Prelutsky: On Being Jewish and Conservative

It’s not as bad being a Jewish conservative as, I would assume, it is to be a black one. Mainly that’s because there are about 30% of Jews who will vote for a Republican, but a mere 5% of blacks who will dare risk antagonizing their friends and relatives.

Also, when a Jew votes for a Republican, other Jews will generally dismiss him as a harmless fool, but they usually won’t refer to him as inauthentic or call him whatever the Jewish equivalent of an Uncle Tom might be.

The thing that tends to confuse Gentiles is that, whereas blacks are thought to possess physical prowess and a sense of rhythm, Jews are stereotyped as being smart or at least, so far as anti-Semites are concerned, sharp and financially cunning.

Having been Jewish for 75 years, my take on it is that although Jews have a patriarchal God, most Jews are not particularly religious. Those who are orthodox in their observance of Judaism are generally the most conservative in their politics.

The homes in which most of us are raised tend to be governed by women. I assume that is why, when it comes to political matters, Jewish men are so often guided by their feelings, rather than by their brains. On the plus side, it helps explain why Jews are so charitable and so concerned with civil rights. On the other hand, it’s the reason that Jewish men find liberalism, which promises to coddle the individual from the cradle to the grave, so alluring.

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