I think the reason American Jews voted for Obama is that Jews here in the USA are traditionally Democratic and not Republicans. Republicans are the "religious right" here in the USA (Fundamentalist Christians/Born Agains), and the religious right rejects things like gay marriage, abortion, and social spending programs, in favor of very strict Christian teachings that often use the Tanach to support what they believe, and how they will vote.
Alot of American Jews are more separated from their scriptures, even though they may attend religious services - many of them attend services to be cultural, but do not read the Tanach or know what it says in great depth. Many Jews admit to never reading their scriptures at all, and having no idea what they mean. I know this for a fact because all the Jews I know have told me this about themselves. Their excuses range from "I don't have time to read and study my scriptures", to "I am an Athiest and just attend Schul for my culture..." Because they do not know the details of what the Tanach teaches, they would rather embrace things that they feel injured them in recent history - things like Hitler's plan to destroy Jews because of their religion and culture; Therefore Jews in America want to stand up for support of minority groups and rights of the individual to do what they want, whether one person's religion supports it or not - in a round about way, they are hoping to build support for themselves as a minority group that one time needed help; Their value is "I will vote for whatever 'they' want now, and 'they' can support me later on when I need a vote."
Most Jews here in The States also support Democratic government sponsored social programs to help others because they have benevolent hearts and want everyone to have freedom and a nice life, and receive help when they need it - they are very good people with a big and loving heart; Many Jews here in America are very well educated and have alot of money. They want their money and their taxes to help others, and the Democrats are the party that spends money to help the poor. Republicans also do, but not so much - Republicans want low taxes and they want people to take care of themselves because they are afraid of Socialism and Marxism taking over.
But it is because of these values - helping others and permitting others to have freedom of religion and inner belief even if the belief is against the Tanach Scriptures, they feel compelled to vote for those who support freedom of thought, or those they think will support such things, and are not as concerned with what the scriptures teach.
On our ballot last November alot of issues came up that had nothing to do with Israel as a nation or the settlements there - issues that only affect people here in the states - gay marriage was a huge controversy here and there was no middle ground. For some reason, Jews support gay marriage because gays are a minority group; Jews identify with being a minority, and so support other minority groups, even if their scriptures would say otherwise. Many Jews I have spoken to would rather support gay marriage than condemn anyone for committing a sin, because they feel that is persecution, and they do not ever want to support persecution toward anyone, no matter what they do. To keep these values going, one has to vote Democratic and not Republican. The Democratic Party is our "liberal" party and supports things like abortion, gay marriage and public spending, which means that when the rubber meets the road, the Democrats will likely support any underdog group that there is, and help them do what ever they need to. That 'could' include the groups Obama is helping now - groups that are against Israel. Maybe Jews have felt persecuted in the recent past and want to support this so that if they ever need this kind of support again, it will be there for them.
In the case of Obama, I have no idea why American Jews would have voted for him if they knew in advance that he would be against Israel as a nation for the Jewish People, or against Settlements. But I do know that most secular people, no matter what their religion of origin is, 'believe' that Abrahamic Religions (Jews, Christians and Muslims) have a huge responsibility - perhaps sole responsibility - for causing world wars. I personally don't think that is true, but this is what is being "preached" to those who are not religious - it is a sermon spoken by liberals about staying away from religion because it itself is dangerous.
Most people who are secular do not even realize that Israel is very, very important in Biblical Prophecy, and that Jews need Israel to perform special tasks that G-d has assigned them to do; performing these tasks will, in turn, cause other prophecies to be fulfilled as predicted in scripture. Secular people do not realize that Israel is not political, it is religious in its existence - a plan by G-d. They just want the political problems to vanish, but don't know that the only way to make that happen is to obey G-d. They just don't "get" it.
Fundamentalist Born Again Christians in America are largely taught that Israel, when in posession by the Jews, is one of the most important things that can happen in Biblical prophecy, and as commanded by G-d. We do not question G-d, what he commanded, or why. He said to do something, so we accept it. G-d said Jews must posess Israel, so we support that. We know that only Jews should have Israel, and we figure we have the whole rest of the world, so why not let the Jews have their land. We don't mind if Jews live in America - and I am very sure that if all the Jews migrated back to Israel I would be miserable: All my doctors are Jews and they are the very best doctors I could ever have - my eye doctor, my foot doctor, to name a few - best doctors in the whole world - they really, truely care about me and my health and well-being, almost like family. We have Jews in every part of our society who are smart, fair and hard workers who never run out of energy. We need Jews here to help us and take good care of us. I have Jewish friends who I love - they are the best cooks and house keepers anyone could ever meet and inspire me to do better and try harder. They even help me when I don't know how to do things. What good friends they are to me!
