Now we hope that America can be America again
V I WAS on a Zoom call with a group of dear friends with whom I regularly pray and study text on Saturday morning when phones starting pinging and the streets outside many a Manhattan apartment were suddenly filled with cheering dancers and pot-banging elation. We smiled and wept along with them.
In the days since then, Joe Biden’s popular vote margin and his Electoral College count have grown. It is often said that American Jews are like all Americans — only more so. That certainly is true when it comes to the outcome of this election, in which once again, the vast majority of American Jews supported the Democratic ticket.
The liberal group J Street said its exit polls show that 77% of Jews voted for Biden; the Republican Jewish Coalition put it at 60.6%. Non-partisan experts estimate that the actual number was around 70%.
Of course, that leaves roughly 30% of Jewish voters who favored four more years of Donald Trump. I know that I should try and understand why: the unwavering support for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the brokered agreements with Gulf nations, perhaps. Or the massive tax cuts that (temporarily) juiced the economy. Or his tough stands on immigration.
But honestly, I cannot understand how anyone who embraces Jewish values and respects Jewish history could have voted for that man. His shameless mendacity, his wanton disregard for American norms and institutions, his refusal to condemn white supremacy, his dismissal of science during a deadly pandemic and his narcissist unwillingness to take responsibility for the suffering of his own people — the list truly can go on — are antithetical to Jewish values and indeed to any faith tradition that elevates truth, compassion and the pursuit of justice.
It is no surprise, then, that most Jews supported Biden. He worships American institutions and norms, condemns hatred and bigotry, prioritizes science and facts, exudes competence, and is a mensch. Stories abound of his kindness and empathy, and this way of being in the world will shape his presidential policies, politics and diplomacy.
We want to see these traits in a leader. That massive sigh of relief you heard when the election was finally called was not simply a response to Trump’s eventual departure. It was a belief, tinged with an anxious hope, that with
Biden in the White House, America will be America again, for Jews and everyone else. That the tolerant, optimistic, trustworthy, intelligent, inclusive side of our personality will shine through again, drowning out the viciousness and cruelty of the last four years.
Biden faces enormous challenges so obvious that they aren’t worth enumerating.
Whether he can succeed against a recalcitrant opposition while keeping his own fractious party together is anyone’s guess. But for the moment, there is deep gratitude that America stepped back from the brink.
And one more thing: For the first time in our history, we will have a female vice-president — a woman of color, a daughter of immigrants, and someone with the good sense to marry a nice Jewish man. How can that not be good for the Jews?
It is no surprise that most Jews supported Biden’
Jane Eisner is director of academic affairs at Columbia Journalism School