Posted on 06/22/2014 5:22:47 AM PDT by amnestynone
In 2012, the average New York Jew looks a little less like Jerry Seinfeld and a little more like Tevye the Milkman.
New York’s Jews are poorer, less educated and more religious than they were 10 years ago, according to a landmark new study of the city’s Jewish population.
They’re also less liberal: More than half of the Jews in New York City live in Orthodox or Russian-speaking homes, both of which lean heavily conservative.
The study, conducted by UJA-Federation of New York, counted 1.5 million Jews in New York City, Long Island and Westchester, up from 1.4 million just 10 years ago. That growth is almost entirely due to a huge surge in New York’s Orthodox population, which rose by more than 100,000 people over the past decade.
Related •N.Y. Jewish Population Grows to 1.5M: Study •U.S. Jewish Population Pegged at 6 Million •'The Era of the So-Called Jewish Vote Is Over' The numbers point to a seismic shift in what it means to be a New York Jew as Manhattan’s Jewish population shrinks and Brooklyn’s explodes, and as people disaffiliate from the more liberal Jewish denominations.
Source: UJA-Federation of New YorkIn the five boroughs of New York City itself, 40% of Jews currently identify as Orthodox.
The fast-shifting figures promise looming changes in how Jewish political power is wielded in New York, and in the relative influence of the city’s long-standing non-Orthodox institutions.
These trends are poised to accelerate. While one-third of New York-area Jews are Orthodox today, six out of 10 Jewish children in the New York area live in Orthodox homes. Hasidic children alone constitute 37% of the area’s Jewish children.
“We have a community that is large, that is growing, that is diverse and that is challenged by poverty, by elements of disengagement, and also strengthened by diversity, by growing areas of Jewish involvement,” said Steven M. Cohen, a leading sociologist of the Jewish community and one of the report’s three authors.
The $1.7 million study is the largest of its kind ever undertaken in the United States, according to its sponsors. Researchers conducted 6,000 telephone interviews with Jewish households, randomly selected using a variety of methods.
(This reporter’s mother sat on a 22-member advisory board that approved the design of the survey in the fall of 2010. She has had no involvement in the study over the past year and a half.)
The survey’s findings pose an array of major challenges to the city’s Jewish establishment. The survey found among New York Jews fast-rising levels of poverty that appear to be unparalleled in recent history. Researchers also found a steep drop in affiliation among non-Orthodox Jews, and low levels of support among Orthodox Jews for the institutions that the non-Orthodox have long dominated. The survey also identified demographic trends that could have consequences for how New York Jews’ political interests are defined.
Less Liberal
Taken together, New York City’s Orthodox and Russian-speaking Jewish communities comprise 56% of the city’s Jewish population.
The newfound dominance of those communities, both of which are more politically conservative than other Jewish groups, could challenge the notion that the New York Jewish vote is a liberal vote — or even a Democratic vote.
“The Russians are not Democrats, and the Hasidim are not necessarily Democrats,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a conservative Democratic political strategist. “When somebody figures out how to put the Russians and the ultra-Orthodox together they’re going to come up with an atomic bomb in Democratic politics in New York State.”
... and why not? Like establishment Republicans everywhere, they have their safe seats, their lucrative sinecures, more than their fair share of the swag from Albany and DC, and no responsibility beyond making suitably harrumphing Republican noises every once in a while. Hardly the stuff of revolution.
As far as cultivating that 'potential' within orthodox communities goes, in the establishment Republican computer, the perceived effort may not justify the perceived results in any race they care about. The numbers are not that great.
It seems to be a looong slow evolution. I have fond memories of my dear old Dad and I being involved with Pres. Reagan’s campaign back in 1980, when I was with the Young Republicans. The night before the polls opened on Election Day we set up a “goon squad” to put up Reagan posters all over the place. All night long I tore up the streets of Rockland Cty, NY in my 68 Charger loaded with those posters, many of them with his name printed in Hebrew that went up in the Hasidic neighborhoods. Not only did the Orthodox communities overwhelmingly vote for Reagan both times, though not a majority, a significant number of more liberal Reformed Jews as well. I consider it a sense of pride that I’ve had at least a small part in convincing many of my Jewish bretheren that it’s OK to leave the dem plantation.
