The mystery of the fifth Jew

[Behind the Aegis]

WASHINGTON - Two Israelis living temporarily in the United States, who hold positions in Washington-area synagogues, encountered a similar problem in recent weeks. The Jewish Federation had asked the synagogues to place signs in their yards expressing support for Israel. The members of the congregations wrestled with whether to accede to the request, and the Israelis decided to step aside. Because of their position, they could have influenced the decision, but they believed it would be better not to be involved. As Israelis, they preferred to let the Americans decide. In both cases, by the way, after debate and misgivings (Is there a need for this right now? Will the congregation not be subject to harassment?), the synagogues decided in favor. And they are not the only ones.

This week, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) celebrates its centennial. Ahead of the event, it published a study it commissioned on the subject of American Jews between the ages of 18 to 39, who constitute almost one-third of the Jewish population of the U.S. One finding: The Holocaust is a very important part of the identity of young Jews; Israel far less so. This is an important finding, but not a surprising one, having been observed in many similar studies.

Sarah Jessica Parker, star of "Sex and the City," told Abigail Pogrebin, the author of "Stars of David" - a collection of interviews with famous Jewish Americans - that attacks on Israel because of its actions in the territories make her angrily defensive. She said that she was not an admirer of Ariel Sharon, but wondered what Israelis were supposed to do under the circumstances. If Parker were to be interviewed for one of the polls checking American Jewish support of Israel, she would probably be recorded as a supporter, along with four out of five American Jews.

And yet, the fifth Jew responds differently. This is admittedly a minority, but not a negligible one, and it is fairly stable. It is also mysterious: The fifth Jew is hard to find. Sometimes he or she is not even a member of an organization or institution. Here and there, this individual can be found, but his or her messages are somewhat evasive.


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[aquart]

1. And the point of this piece of crap is what, please?

[Behind the Aegis]

2. I guess it is the new version of...

..."two jews, three opinions." :)

Actually, I thought the piece was very interesting. It shows how American Jews are often "afraid" to speak out about Israel outside of non-Jewish setting. It also shows that their is a disconnect within certain parts of our community (American Jews) and their relationship with Israel.

What part did you see as "crap?"

[petgoat]

20. "two jews, three opinions."

That's what I was going to say.

[northamericancitizen]

3. I don't see it as crap. Just timid. Can the poster go on ?

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Why "timid?" n/t

[yurbud]

11. timid because the fifth Jew is the most interesting one, but you stopped

before you got to him.

I don't know where you live, but here in LA, my Jewish friends feel free to criticize Israel, so much so that I accused one of being a self-hating Jew who would have climbed in the oven during the Holocaust.

He actually pointed me to some sources that helped me see the whole deal in a slightly different light.

America shares a blind spot with Israel and her sympathizers because we did the same thing--we wanted a land, so we declared it empty, forced out the previous occupants, and when they fought back said their savagery was proof they didn't deserve to be there.

That's a drastic over-simplification, but the basic dynamic.

The bottom line is we should be as free to criticize Israel as we are Germany, France, Mexico, or Britain without being called a racist. And for most Americans, that criticism is really more like an argument within the family than point a finger at outsiders.

[Behind the Aegis]

Y'all do realize that this is an editorial, not something I wrote, yes?

[yurbud]

14. yep, but you selected excepts--so if you meant to make it a cliffhanger...

you succeeded.

[Behind the Aegis]

16. No...I posted the way I am supposed to post.

I didn't "select" anything. I posted the first four paragraphs, as allowed, then gave the source. So your trying to pain that I did something 'malicious(?)' is way off base!

[yurbud]

17. no, not malicious. I usually post best four

But since you mentioned malice, you have planted a seed of suspicion...


I'll have to contact the Mossad.

[still_one]

6. it seems you have an underlying hostility for the exchange of ideas

[aquart]

12. IDEAS? Four out of five JEWS are fools, but the rare fifth is smart?

That's how you assimilate ideas? In phony statistics and straw men?

