If you're like me, then it seems as if life in our modern world is massively complex, busy, full of stress and half a million things to accomplish - almost every day. It's easy to cruise on inertia. We don't have the time to examine to see if all is as it used to be; if changes are in place so that we ought to change how we've been handling a variety of issues.
Sometimes, however, we need to examine. What was once excellent may not be so now; what once worked and was in line with our values and aspirations may now be way out of line.
So it is for many Jews and their historical politics ... Jews like Sheldon Adelson.
When members of the Democratic Party booed the inclusion of God and Jerusalem in their party platform this year, I thought of my parents.
They would have been astounded.
The immigrant family in which I grew up was, in the matter of politics, typical of the Jews of Boston in the 1930s and '40s. Of the two major parties, the Democrats were in those days the more supportive of Jewish causes.
It therefore went without saying that we were Democrats. Like most Jews around the country, being Democrat was part of our identity, as much a feature of our collective personality as our religion.
So why did I leave the party?
My critics nowadays like to claim it's because I got wealthy or because I didn't want to pay taxes or because of some other conservative caricature. No, the truth is the Democratic Party has changed in ways that no longer fit with someone of my upbringing.
As a person who has been able to rise from poverty to affluence, and who has created jobs and work benefits for tens of thousands of families, I feel obligated to speak up and support the American ideals I grew up with—charity, self-reliance, accountability. These are the age-old virtues that help make our
communities prosperous. Yet, sadly, the Democratic Party no longer seems to value them as it once did. That's why I switched parties, and why I'm now giving amply to Republicans.
Although I don't agree with every Republican position—I'm liberal on several social issues—there is enough common cause with the party for me to know I've made the right choice.
It's the choice that, I believe, my old immigrant Jewish neighbors would have made. They would not have let a few disagreements with Republicans void the importance of siding with the political party that better supports liberal democracies like Israel, the party that better exemplifies the spirit of
charity, and the party with economic policies that would certainly be better for those Americans now looking for work.
Are you cruising on inertia? Do the Republicans in reality better represent the majority of your values and goals than the Democrats? If so - then perhaps your vote on Tuesday shouldn't be on auto pilot....
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