In just a few days, on November 3, 2020, voting stations in America will "officially" open (many have already opened for 'early voting'). Americans will choose their next President--by either re-electing Republican Donald Trump, or by replacing him with Democrat Joe Biden.
This election will be different. For one thing, unlike some past elections, this election may set a modern record for total votes cast. Already, a week before voting stations officially open, millions of Americans have cast their votes. So far (as of October 29th), more than 77 million votes have been cast (here).
This extraordinary tally (for this year's early vote) suggests that Americans know what's at stake in this election. Both Parties--Republican and Democrat--claim that if the opposing candidate wins, he will destroy America.
Is this true? We don't know. But the record number of votes already cast in the US suggests that members of both Parties believe this to be true.
Members of both Parties who are voting in this election say they vote because they want to preserve the nation's soul. We just don't know which soul will be preserved--the Democrat's definition of 'soul', or the Republican's definition.
Meanwhile, the majority of US Jews vote, too. But will their vote be plagued by two potentially dangerous beliefs?
It's possible. The first of these two beliefs is what US voters call, "Liberalism" (here). This could endanger US Jews because "Liberalism" and "Jewish" don't always go together. Yet, some 56% of US Jews identify themselves as "leaning towards Liberal"--or, as "Liberal" (here). If that's true, we can easily assume that US Jews will tend to vote for the most Liberal of the two main Parties in this election--the Democrat Party. After all, the only large US political Party that embraces a Liberal agenda in the US is the Democrat Party. Republicans, by contrast, are called, "Conservative". Republicans are decidedly not "Liberal".
As suggested above, this Jewish commitment to a Liberal political agenda for America might not be good for Jews. The reason for this seems simple enough: a truly Leftist-Liberal political environment is not always good for Jews. In America, for example, it is no accident that, as the Left has become more prominent on the political stage, two things have happened. First, America has become increasingly polarized. Second, anti-Semitism has increased--dramatically (here). This has happened because America's most Liberal writers and politicians have embraced a bevy of anti-Jewish notions--the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Movement; the anti-Zionist demonization of Israel as a pariah, illegitimate state; intersectionality (which apparently believes that all kinds of ills--including Zionism--must be purged to achieve a more perfect society); and a radicalized feminism which is fundamentally anti-Zionist (here). The more commonplace these ideas become on college campuses, in published essays and in intellectual journals, the more polarized the US becomes--and the more demonized Jews and Israel become. The result? Dramatically increased antisemitism in the US, mostly--but not exclusively--from the Left.
Liberalism and antisemitism connect for another reason: Liberalism is at heart an idea based upon utopia. Liberals promote a utopian, ideal world. Major elements of the modern utopian ideal even appear in the 2020 Democrat election Platform: "racial justice", "leveling the economic playing field" (here), guaranteed safe housing for all, universal healthcare, ending poverty, gun control, "affordable" education and economic security for all (ibid).
But utopias are--by their very nature--dangerous for Jews. Every utopia in the West has been the same: Jews lose. Even the very first iteration of a social utopia, in Thomas More's 16th century work, Utopia, the perfect society was completely Jew-free. That sentiment has never changed.
No large-scale Western utopian society--most notably Nazi Germany and Communist Russia--treated Jews very well. The same might be true in a now-polarized America (here). That is, the more America polarizes around a Left-Right axis, the greater becomes America's antisemitism (ibid)--partly because anti-Israelism plays so prominent a role in so much Leftist-Liberal rhetoric.
Today, the assumption that Jews will again vote Democrat is supported by a recent poll on the subject. In a Pew survey completed in mid-October, 2020, some 70% of Jews indicated they will indeed vote for the Democrat/Liberal candidate, Biden (here).
Biden certainly appears to lean Left. He certainly appears to embrace a far-Left political agenda just when antisemitism in American increases. Will a Left-leaning Biden be good to Jews? One answer comes from one of the most anti-Jew Members of the US Congress--Ilhan Omar. She has recently declared that she--and other Leftists in Congress--fully expects Biden to move Left as US President. She also stated that she and her 'colleagues' will "press" Biden to do just that (here).
Given the history of Liberals-their-utopia-and-the-Jews, it seems dangerous for the majority of America's Jews to vote for a Liberal-utopian political agenda especially when the most Leftist Members of the US Congress now threaten to stall Biden's entire Congressional agenda if he does not 'fall in line' (ibid). Ilhan Omar and her friends will not be the Jews' friend. Their political histories proves that.
