25%. He soon abandoned this after winning the election.)
Because Jews have lived better here than anywhere else, and because the growth of government power has slowly but surely grown these past two generations, it is difficult to readily grasp how our freedoms have been eroded, but eroded they have been. When 40% of our income is now usurped by government, when we can no longer use our properties as we choose, when reference books containing regulations grow to consume our libraries, as we slowly sink beneath the morass of ever expanding we-know-what-is-good-for-you legislation, we must now realize what has happened to us and who is doing it to us.
As Jews, we of all people should and must rally against this growth of government control, and now finally, we Jews must change our attitudes and politics. The point is seldom if ever made by our Jewish leaders that every new law passed with its accompanying bureaucratic regulations, results in a diminution of o
ur individual freedom to act as we choose. The taxes we pay, the multitude of rules and regulations that govern our everyday lives, all of this impinges upon our freedom to act, and this freedom is perhaps the most precious value that we must preserve for ourselves and our future generations.
There is one additional thought on the importance to this country of Jews changing their political leanings. If we Jews, the so-called "chosen people," destined to lead the world to the one God, and to bring ethical monotheism to all, are to fulfill that God-given duty, then certainly when it comes to leading the United States back to its moral and spiritual roots, we must take that lead. If one accepts the fact that this is a God-blessed country, which I do, and that we have been given the opportunity to create a just and righteous society here, then we Jews should be leading the charge. Instead, we seem to be followers of the politically correct philosophy of the day, which has been liberal for the past two generations, and has accompanied or perhaps been responsible for our steadily decreasing state of morality. It is now time to assume our rightful place in adhering to our own traditions and laws as they interact with modern politics.
There is another reason for the need of a political turnaround for American Jews. In his most recent book, The Will to Live On, Herman Wouk poses the question, "What is it going to take for American Jewry to return more to the roots of our religion and for Jews to become more observant?" He cites the current distribution of American Jews as being overwhelmingly Reform and Conservative, with only 8% Orthodox. Is it to be only the remnant, the Orthodox, who will carry on the basics of Judaism in America, he asks? Wouk's hope, as I read it, is that through a resurgence of Jewish education, a revival of learning among Jewish organizational leadership of Jewish history, plus an acknowledgment of our inherited ethical identity, American Jewry will somehow sustain itself amidst the strain of assimilation. He seems to acknowledge that it is unlikely that the modern American Jew will take up the study of Torah and Talmud on a regular basis, but he still hopes for this.
My hope is that perhaps in some minuscule way, this writing can help bring about that religious change. By recognizing and becoming convinced of the link between Judaism and political conservatism, there might also occur a renewed enthusiasm for learning more about our Jewish history and traditions, which can eventually lead more of us to wanting to live our lives as observant Jews. If this political change should happen, it would then follow that more Jews will abandon the secular liberal philosophy that has served as such a poor substitute for our own rich Jewish religion. Jews will simply have to recognize that the liberal politics many of them have followed these past two generations are not in our Jewish tradition and may have led to increased assimilation. During the 1999 impeachment trial of President Clinton, I searched vainly for any Jewish political leader to condemn the immoral behavior of this man who was entrusted with representing the highest office in the land. There were several Jewish Democrats who were members of the House of Representatives committee exploring the impeachment question. All of them refused to vote for impeachment or even condemn the president's conduct. A half-hearted condemnation came from Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, an Orthodox Jew, in a speech on the Senate floor. But the good senator then seemed to clam up on the subject, and in the end voted to acquit Clinton of his perjury and obstruction of justice. That seemed to be the closest any Jewish leader came to speaking out. Apparently political power was so important that Jewish principles of morality took a back seat. Where was the outrage? Where was the Jewish "spin" on this behavior? What would have been the reaction of these Jews if the perpetrator had been a Republican?
"Morality is the essence of Judaism," writes Shubert Spero. It is the set of rules that prescribe the way people should behave, and these rules apply to the conduct of all human beings. There is no distinction made for rich or poor, or Democrats or Republicans. Morality applies to all humans. It is this blindness of our Jewish leaders to the defects and flaws of the leaders of the Democratic Party that is so disappointing. There is also a noticeable lack by these leaders of attempting to relate modern liberalism to any part of Jewish law and tradition. Perhaps this writing will challenge them to do that. It is this vacuum of moral concern which illustrates the dilemma we face in changing the politics of American Jews.