You are benevolent to permit us to come visit you on vacation in Israel, and that is wonderful. But we should never want to take this away from you. If I had all power in the world, I would give you Israel and the Temple Mount, and I would pay to have your beautiful Temple rebuilt. I wish I had that kind of power. That would be the best day. I can only pray for this blessing for you. Whenever I bless you, you bless me back. I feel toward your religion/culture that you are like my sister; I would never take something valuable away from my sister, I would work to help her get and keep it. I feel this way for the Jews as well, my sister faith. My "mother" faith actually, for without your religion and culture, I would be....wow, I'd be a Pagan. That's scary and uncomfortable for me. I do not want to be a Pagan. I like knowing about the one true G-d who loves me. Pagans do not have a formal book of scriputre, so what would I read when I get sad or have problems? I would have no where to turn. It would be terrible for me.
Even knowing all of this, please do not blame American Jews for how they voted because I do not think they realized their vote would damage Israel, I really do not think this, and I wonder if they are now feeling guilty about their vote - instead work very hard to teach American Jews what the Tanach says, where the prophecies are located in it, and what these prophecies mean; and teach us Christians too - we want to know these things very much. Continue to teach American Jews the commandments that G-d expects, for these are very important things that must be done and G-d has given these duties to the Jews. It is very important to educate them and sweep their hearts away with what they need to do and believe. Without this, they will continue to support liberal politics in hopes of safety - but it is a false safety, as we now can see. One way to teach Jews these wonderful things is to hold more and more Jewish Festivals in public and invite Gentiles/the public. Once it is standard to know and believe these things, no one will question these teachings.
Right now America is going through a Religious crisis - the religion of witchcraft is the very fastest growing religion here in America, and it is under the label of "Wicca". Many people are leaving Christianity and Judaism to follow "other gods" - other beliefs, and yes idol worship is becoming popular here, especially of "the mother earth goddess". Even people who would never believe such things are questioning basic Bible beliefs and are embracing things like reincarnation, which, surprisingly is the "other side" of the abortion/euthenasia issue. If you need an abortion, no problem - the soul will be reborn in another body anyway, so go ahead and have an abortion, it is not really killing anyone. If this mentality continues, it will soon become "ok" to kill anyone who is inconvenient to society...and that brings us full circle to Hitler. I was very surprised to hear this a few months ago when a friend told me her daughter had an abortion, but not to worry, the baby would be reborn in a "next life". I had other people tell me this as well. I was very uncomfortable to hear about this because it makes killing another person "ok" - and when I think about this my blood runs cold. Yet these people will run out and preserve a baby bird egg in a nest, but will not value human life. Will these same people support death of any person and justify it with reincarnation?
To me these are dangerous beliefs that are invading America because of how these beliefs can expand and harm others; Christian America is struggling to keep memberships. But these beliefs are sweeping the country and people are leaving the Hebrew Scriptures behind for a new religion which gives them freedom from the laws of G-d, (which they think are restrictive, hard to follow, and takes away the fun from life.) Obama is apparently supporting a new political party which is very much like Marxism, and this is horrible thought to me. But many people believe it is best to "share" everything in order to "help" the earth. I do not want to be a Marxist - I do not want this here. I think Marxists may be Athiests, and I will never become an Atheist; I have to believe in the G-d of the Bible, that is the only way I can breath or live.
Anyway, Jewish Americans have lost touch with their scriptures and a deep understanding of their religion; they have traded it in for a promise that a political party will protect them, because that seems more logical to many people here in the USA.
I wonder if Obama is a Muslim, or if he is leaning toward communism in some way, or not. Look at his actions and not his words to see who he really is. One things is sure - he has been labeled "The Messiah" by many American news papers, and this is not what I want to hear. If you look at him closely, he looks much like an Egyptian Pharaoh. He is handsome and elequent, that much is true. But is he in support of the G-d of the Bible and his commandments?
Sincerely, Cynthia :)
