There weren’t many Jews last week in Cleveland’s GOP convention. But there were some, and a notably large proportion of them were Orthodox Jews. Not all of them, of course – but a lot. There will be more Jews, a lot more, this week in Philadelphia for the Democratic convention. Possibly even more Orthodox Jews, because of the overall larger number of Jews – but I still assume the relative percentage of Orthodox Jews will be smaller (I will start counting black hats and Kippahs once the proceedings begin).
Of course, all of this should not come as huge surprise. We’ve known for quite a while now that the Orthodox tend to be more Republican than the non-Orthodox majority of American Jewry, as the Portrait of American Orthodox Jews by Pew concluded. “Other U.S. Jews lean heavily toward the Democratic Party, but the opposite is true of the Orthodox. As of mid-2013, 57% of Orthodox Jews identified with the Republican Party or said they leaned toward the GOP,” the report said. President Obama did not perform well in Jewish Orthodox neighborhoods in New York. His “worst precincts,” according to a New York Times report, “were in Orthodox Jewish areas like Ocean Parkway and Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Kew Gardens Hills in Queens. In a few precincts in Borough Park, Brooklyn, Mr. Romney won more than 90 percent of the vote.”
So why mention this again in the context of the conventions? Because I believe there is another dynamic underway within the Jewish community – no less interesting than the Orthodox becoming Republican. It is a dynamic that in some ways resembles a parallel dynamic we see in Israel, one whose consequences can be far-reaching: the dynamic of an Orthodox community that is no longer willing to accept its numerical minority status as a reason to adhere to a non-Orthodox majority view on crucial political questions. The Orthodox community in Israel asserts itself politically in many ways – much more than it did in the past. And I see signs that the Orthodox community is on the way to imitating this dynamic. The conventions of the two parties give us an opportunity to see how this happens in practice.
It begins with the sentiment, which many Orthodox Jews share, that it is time for the Orthodox community – just 10% of the total Jewish population of the US – to have a stronger voice than it does within the larger community. Why would they feel deserving of such a voice? Because of their higher level of commitment to Judaism (if you do not think they are more committed, take a quick look at the Pew data – it is hard to dispute such a notion); because of their larger families and better performance in retaining them within the Jewish camp; and because of their inner-feeling that they are the “future” while other Jews are less so.
Orthodox Jews in Israel tend to have similar feelings as they strive to have a stronger voice and more influence on Israel’s policies. They believe that the “past” is the secular Labor-tilting groups, and that the “future” is the religious hawkish-tilting groups. Orthodox Israelis have more children than other Israelis. They have a higher level of engagement and are more committed to Judaism. And they are ahead of the American Orthodox community when it comes to translating the community’s energy and commitment to political influence over the policies of the Jewish State.
In America the Jewish establishment is still a leftward-tilting, progressively-tilting, establishment. Peter Beinart may think otherwise – he famously concluded that the Jewish establishment fails to keep up with the times and with the views of the majority of Jewish Americans. But many Orthodox Jews don’t really count the majority of Jews – and surely don’t consider the views of (the somewhat Orthodox) Beinart seriously.
They only count the majority of Jews who truly care. They count the majority of Jews whose passion about Judaism – and Israel – is real. They care to find a path to make these views heard more when the “Jewish view” is considered.
As they count these Jews – I say “they” and, of course, mean “some Orthodox leaders with whom I spoke in the last couple of weeks” – they count them this way: Orthodox Jews care in higher percentages, and the level of care for each of them is higher. So, all in all, they might be the caring-majority, or at least a much more significant caring-minority than the establishment is ready to recognize.
What do they want? Some of them want a more prominent seat at the table, but even they are willing to admit that Orthodox activists and leaders are already visible in many Jewish organizations and establishments. They often have a nominal seat. So the seat is not the real issue – the issue is how much influence they have on the policies and viewpoints of organizations. To what extent their views are taken into account when the Jewish leadership is making decisions on behalf of the community as a whole.
Notable case in point: Israel. Recent example: the reluctance on the part of the main Jewish organizations to support a change in the GOP platform that drops the “two state solution” from its agenda.
Orthodox Jewish Americans were very active in working to change the GOP platform. That’s why I decided to start making calls and ask questions about Orthodox political activism. What I was told was not surprising; Orthodox Jewish Americans, generally speaking, are not supportive of the two state solution. They do not see the settlements as a problem. They think that the Israeli government is sincere in wanting peace. Many of them will have no problem – and would actually cheer – an American administration that moves away from the two-state status quo.
Orthodox leaders with whom I spoke feel that the two state solution is, as one of them bluntly said, “the only religion of some of these [non-Orthodox] Jews.” When I told him this was not a fair portrait, he said “yes, but you know what I mean.”
And I do know what he means, because he told me: at his synagogue, some of the congregants are upset whenever Jewish organizations express their support for a Palestinian State. At his synagogue some of the congregants were highly upset when Jewish organizations spoke against the Iran deal but acted meekly to stop it. At his synagogue – he said – “people might be unrealistic to believe that the Jewish community can do more to stop the Iran deal. But why aren’t we expressing gratitude when the GOP decides to no longer tell Israel what to do and lets Israel decide by itself what to do is beyond me.” He mentioned the reports that AIPAC lobbied to keep the two state solution on the platform, and the fact that the ADL was “disappointed” with the language that was ultimately adopted. These policies he did not understand, nor was he willing to let them pass as the voice of the community.
Three out of four leaders with whom I spoke told me that things “need to change.” And since they do not expect them to change without a fight, they say that there might be a need for a fight. I asked all of them: Are you not worried about alienating other Jews and pushing them away from a position of support for Israel? One of them, obviously impatient with this question, told me I better read my own columns before I ask such questions. It took me two seconds to realize he was referring to my column from two weeks ago: Can you be Jewish and Liberal? The evidence says: not so easy.
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