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November 5, 2004/Cheshvan 21 5765, Vol. 57, No. 10
Jews cast coveted votes, choose Kerry
JTA STAFF
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
PHILADELPHIA - In the leafy Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd, Amy Feldman stood in line, two young children clutching at her waist, ready to cast her vote for U.S. president.
"I'm voting for George Bush because he's stronger on Israel and that's my No. 1 issue," said the 35-year-old attorney on Nov. 2.
But Feldman appeared to be a minority - not only among Jews interviewed at two polling stations in Mont-gomery County, Pa., one of the Philadelphia suburban regions deemed critical to winning the coveted 21 electoral votes in the swing state of Penn-sylvania, but among Jewish voters across the United States.
Although Jews make up a small percentage of the overall U.S. vote, many of the states seen as crucial in the election - Florida and Ohio, as well as Pennsylvania - have signi-ficant Jewish populations.
Both campaigns spent un-precedented resources to target Jewish voters.
The president has made a concerted attempt to woo the Jewish vote, hoping to improve on the 19 percent he garnered against Al Gore in 2000. But despite his best efforts, Jews appeared once again to be overwhelmingly backing a Democrat, this time Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
For Efrat Aharonowich, a New Yorker in her mid-40s, deciding who to support was a tough call.
"I was considering Bush because of his fondness for Israel, but I thought that overall, for the direction of this country, I had to vote for Kerry," said Aharonowich, who has dual U.S.-Israeli citi-zenship.
"On the one hand I want Bush for Israel, but on the other hand, as an American, I want Kerry to win. But if it is Bush, I think I'll be happy."
But for lifelong Democrat Jack Lichtenstein, the choice was easy.
"I didn't need another Messiah. I didn't need some-body who speaks to God to make decisions about my country," said the 81-year-old resident of New York's Upper West Side, who pulled the lever for Kerry on Nov. 2.
Bush's strong belief in the role of religion in public life was only one of the issues that motivated many Jewish voters: the war in Iraq, Israel's security and domestic con-cerns also ranked at the top of many voters' priorities for the next president.
Meryl Gindin of suburban Philadelphia is a staunch Democrat and Kerry sup-porter.
"I'm opposed to the war and all the spending abroad; we need to focus our energy at home - on jobs and health care," said the 46-year-old local Democratic committeewoman as she stood watch over her local polling station, a home for seniors, as she does every election.
Several Jews interviewed said the future make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court was a factor in their decision. The next president is likely to be in the position to appoint some new justices to a court that has been virtually split on cases related to abortion rights and church-state separation, issues that many Jews care about.
Kerry will "protect our court system," said Ariella Reback of the Pepper Pike suburb of Cleveland.
Cleveland stockbroker Don Jacobson, who described him-self as "generally a con-servative Republican," decided about three months ago that he would cast his vote for Kerry.
"I can't live with the way Bush is handling Iraq," he said.
The Republicans had been seen as making inroads among Orthodox Jews, and anecdotal evidence in Milwaukee bore that out.
For Rabbi Moshe Gilden, a scholar at the Milwaukee Kollel Center for Jewish Studies, one important set of issues in the election was morality.
Speaking just after morn-ing minyan at Congregation Beth Jehudah, the 28-year-old said he believes Bush "will uphold morality in this country" because the presi-dent opposes gay marriage and abortion.
Contributing to this report were JTA Editor Lisa Hostein, JTA Managing Editor Michael Arnold, JTA Staff Writers Rachel Pomerance and Chanan Tigay and Online Editor Andy Neusner. Also contributing were the Cleveland Jewish News, the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, JTA correspondent Tom Tugend in Los Angeles, the Washington Jewish Week, the Jewish Press of Omaha and the New Jersey Jewish Standard. JTA Staff Writer Peter Ephross wrote the story.
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