Generally speaking, 80% or so of all American voters identify with the general political ideology and/or political party that their parents do or did (excepting those whose parents did not participate in the American political system). It's part of one's cultural heritage. Stories relating to political figures and their relationships to gut issues get passed down from generation to generation, no matter how accurate or inaccurate they may be. In the case of current Jewish voters, Franklin D. Roosevelt is frequently one of those names viewed as an icon for some strange reason, despite the fact that he had anti-Semitic tendencies and his record vis-à-vis Jewish issues leaves much to be desired when examined objectively. So the mythological Roosevelt and his party frequently became the objects of admiration and affection as passed down through the generations in too many Jewish families. It's only with a more objective interpretation of history and a recognition of reality can this family chain of brainwashing be broken. Today, there is definitely some movement away from the left in the Jewish community, but it is slower than some of us would like.
I think it was Aaron Zelman from JPFO that said “If every Jewish family in Germany had had a Mauser Rifle and ammunition - and the WILL TO USE IT - the Holocaust would never have happened.”
Yes, there is probably a lot of truth to that. The Nazis, like just about all dictatorships, were very well aware that disarming potential opposition was a key factor in achieving and maintaining totalitarian rule. So they saw to it that Jews and other potential troublemakers were banned from ownership of firearms.
What caused Eastern European immigrant Jews (ancestors of most of today's American Jews) to adopt leftist politics in the first place was that they had very little choice in their native land, other than to oppose oppressive czarist rule and/or find a way to escape from it. In the politics of that time and place, political movements tagged as "right" were almost always anti-Semitic and anti-freedom.
That’s probably the best explanation I’ve heard...
But - given the history of persecution, one would think that American Jews - ESPECIALLY American Jews, in a country with such a tradition of firearms ownership - would be even MORE rabid self-defense advocates than any of us (put aside “Democrat” or “Republican”; I’m just talking firearms here).