The discussion about how many American Jews voted for Donald Trump in the November presidential election because he supported Israel and because of dismay over left-wing antisemitism may have a lot more to do with demographics than politics.
JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin points out that Jews who have a highly developed sense of peoplehood and are engaged with Israel were more likely to be influenced by those two issues.
He is joined by veteran diplomat and Tikvah Fund head Elliott Abrams, the author of a new book titled If You Will It: Rebuilding Jewish Peoplehood for the 21st Century.
Abrams says that “the more affiliated and the more Jewishly observant you are, the more likely you were to vote for Donald Trump.”
He also argues that demographers who are counting people of Jewish descent but no discernable ties or interest in their heritage, Israel or the Jewish community are producing “silly” statistics that are misleading.
Abrams points out that the expectation that more Jews will be drawn to deeper involvement with Israel and Jewish life by the current surge of antisemitism may be mistaken. Jews who already have strong ties and Zionist feelings may be galvanized by confrontations with Jew-haters.
While antisemitism has traditionally drawn Jews together, it cannot create a Jewish identity in people who don’t already have an interest in having one. That’s true of the millions of Americans who identify as Jewish but are termed “Jews of no religion” or “Jews in name only.”
While demographic decline due to high intermarriage rates and lack of a sense of Jewish peoplehood among non-Orthodox American Jews seems inevitable, Abrams notes three factors can help preserve the community: affordable quality Jewish day-school education, Jewish summer camps and trips to Israel. The Birthright program proved that.
He also believes that these initiatives can strengthen Jewish life. The only question is: “Are we gonna do it?”
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