There is more support for ISRAEL among SOUTHERN BAPTISTS than there is among NYC Jews......
------------------------------------------------------------ This is it in a nutshell. It shouldn't be this way but this is an absolutely true statement.
17 posted on 11/05/2004 1:37:29 PM CST by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten .
True, I just wish they wouldn't spit so hard.
When you understand that Reform Judaism (the largest sect in the US) used to have as its base the concept of the local synagogue replacing the original Temple (hence they call them temples), and were very much anti-zionist, having essentially placed their permanent future outside of Israel.
In recent decades, their has been a trend away from that philosophy and toward Israel's support, but IMHO many still have that traditional attitude that there is nothing special about Israel that cant be done right here at home (so to speak).
It is this Jewish voice that you often hear that is contrary to Israel's hard right stand on issues of security, and is determined to strengthen the voice of Reform Jews in Israel itself (but that is for another thread).
This is it in a nutshell.
I suppose the notion of "NYC Jews" also includes radical campus Jewish intelligencia all over the country.
I agree that the Orthodox community may be the fastest growing part of the Jewish population. However, the atheistic anti-Israel left wingers by far outnumber the rest of the Jews, so I wouldn't expect big changes in the Jewish vote any time soon - that is, if some really spectacular confrontation between the forces of Good and Evil doesn't occur.