WEALTH, GUILT, AND
ITS POLITICAL EFFECTS
A 1995 listing in Forbes of the 112 billionaires in America showed that eighteen, 16% of the total, were Jewish (versus an overall 3% of the total population). Most could be considered big givers to Jewish causes. Undoubtedly all of them gave heavily to various charitable causes, but it was interesting that there were several that did not regard Jewish causes as high priorities. We cannot guess what is in the minds of these financial heavyweights, but it appears that being a Jew in America, and having achieved such financial heights, does not automatically turn one into a great supporter of Jewish causes or of Judaism itself. Elliott Abrams writes in his 1997 hook, Faith or Fear, that giving by philanthropic Jews to Jewish causes has declined from 70% to just 28% of their total giving.
The fact that Jews are so over-weighted in the billionaire category, with five times more representation than the population as a whole, has what relevance as we seek to determine the place guilt plays in today's Jewish liberalism? Perhaps none, except that we do not see these Jewish billionaires, or any other billionaires, pledging the bulk of their fortunes to eliminating poverty in this land. Yet many of those folks are liberals. They happily support a multitude of liberal programs, and if they don't work, so what'? At least their hearts are in the right place.
Perhaps this has something to do with that latent feeling of guilt, of having achieved wealth, either due to being Jewish, with its heritage of shrewdness in business and intellectual prowess, or just being lucky, while at the same time seeing so much relative poverty here. After all, these past two generations have had the benefit of the progress their parents and grandparents made after coming mostly penniless to America.
Although it may have been tough in the beginning, we have been blessed with the remarkable growth of the American economy since the Great Depression, plus the freedom to create business opportunities for ourselves with relatively little government interference. And so as Jews have increased their material wealth enormously these past sixty-five years, we may still feel that tinge of guilt for having so much compared to others around us. We question if we truly deserve our current wealth, status, and position. This questioning may influence our thinking and turn us to supporting any and all programs designed to help the poor and less fortunate.
Another reason for this feeling of guilt may stem from the notion that we as American Jews are not doing all we should be doing to help Israel remain a free and independent country. Sure we give a lot of money, and sure, some of us actually visit Israel from time to time, and sure a few of us actually go to live there, but there remains a feeling that the Jews in Israel are really fighting our battle against discrimination. Most American Jews do not want to give up their fairly prosperous life here in exchange for a tougher existence over there. So perhaps as a balance to this feeling, we comfort ourselves with the thought that we are helping the poor and downtrodden here in our adopted country with our massive government programs, and that helps to pay our dues.
In America, Jews have been accepted as citizens and as political equals from the very beginning of this nation. As Paul Johnson writes in his History of the Jews, it almost came to pass that Hebrew became the accepted language in the new America. The Old Testament was as avidly read by our founders as the New Testament. Thus sheltered by this feeling of "belonging" which had been such a rare feeling throughout our historical wanderings, Jews have truly prospered here in America as nowhere else.
Yet, the feeling persists: Are we doing everything we should be doing to bring about that status of well-being to all around us? Tikkun Olam, to repair the world, and make it right for everyone, is still one of our guiding principles. H
ow can we use our wealth and our privileged status to bring this condition into reality'?
Certainly we cannot do it alone. As the report on the Jewish billionaires shows, even they cannot make that much of a dent in problems of poverty. So where do we look for possible solutions? What power is there that has the capacity to move mountains, to achieve miracles quickly, to marshal the resources of an entire people to achieve their desired aims? As the liberals preach, it is Government with a capital "G." Thus for the past sixty-five years, since the coming of FDR, Jews in America have supported with great passion the various government programs designed to end poverty in America. The results, after spending five trillion dollars, leave much to be desired. As Charles Murray wrote in his hook, Losing Ground, "We tried to provide more for the poor and produced more poor instead. We tried to remove the harriers to escape poverty, and inadvertently built a trap."
There are as many people below the poverty level as when the entire monstrous campaign began. But no matter, supporting these programs gives Jews that good feeling that they are truly benefactors of the poor, and that eventually, given enough time and money, these programs will succeed. Not perhaps in our lifetimes, but certainly within our children's, our grandchildren's, or later. Liberals don't seem to remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The question must be asked however, is all of this in harmony with Jewish law and Jewish tradition? If it is, great! If it is not, then show me how it is not and just perhaps we can change some thinking. Later on in this writing we hope to show that these programs and the philosophy behind them are in fact contrary to Jewish law and tradition.