Are Jews most likely to support Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?

On this episode of The Jewish Channel’s Forward Forum, our panel discusses this key political question, as well as:

*Orthodoxy’s acceptance of homosexuality;
*the current fortunes of America’s most well-known Jewish politician;
*the plight of Jews from the former-Soviet Union;
*the success of Yiddish culture;
*and, of course, the Forward team’s parting shots.

Barack Obama gains support among Jewish voters

While early polls showed Hillary Clinton holding the edge, Super Tuesday primary results indicate that Barack Obama is now the choice of a majority of Jewish voters. Political reporter Jennifer Siegel breaks down this divergence, suspecting that while a “core group” of “older, more observant, more affiliated” Jewish voters voiced their concerns by siding with Clinton, Obama drew support from a majority who are “very liberal” and energized by the momentum of the Illinois Senator’s campaign.

News Editor Nathaniel Popper, on the other hand, sees a cultural divide that goes beyond age, one that separates the “organized Jewish community” from “everyday Jews.” Foreign policy seems to be a major concern among certain Jewish organizations, but he notes that “the reality is when it comes down to Jews on the street, they are not necessarily in sync with these organizations.”

Other factors discussed in Obama’s rise are the “Ted Kennedy Factor” of acquiring the endorsement of a long-time Democratic Senator with “rabid” Jewish supporters, and the fallout from an internet smear campaign leveling accusations that Obama is an Islamic Fundamentalist.

Gay and lesbian inclusion within Orthodox Judaism

The gay former-principal of the Yeshiva of Flatbush school not only resigned his post, he also stopped being Orthodox. Yet, the average student response seemed more concerned with the ex-principal’s religious state than with his sexual one. What can be gleaned from this? For Jennifer Siegel, a community-wide attitude of “either you’re in and you’re Orthodox or you’re out” is being matched against a generational battle over what is acceptable sexuality within Orthodoxy.

Adding to the situation were emails sent to certain Yeshiva of Flatbush alumni in the run-up to a December reunion saying that their same-sex partners were not welcome at the event. For Gabriel Sanders, telling alumni that “while you’re welcome to attend, your partner is not” brings to mind criticism coming from people like Noah Feldman, the Harvard Law Professor who claimed he was discriminated against as an alumnus of an Orthodox school for having a non-Jewish spouse. In general, Sanders says, Orthodox people who “want to have one foot in the mainstream world” might also need come to terms with its values.

Is Joseph Lieberman burning bridges with the Democratic Party?
Jewish Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman has endorsed John McCain for president and is actively campaigning for him. This comes after the longtime Democrat switched parties to become an Independent in order to win re-election to his office. Despite the uproar among members of his former party over this crossing of party lines, Jennifer Siegel notes that “yes they were very upset, yes they were mad, but in the end they could do nothing about it,” and that “they need Lieberman at this point much more than Lieberman needs them.”

The panel discusses what these two high-profile politicians are getting out of this unusual alliance. While Lieberman, who has likened McCain to a Maccabee hero of the Chanukah story, has gained notoriety and popularity from his support, the Arizona Senator stands to raise his stature amongst his Jewish counterpart’s evangelical Christian backers. More than that, Nathaniel Popper sees a joint “middle-of-the-roadness” in the duo’s politics which Alana Newhouse says could either “help or hurt” the Republican nominee.

Remembering the Fight For Soviet Jewry
The Jewish community in 2007 marked the 40th anniversary of movement to free Soviet Jewry. Nathaniel Popper recently traveled to Eastern Europe on a fact-finding trip and equates the legacy of the Soviet liberation effort with “the Civil rights movement or the Vietnam of the Jewish community.” He also notes, however, that after the arrival of these Jews in the U.S., a hope for a united American Jewry was not fully realized and that “when you look at it demographically, many of these people are not part of the Jewish community.”

For Alana Newhouse, the movement’s effects are far-reaching — it “encompasses politics, it encompasses American Jewry, international Jewry, literature and identity.” Many Jewish political leaders “cut their teeth” in the movement, through efforts like the massive 1987 activist gathering on the Mall in Washington D.C., attended even by members of our panel, like Jennifer Siegel who says it “shaped the consciousness of a younger generation of Jews.”

Despite the number of Jews who have left the old Eastern bloc, Editor Wayne Hoffman points out that almost a million chose to remain in former Soviet lands, and he wonders that in a new post-Cold War era, “with the exception of Chabad, what has the American Jewish community done for those who have chosen not to emigrate?”

The Revival of Yiddish Culture in America

A recent special issue of the Forward explores the proliferation of classes, concerts and other cultural events dedicated to Yiddish. Is this a full-fledged comeback for a language once thought to be disappearing? Wayne Hoffman says that while the revival of Yiddish as a spoken tongue is limited, its cultural impact on the arts is very real. He also cautions that “if you’re looking for a time when all Jews in America will again be speaking Yiddish as their vernacular tongue” the wait will be a long one.

Regardless, Gabriel Sanders sees the scholarly interest in Yiddish as coming with a type of “zest and engagement” that is galvanizing areas of the broader Jewish community. He notes that some see American “Yiddishism” as a form of accessible, non-controversial Judaism, “shorn of Zionism and observance,” which Nathaniel Popper says is drawing U.S. Jews who are looking for a palpable connection to their ancestors.

Parting Shots

On a parting note, each of the roundtablers gets a shot to share one last thought:
*Jennifer Siegel wonders what’s next for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg;
*Alana Newhouse takes bets on who the candidates will be for the 2009 New York City Mayoral election;
*Wayne Hoffman picks up on the Coen brothers’ new deal to adapt Michael Chabon’s novel “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” for the screen;
*Nathaniel Popper ruminates on the life and death of anti-Semitic chess player Bobby Fischer;
*and Gabriel Sanders wraps things up with a word on Steven Spielberg’s spurning the Beijing Olympics over China’s policies regarding the Sudan.