American Jews

Doubtless every American Jew -- and virtually all Americans -- hope Israel and the Palestinians will succeed in the current effort to achieve peace between them. And we eagerly look forward to the day when Syria and other Arab states formally accept Israel's right to exist within secure borders.It is now essential that American Jews recognize the extent to which they themselves have posed a major obstacle to peace for the peoples of Israel. It is time for them to remove that obstacle and support the peace process unambiguously.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. engages in some wishful thinking about the political leanings of the American Jewish community ("Can Jews be sure of Obama's commitment to Israel?" Sept. 2). American Jews are the most consistently liberal religious group in the U.S. and have voted solidly Democratic for decades. While President Barack Obama's share of the Jewish vote may decline slightly from the 74 percent he received in 2008, all indicators suggest that he is likely to garner close to the 70 percent on average they have given to Democratic presidential candidates since 1972.

NEW YORK -- The widow gently scolded and, her husband's successor, Prime Minister Shimon Peres of Israel, practically pleaded for unity yesterday as thousands of American Jews mourned the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin with a huge gathering at Madison Square Garden."

While I agree that how President Obama (or any president) might respond to an Israeli military strike in Iran is an important topic for any voter to consider, including Jewish voters, former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich's rambling discussion of the topic is way off the mark ("Can Jews be sure of Obama's commitment to Israel," Sept. 2). He seems of touch with most American Jewish voters. To suggest that Jewish citizens vote Democrat out of "habit" is insulting. Jewish voters are not one-issue voters (i.e.

Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. engages in some wishful thinking about the political leanings of the American Jewish community ("Can Jews be sure of Obama's commitment to Israel?" Sept. 2). American Jews are the most consistently liberal religious group in the U.S. and have voted solidly Democratic for decades. While President Barack Obama's share of the Jewish vote may decline slightly from the 74 percent he received in 2008, all indicators suggest that he is likely to garner close to the 70 percent on average they have given to Democratic presidential candidates since 1972.

Oakland, California. - Today, the media will join Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in his yearly media hoax: ''proving'' that he has American Jewish support for his policies. Mr. Shamir is to appear at the annual conference of the big pro-Israel fund-raisers who assemble at the General Assembly of Jewish Federations in Baltimore.The fund-raisers will faithfully do their part by giving him a standing ovation. What the media will ignore is that these self-appointed leaders, like much of the Jewish establishment, are wildly out of step with the majority of American Jews.

Thousands of delegates representing Reform Judaism in North America begin meetings today in Baltimore excited by the Middle East peace conference but also skittish about how American Jews should respond to the talks in Madrid, Spain.The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), which expects nearly 4,000 delegates to attend its biennial convention, has long expressed disagreement with Israel's Likud government over such matters as Palestinian rights and settlements in occupied territories.

Rabbi Noah Golinkin, the former spiritual leader of a Columbia synagogue who earned a national reputation for programs that taught Hebrew literacy to more than 150,000 Jewish adults, died Thursday at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center & Hospital of complications after surgery. The Columbia resident was 89. His one-day Hebrew Reading Marathon and its forerunner, the Hebrew Literacy Campaign, are credited with quickly giving adults enough knowledge of the language to follow the Hebrew prayer book.

WASHINGTON -- It is the week of Passover, the first festival of human freedom. In many ways Jews have never had it so good, and much of their good fortune is associated with freedom. But Jews have some monumental problems -- some perennial, some self-inflicted and some linked to liberty.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu will remain in office, not indicted for "breach of trust." But there is still an alleged crisis in the peace process. Notwithstanding, those negotiations have been generally fruitful, extending Israel's survivability as a free nation in a rough neighborhood.

ADRIAN, Mich. -- There were several reasons why American Muslims voted for George W. Bush in November. Chief among them was the perception that both Bill Clinton and Al Gore were too heavily invested with the Israeli lobby to adopt a balanced approach to the Palestinian issue. American Muslims felt that Mr. Bush would not only assume a more balanced attitude toward Palestinians but would also reduce the colonization of the peace process by American Jews. They felt that since all the important foreign policy positions were held by American Jews, some of whom, like the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, had a long history of lobbying for Israel, it was impossible to expect Democrats to be evenhanded toward Palestine.