[still_one]

18. No one forces you to take part in a discussion you find useless

Incidently, I never stated how I felt one way or another about this thread, I was only commenting on your lack of courtesy, and the hostility I sensed in your response

[Ian David]

9. "What does all this mean to you?"

[Canuckistanian]

5. I find this interesting

If Israel is supposed to be the "promised land" for Jews, why the lack of support for Israel?

It's as if that 19% identify with some jewish ideal that is separate from the state of Israel.

The author did mention that the Holocaust was one of the unifying factors of young jews.

[Lexingtonian]

7. Oh wow, what a mystery....

and the chin-stroking involved is just disgusting. These things have been known for twenty years, at least.

But I could tolerate it until that intensely stupid and wrongheaded last paragraph. I can't help think that- just maybe- these 20% are the saving remnant, the people who will spare the spirit of Judaism from the garroting being given it by the chauvinistic tribalism of the likes of Rosner.

[Hekate]

8. Thanks for the fascinating post. The responses to it in Haaretz are...

...especially interesting to me.

The first one is from a man who lives in the next county over from me, here on the Central Coast of California. He says: "Immense chutzpah," referring to the article, not assimilated Jews. (Unfortunately I can't directly quote from his post, because once I moved on I couldn't go back.)

I think he was reacting to the same comments that struck me in the article, the juxtaposition of "Israeli alienation to Reform Judaism, incidentally, certainly does not contribute to strengthening ties with this movement." and "Conclusions? Here are a few with which several experts agree. One: Reform Jews have to work on their relationship with Israel."

This is absurd on the face of it. As our local Reform rabbi once remarked, there is only one country on the face of the Earth where he cannot marry, bury, or convert anyone -- the State of Israel, where the Orthodox have a complete lock on religious life. The fact that large numbers of Israelis are secular because Orthodoxy doesn't fill their needs seems to not bother the Orthodox hierarchy there. Personally, I think Israel needs to work on its relationship with Reform Jews. For over half a century the State of Israel has depended on American Jews for support, and most of them are not Orthodox.

Then there is the person from Tel Aviv, who affirms in his post: "The fifth Jew is clearly one of us. Lateral thinking, free thinking, freedom to differ are all integral to Judaism." That is definitely the source of the rich contributions Jews have made to American culture.

Thanks again, Aegis. I'm very interested in the topic because I'm a gentile daughter-in-law in an assimilated family (surprise, surprise: none of the daughters-in-law have been Jewish). All families have their complexities. My husband's parents are both Holocaust survivors -- but although my late father-in-law was very religious the whole time I knew him (from his 80's through his late 90's), he wasn't having anything to do with God while his sons were growing up. Nonetheless, being Jewish is much more a part of their identity than being Irish-American is part of mine.

My husband is the only son with any interest in religion; he and I have explored this over the 25 years we've been together, but we married in the Unitarian society, and for spiritual study my husband is essentially Buddhist. Many prominent American Buddhist teachers and writers are Jewish, interestingly enough. This is America-Island, as family friends of mine in Hawaii used to say -- we expect to be free here. Probably more to the point, this is California, where many of us are spiritual seekers who see religous life as a journey, not a closed system.

Hekate

[HamdenRice]

10. Also think the last paragraph is stupid

The suggestion that the 20% of Jews who do not uncritically support Israel are "hard to find" and "evasive" is just maligning liberal Jews in general. Also the article suggests that this group is monolithic, assimilated and critical of Israel -- as though more "ethnic" Jews might not be critical of Israel.

I suggest that the writer listen to Pacifica Radio's "Beyond the Pale: The Progressive Jewish Radio Hour," and he will hear week after week, Jews who are both intensely engaged in the Jewish community and Israel, but who are not supporters of current Israeli policies. And they are neither evasive or hard to find.

