Why I Vote for Democrats: Jewish Values are Democratic Values

From Reuven - Cross posted at Daily Kos

Every human being is a unique individual.  We are all special.  We are all deserving of respect and dignity.  We all have the right to autonomy.  We all have a responsibility to the community, but the community also has a responsibility to all of us.  Do these Jewish values sound familiar?  They should.  These are, after all, universal values.  Regardless of our cultural heritage or our religious beliefs, we share these values.  These are common values we hold as Democrats.  That is why I am a Democrat and why I believe it so important that we vote for Democrats.

know that I have written on this before, but it does bear repeating — and I will continue to shout it at the top of my lungs so long as some continue repeating the meme that Jews are leaving the Democratic Party.  The reason we are so staunchly Democratic is because our core values are the same as those of the Democratic Party.  A few lines written or spoken by some pundits, and given excessive play in the mainstream media, does not change this fact.  It also does not change the fact that Jewish-Americans remain overwhelmingly Democratic.

Our responsibility to our fellow community members does not end the moment they leave the womb.  In fact, it only intensifies.  We have a responsibility to provide education.  We believe that every person should have a roof over their head and food on their table.  We believe that every person should be able to visit the doctor when they are ill and not worry that it will bankrupt them.  We believe that everyone is deserving of a quality education.  We believe that there is a lifelong commitment from the moment a person is born to the moment a person dies.

This commitment goes both ways.  It is not just what the community should do for the individual.  It is also the responsibility the individual has to the community.  Just as the community has a responsibility to those neediest amongst us, so too does the individual.  To answer the famous question Cain asked of G-d after he killed Abel:  Yes, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.  And being our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers includes making sure that our government remembers this fact.  There is one party that understands this and there is one party that does not.

Look back through history.  Look to when workers were fighting for the right to unionize in the early twentieth century.  Look to the Civil Rights movement.  Look to many of the members of Congress who have been among the most vocal in fighting for the rights of the poor and the working class and the oppressed.  Jewish-Americans were proudly at the forefront, joining with others because we are taught our responsibility to our fellow human beings from the moment we are born.

In Jewish tradition this is part of the concept known as Tikkun Olam — Repairing the World.  That is what I describe above.  It is recognizing, and acting upon, our commitment to the community.  It is the belief that everyone has basic needs and that for those who have difficulty meeting them we have a responsibility to help.  It is recognizing that we all breathe the same air and drink the same water.  It is recognizing that when we die, we will not be able to take our money with us — and, for those of us that are religious, it is recognizing that G-d will not reward us for any wealth we accumulate, but will instead ask us, “What good have you done with the money I gave you?”

As I wrote above, these core Jewish values are also core Democratic values.  It is why my mom taught me from an early age to be a Democrat and it is why I will teach my own children, when G-d willing I have, that same lesson.  It is because when my mom taught me core Jewish values, she was also teaching me core Democratic values; and it is because when I will teach any children I may have core Jewish values, I will be teaching them core Democratic values.

If you have read my previous work, and you have made your way through all of this, now you should understand why I vote for Democrats.