Abstract
The eminent American Reform rabbi and scholar Emil G. Hirsch of Chicago, writing an authoritative 1907 encyclopedia article on “Judaism and the Jews in the United States,” dismissed the subject of American Jewish politics in a mere nineteen words. “Politically,” he wrote “the Jews are divided. There is no solid Jewish vote. Most of the Jews have no political aspirations.”¹
Hirsch’s characterization reflects a widespread taboo concerning the subject of American Jewish politics that continues to the present day. In scholarly circles, the changing political behavior of American Jews has for the most part been ignored. Howard M. Sachar’s A