[DavidMS]

15. That 20% is suprisingly large

I never knew that almost 20% were uncomfortable with political zionism. I find myself at odds with it because for me my faith is a universal and prophetic faith completely in acord with recent (modern era) discoveries in the sciences as opposed to a tribal faith where one is a member by decent as opposed to by choice.

http://www.acjna.org/article_view.asp?article_id=385

[stevenleser]

23. More than 20% of American Jews are unhappy with Political Zionism...

...depending on how you define Zionism. I once wrote on a Jewish discussion forum that I believed that once Israel made peace with all of its neighbors, a civil war was not far behind because of the vast differences between observant and non observant Jews in Israel. Observant Jews tend to be Likudniks who want expansion of Israel's borders, more settlements, etc. They also are social conservatives ala the christian right here in the US, with obvious slight differences. These people to me are 'Zionists'.

The secular Jews, who probably compromise about half the population of Israel want peace with and a state for the Palestinians, and are socially liberal. About 90% of the Jews here in the US feel similarly. This is an estimate based on my experience and not a scientific study. To me, these people are not 'Zionists'.

I cannot speak for other Jews, but one of the things that rankles me is when people say Jews want X or Israel is Y, etc. It is not anywhere near as simple as that. It is like saying America is X or America thinks Y because of the actions of Bush. All of you can, I am sure, feel the offensiveness of that kind of statement.

Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now

[stevenleser]

24. P.S...

see the Haredi's destroy internet cafe for an example of the differences. In response to this, I have heard in the past that seculars will go romping through an observant neighborhood with rap music blasting out of their cars on the sabbath. There is a fair amount of antipathy between the two groups

[bemildred]

13. At One With Dual Devotion

`JuBus' blend the communal rituals of Judaism with the quiet solitude of Buddhism. Most adherents are at peace with the paradox.

By Louis Sahagun, Times Staff Writer
May 2, 2006

The altar in Becca Topol's living room carries a statue of Buddha and a garden stone painted with the Hebrew word for peace, shalom.

In April she celebrated Passover with a "Zen Seder" feast that opened with a modified Haggada narrative comparing Israel's exodus from Egypt to Buddha's liberation from suffering.

"I'm a Jewish Buddhist — a JuBu," said Topol, 37. "My Buddhist practice has actually made me a stronger Jew."

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-jubus2may02,1,2419356.story

[applegrove]

19. Well - the link doesn't work for me. I knew I shouldn't read this post.

There I am left up in the air. Not so hard for me.. I am not jewish. Otherwise it would be even more anxiety causing. No matter if you are 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.

Interestingly - the idea of comparing Israel to the history of North America is interesting. I got that from this thread.

[Behind the Aegis]

21. The follow up.....

The fifth Jew - answering the readers

Readers reacted in many ways - with talkbacks but also with quite a few emails - to my op-ed piece about the fifth Jew, on North American Jews who do not care about Israel.

In the piece, I write that although four out of five American Jews respond positively to questions regarding their support for Israel, "the fifth Jew responds differently. This is admittedly a minority, but not a negligible one, and it is fairly stable. It is also mysterious: The fifth Jew is hard to find. Sometimes he or she is not even a member of an organization or institution. Here and there, this individual can be found, but his or her messages are somewhat evasive."

It also concludes with some recommendations: "One: Reform Jews have to work on their relationship with Israel. Two: Those who are unconnected to a Jewish institution are lost to Israel as well. Three: Israel must seek a path to the hearts of Diaspora leaders. Because the fifth Jew, to put it rather bluntly, is not only less 'Israeli,' but also less Jewish."

You can read the whole article - and also respond - here. Or you can just send an email to [e-mail].

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(Note: I am not Rosner, so I didn't write either piece. Also, since it is Ha'aretz, you may have to try a few times to get the site to come up. The past weeks have seen some problems with the site. Do be sure to read this follow up piece.)

[Phx_Dem]

22. very interesting article BtA

I wonder if the "fifth jew" is the type of jew who's "jewishness" is primarily race based, as opposed to observance based. I personally don't think the Reform mvmt is contributing to this, but intermarriage certainly is.