There is a second potentially dangerous belief Jews will bring to the voting booth next week--their attitudes towards antisemitism. According to the most recent AJC survey of antisemitism in the US, 54% of American Jews say they believe that Republicans (and, by association, Trump) bear the responsibility for today's antisemitism in the US (here). The media (here) supports this conceit. These same Democrat Jews do not believe the Democrat Party is to blame for America's anti-semitism (ibid).
Could the majority of US Jews be wrong to believe that it is Republicans who truly foster and support today's antisemitism?
Only 12% of US Jews believe that Democrats are responsible for antisemitism in the US. Antisemitism is no small concern for US Jews. In today's America, 88% of US Jews believe that antisemitism in the US is a problem (ibid). That's a big number--88%. It suggests that Jews see antisemitism as a daily concern--and daily concerns do motivate voters.
So, when US Jews overwhelmingly see antisemitism as a problem, to whom will they turn for help? Do they turn to Republican politicians--whom they see as responsible for US antisemitism? Of course not. They turn to the Democrat Party, whom they view as primarily innocent when it comes to American antisemitism.
That comforts a lot a people. But then, what happens if these Jews are wrong? What happens if the greater threat to Jews in America is actually from the Left, and from Democrats specifically who have often appeared to support the Left's violence in America (here), (here), (here).
Certainly, it is Democrats, not Republicans, who support the likes of (Democrats) llhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and AOC, each of whom has said some questionable things about Israel and Jews. If Biden wins, these women could well become players in the new Democrat Administration.
Do Biden-friendly Jews believe they will be safer with such individuals in positions of power? True, many in America believe that, in a Biden Administration, Jews will not be safer. But then, the people who believe this are not Democrats.
Then, there's the issue of the US's Orthodox Jews. Orthodox Jews in the US will not vote for Biden. Another recent poll says that 83% of Orthodox Jews will not vote for a Democrat. They will vote for Republican Trump in the 2020 election (here).
How can this be? Either the 70% non-Orthodox Jews who will vote Democrat are wrong, or the 83% of Orthodox who vote Trump are wrong. They can't both be right.
Remember, Democrats--and pro-Democrat advocates--seem very sure that Donald Trump is an antisemite (here). Would Orthodox Jews--so potentially sensitive to antisemitism because they are so easily identified as Jewish (how they dress and where they live)--really vote for an antisemite?
I don't think so. As a matter of human nature, most people do not generally vote for those whom they--the voter--believe hate them. So, what do US Orthodox Jews know that their non-Orthodox peers don't know--or, more likely, prefer not to see?
One answer to this question might be summed up with one word: riots.
Recall for a moment the street riots Americans saw (if they were looking) during the height of the corona pandemic during June-July-August, 2020. Most news outlets didn't report how badly some Jewish neighborhoods were attacked during these riots. The news outlets ignored those attacks.
Nevertheless, it is altogether possible that these riots, on pause now during the run-up to the election, will revive. Make no mistake. These riots have been fueled and encouraged by Democrat leaders, both local and national (here and here). If the riots renew, they could spill into residential neighborhoods. They could spill into Jewish neighborhoods.
Is it realistic to believe the riots will renew? Ask the FBI, which has already warned Jewish institutions in the US to "brace for possible violence around election day, no matter who wins" (here).
How will local, state and national Democrat leaders deal with these new riots? Will they call them "peaceful protests"--as they'd done this past summer? Will they say "protesting" is a sanctified right of of a democratic nation--and must therefore not be stopped? Will they stand in solidarity with the protesters, as they had done this past summer? Will they say any police interference in these "protests" is fascist?
We will soon find out.
The likeliest time-frame for renewed rioting in the US could be the time-period just after the election, perhaps between November 4 and November 28, 2020. For Jews, these dates are fraught with historical significance.
On November 9-10, 1939 in Germany, there occurred an event called, Kristallnacht ("the night of the broken glass) that unfolded across Germany. During the 48 hours of November 9-10,1939, violent mobs, spurred by antisemitic exhortations, plundered 7,500 Jewish businesses, homes and schools. These mobs set afire hundreds of Jewish synagogues (here), destroying them.
Looking back, this Kristallnacht marked a turning point in Nazi behavior towards Jews. After November 9-10,1939, there was shift in the way Jews were treated. Before November 9, anti-Jew activities were (according to some) primarily verbal. But after November 10, 1939, that rhetorical abuse turned to outright violence against Jews--a violence that helped prepare Germany for the Holocaust (ibid).
During November, 2020, will US Jews see their own Kristallnacht? You tell me.
In the meantime, isn't it time US Jews considered aliyah?
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