The "divestment from companies working In Israel" bandwagon is rolling again in several Protestant denominations, among them my own, the Presbyterian Church (USA). In one way, that's a good thing. It does ask us to pay attention to Israel and the West Bank/Gaza, when the Israeli government wants to focus our attention on Iran, and as a side effect get us to ignore the ongoing travesty of the occupation. Nonetheless, divestment as a tactic for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a bad idea.

A couple years ago, African-American artist Loring Cornish was focusing his creativity on works that addressed the civil rights movement. When a Jewish couple, Ellen and Paul Saval, bought some other pieces of his, Cornish went to their home to hang the art. By the time he was finished, "something came over me," he said. "I don't what it was. But I realized then that I had to include the struggles of the Jewish people in my work about the African-American experience. I went home, flipped over the 8-by-8(-foot)

It's hard to imagine a cozier holiday scene than the whole family gathered together to trim the tree. But for 2.5 million Americans in Jewish-Christian households, this is a scenario fraught with tension and feelings of betrayal. As the rabbi of a congregation that is more than half interfaith couples, I have learned that the holiday season is an especially difficult time for people with multiple religions in their household. More often than not, the gentile partner grew up with Christmas cheer in the home, but the Jewish partner learned to view traditions such as Christmas carols and holiday wreaths as "un-Jewish."

OK, so George Allen won't be returning to the U.S. Senate in January, and chances are he'll never occupy the White House. But, at the end of what had to be one of the worst weeks of his life, the Jewish newspaper the Forward named Allen the 51st member of its annual Forward 50 list of the most influential American Jews. It was the Forward that earlier this year revealed the Virginia Republican's Jewish roots, and Allen's flustered response may have contributed to his narrow defeat and the Democratic takeover of the Senate.

Rabbi Noah Golinkin, the former spiritual leader of a Columbia synagogue who earned a national reputation for programs that taught Hebrew literacy to more than 150,000 Jewish adults, died Thursday at Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center & Hospital of complications after surgery. The Columbia resident was 89. His one-day Hebrew Reading Marathon and its forerunner, the Hebrew Literacy Campaign, are credited with quickly giving adults enough knowledge of the language to follow the Hebrew prayer book.

Rabbi Ervin Preis, spiritual leader of the Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim congregation in Pikesville for more than 26 years and a guiding force in the Baltimore-area Orthodox Jewish community, died at his home yesterday of bile duct cancer. He was 67. Rabbi Preis had been struggling with cancer for two years, but he led daily services through his last days. After moving to the red-brick Pikesville synagogue in 1976, Rabbi Preis shepherded the congregation as its members grew more deeply observant.

New York. -- Watersheds in history like watersheds elsewhere are easy to miss. With cameras focused in on domestic unrest and historic international changes, the far-reaching importance of Mr. Bush's denial of loan guarantees to Israel is about to be overlooked.This denial heralds the decline in the political fortunes of U.S. Jews and of Israel. American Jews have been slow to credit the decline or its source. It is ''socialism'' in the broadest sense, both the Israeli commitment to it and the identification of U.S. Jews with it. The denial of the guarantees has begun to bring all of this home.

WASHINGTON -- Yair Hirschfeld is an angry IsraeliHe didn't spend months holed up in secret negotiations with the Palestinians to let the agreement they reached be undone by Jewish extremists in or from the United States."

Customers used to crowd the Cardo Gallery art studio in Jerusalem until violence erupted two years ago and drove tourists away. Now the 23-year-old gallery remains empty most days, barely holding onto existence as merchants around it shut their stores for good. "It used to be a place full of life," said Yaron Shrem, whose family owns the gallery. "People used to fill the streets. Now, it's empty. It's like a graveyard." With little hope of sales picking up soon in their homeland, Shrem and other Israeli business owners are bringing their wares to America.

ADRIAN, Mich. -- There were several reasons why American Muslims voted for George W. Bush in November. Chief among them was the perception that both Bill Clinton and Al Gore were too heavily invested with the Israeli lobby to adopt a balanced approach to the Palestinian issue. American Muslims felt that Mr. Bush would not only assume a more balanced attitude toward Palestinians but would also reduce the colonization of the peace process by American Jews. They felt that since all the important foreign policy positions were held by American Jews, some of whom, like the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, had a long history of lobbying for Israel, it was impossible to expect Democrats to be evenhanded toward Palestine.