Polarized Jews in a depressing election

Political campaigns are like social stress tests, regularly scheduled exercises that add enough extra pressure on the system to expose weaknesses - and strengths. The long 2008 election has uncovered certain American fault lines. Within the Jewish community, the results of the 2008 electoral stress test have been equally sobering. Partisans from both sides have behaved abominably, demonstrating a growing hysteria and close-mindedness.

Perhaps the most infamous Jewish contribution to this campaign is unproven. Many reporters have claimed the various e-mails accusing Barack Obama of being a Muslim targeted Jews or originated with Jews. There is no solid proof of this. Internet hoaxes, like most urban legends, are hard to track. But anytime I have written anything remotely positive about Obama in the Jewish media, many bloggers have charged that "Barack HUSSEIN Obama" is secretly a Muslim and I am helping this Manchurian candidate deceive America.

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Diaspora-Israel relations as bad date

The results of the third annual Survey of Contemporary Israeli Attitudes toward World Jewry commissioned by the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem are in, and once again we can proclaim: Israel-Diaspora relations remain less fraternal than we like to believe - and more like a bad date than we really acknowledge. Just as North American Jews are convinced that Israelis need us more than we need them, Israelis believe we need them more than they need us. In this survey, focusing on the Israeli side of the equation, most Israeli Jews - 76 percent - believed it is safer to live as a Jew in Israel than in the Diaspora, while 43 percent believed the State of Israel rather than the local Jewish community was more responsible for fighting anti-Semitic outbreaks in the Diaspora.

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The Birthright 2.0 challenge

The Jim Joseph Foundation just donated $17.5 million to Birthright Israel. This gift follows Sheldon Adelson's amazing $60 million donation, and hundreds of millions of dollars other generous philanthropists have donated. These contributions constitute one of the greatest gifts Diaspora Jews have given Israel in the past decade.

The Jim Joseph gift designated $12.5 million for "follow-up," Birthright's toughest challenge. Recruitment has been easy. Already 165,000 young Jews ages 18 to 26 have enjoyed these free ten day trips, with another 27, 000 coming this summer. Three-quarters of the participants are North Americans, the rest have come from 53 different countries. The trips themselves have also been easy - hard work but overwhelmingly successful.

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Voluntary and involuntary Judaism

Passover remains a beloved Jewish holiday, with the Seder one of the most popular Jewish rituals in Israel and North America. But the bitter hametz controversy about outlawing selling un-kosher-for-Passover products in Israel highlights a central contrast between the Israeli and American Jewish experiences. Most American Jewish identity is voluntary; much Israeli Judaism is compulsory.

Most Israeli Jews approach Judaism as a rigorous system of rules and faith reinforced by God and the law. Although only 20 percent of Israelis define themselves as religious, one recent Ynet survey estimated that 71 percent of Israeli Jews believe in God. Keeping God central to Judaism, as Jews traditionally did, defines Judaism by its commandments. Even many Israelis who break the commandments still perceive Judaism as rooted in God's law.

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