Pro welfare state and pro traditional marriage. Sounds like the Santorum or Huckabee demographic to me.
Just by the numbers, the Orthodox and Russian Jewish communities can account for several hundred thousand votes within the state. In a competitive statewide race (including presidential electors every four years), that could be the difference. Problem is that so many of these statewide races have not been competitive, primarily because the establishment GOP leadership has seemingly taken a "dive" on them.
The future belongs to the fertile ...
That may be true in New York City, but not here in Los Angeles.
Are these votes not concentrated in and around NYC, with some number in Rockland and Orange Counties? Why would a safe-seat RINO from Hornell care? I sometimes get the impression that RINOs do better when they don't have a governorship! I.ER., the payoff is bigger?
And while I am on the subject of NYS RINOS, where is the action needed for the state to take advantage of its significant oil resources? Nooyawkuzz strike me as a strange breed who cannot stand good or efficient government for long ... and the patience of people in upper NY must be legendary ... it's been a depressed area for 35 years!
As far as these "Fiddler-on-the-Roof" types go, pardon my jaundiced perception, but they seem to go with which ever candidate gets to their leaders with the goodies first.
So ... if the NYS Republicans really really wanted them, WTF exactly is the problem? Stuff the satchel and go.
-PJ
“As a Jewish conservative”
I wish there were more of you.
The newly drawn Orthodox Jewish State Senate district in Brooklyn was Romney’s best in the state, I believe. It’s Senator was elected as a rat but switched to Republican.
I'm guessing its also the chunk of the U.S. Congressional district (NY-9) where Bob Turner did best.
Technically, Senator Simcha Felder remains a (conservative) Democrat, but he caucuses with Republicans in the Senate.
Undeniably.
Those KOS bastards are good at crunching #s. Sadly they haven’t done Illinois districts.
NY SD-17, 58.27% Romney. Not quite the best, GOP District on Staten Island (Which Romney narrowly lost as whole because of the stupid hurricane, making it one of only a few counties to switch from McCain to Obama), SD-24 gave Romney 58.66%. Two best districts for Romney in state were in the NYC city limits.
He should be encouraged to go all the way. I guess he wants to keep his options open if rats take control.
I hope the GOP gains an outright majority this year.
The NY State Senate has had so much infighting and switching over who's in power there that I lost track a few years ago. The statewide elections normally give the RATs an overwhelmingly margin (something like 2/3rds of the vote), but Republicans had firm control over the state senate for years. I'm not sure how that worked, whether it was gerrymandering or sheer luck or just weak Dem opposition in Senate races.
The RATs won a majority of the senate seats in 2008 (giving them outright control of the chamber for the first time in 4 decades), since then there seems to have been a lot of back-and-forth over who's "in charge", and at least 2 or 3 "power sharing" Senate sessions. Several RATs have caucused with the GOP, or outright switched parties, and possibly returned to the RAT fold
Right now they have the Dem caucus, which includes liberal Democrats, a couple "conservative" Democrats (like Ruben Diaz Sr., who as far I know is a loyal RAT vote when it comes to organizational purposes, but votes like a Republican on social issues), then there's an separate "Independent Democrat" caucus with 4 or 5 members (not sure why they're not caucusing with their party), AND you have Democrats like Felder who get elected as RATs and remain in the party, but outright caucus with the GOP. And of course, then there's the Republican members of the Senate, and given that it's NY there's probably a large ideological divine between liberal RINO members, squishy right-of-center moderates, and traditional conservatives.
Right now, the NY State Senate has at least THREE "Senate Presidents" -- Robert J. Duffy (RAT), Dean Skelos (GOP), and Jeffrey Klein ("Independent Democrat") who apparently share responsibilities.
I get a headache just thinking about how that body governs.
The KKK wouldn't attack black people to terrorize them into voting Democrat, they'd attack them to keep them from voting at all.
Yes, definitely a quid pro quo. In a just world, the Clintons should have been convicted for exchanging pardons for votes. It's obvious that the Hasidim wouldn't have voted over 99% HRC if that dirty deal wasn't made.
Curious how the progressives in Brooklyn who voted for DiBlasio and Dinkins (the first time) fits into this grouping.
If he does that, he's as phony as a $3 bill.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.