Does Sarah Palin Know Any Jews?

The Alaska Jewish population is 3,425. 3,425. There are more Jews at Zabar's this morning than live in Alaska. Let me ask you a question: how many of those Jewish people in Alaska do you think Sarah Palin has met, talked to, encountered?

You can tell me that Sarah Palin has met other Jews in her travels, but she has not traveled. Not only has she hardly traveled abroad, even though she can see Russia from her window, but she has hardly traveled domestically.

So, I am asking, how many Jews do you think Sarah Palin has met? Literally. 10? Two?
One of the reasons Sarah Palin is so frightening is because her frame of reference appears to be so narrow. It would be one thing if she worked in Alaska but traveled extensively to get to know the country or the world. But she has chosen not to - which is her choice, and I respect it. Except for the fact that she wants to possibly run the country, and I am a citizen of this country, and Sarah Palin does not know people who share my background.

Another reason Palin is so scary is because not only has she not traveled, but she does not seem in the least bit curious. She may or may not read; it's hard to get a straight answer from her. She only seems to read back what's written for her, so it's hard to tell what she really thinks or really knows. If you're from a small state, far from the rest of the country, and you hardly read or travel, does that seem like a person you'd want representing you in the White House? Or does that seem like someone who, I don't know, should educate themselves in America before they try to represent America?

By the way, it's not as if Alaska is filled with African-Americans, either. 3.5% of the state's population is black. How many African-Americans are buddies with Sarah Palin?

In a couple of weeks, I'm headed to a Jewish Center to speak as a surrogate for the Obama campaign. A McCain campaign surrogate will speak, too. A few weeks ago, I was worried about how the Jewish population was reacting to Obama. There is an enormous paranoia about Obama in the Jewish community. I've seen it at Temples, I've read it in emails, I've heard it first-hand. The fear of the unknown Obama is very disconcerting. Some of it has actually been pretty disgusting.

McCain was doing well with the Jews. I heard it when I was home in Long Island a couple of weeks ago - a sense that maybe McCain was safer. I've heard it when I've met with people in Los Angeles, concerned about Israel. Maybe Obama doesn't get it. But I've also heard from these same people that while they thought McCain may have been the safer choice, and maybe Obama does not get it, now, they think McCain is the bigger risk. Because of Palin. One person said to me that after the Georgia crisis, he was going to go McCain because McCain seemed safer on foreign policy. But when McCain picked Palin, he thought, "Are you kidding? What does this woman know about me?"

As a Jew, I don't expect a candidate for our nation's highest office to surround himself with Jews. I do, however, expect that they'd encountered a few along the way. And I believe Sarah Palin fails that most basic test.

Comments

[vreeseque]

I am glad someone finally mentioned this. She not only does not have a worldview which is dangerous for a VP or Prez. But she doesn't even have a US view. Alaska has no diversity so she will not know how to handle a diverse nation nor would she have a diverse administration.

[H2Opolomom]

The question should also be asked what the members of the Jewish community think of Palin.

Watch this video - it tells all about Obama and Jewish support and his interaction with the Jewish community:

http://my.barackobama.com/JFOvideo

She is completely clueless and extremely dangerous.

[Moose49]

"Sure, I know the Jews. They're the ones that were chosen by God to, ya know, be the chosen folks. The Joe-Manischevitz salt a the earth types. They eat those funny crackers around Easter time. And I feel sorry for 'em 'cause they don't got the Christmas trees that we like to hand cool stuff on. Instead, they got some holiday that sounds like someone clearing their throat. Maybe they just got asthma or somethin'. Anyway, I got these talkin' points here and they say I gotta say how much I love Israel 'cause that's where Jeebus lived and all, so I must love the Jews 'cause I love Israel."

[dct1999]

Pure comedy, LMAO!

[robiform]

Moose, has anyone from "Saturday Night Live" contacted you yet? You could write next week's sketch for Tina Fey!!

[Moose49]

"Lotsa Jews come from Russia. You can see Russia from Alaska. So I'm an expert in Jewishry."

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Honorary Huffpick!

[USA1776]

I have been wondering that since she became a candidate. Beyond Jews, does sarah Palin know any Black, Hispanic or gay people? Republicans "tolerate" minorities. Democrats celebrate diversity!

[Cowboylove]

On this weeks Meet the Press, McCain was said ot be a racist of anti-Semite, even though he spent years on a board that promoted a racist and anti-Semitic agenda in America. He is not a racits even though he actively opposed a MLK holiday for six years.

Sarah Palin is not an anti-Semite, because she just loves Israel, even though she believes all Jews will go to hell and has said Terrorism is God's way of punishing Jews for not accepting Christ as their "personal" savior. It amazes me that we never question these things with conservatives, no matter what the evidence against them.

John McCain grew up quite privileged in the 1930s. The privileged class in the 1930s fought against unemployment insurance, social security, publicly funded college education, health care for the poor and aged. McCain has not abandoned those values. It would be wise for all americans who do not fit McCain's $5,000,000 middle class income threshold to remember, McCain has NEVER supported any bill that aids the under $250,000 a year income real middle class. He never will.

[craigary]

I think Gov Palin did see an episode of Seinfeld once, if I'm not mistaken. Does that not count? She saw it on the plane back from her "trip to Europe."

Btw, I think it a little sad that took her nomination to swing a lot of older Jewish voters (my people!) away from McCain, but so be it.

[Moose49]

Sarah Palin: "But I also want to clarify, if there's any kind of suggestion at all from my answer that I would be anything but tolerant of adults in America choosing their religion, choosing the God that they deem best for themselves, you know, I am tolerant and I have a very diverse family and group of friends and even within that group you would see some who may not agree with me on this issue, some very dear friends who don't agree with me on this issue.

"But in that tolerance also, no one would ever propose, not in a McCain-Palin administration, to do anything to prohibit, say, people from wearing funny caps and not believing in, ya know, the Christ that's Jesus.

"And doggone it, I know a Jew, that Joe Lieberman, and say it is so, Joe, he's a heckuva Jew and he loves me and says that God blesses me even though he's going to burn in the end of days."

[FCBarca]

Talk about irrelevant point....2­% of America is Jewish, so what?...2% of America represents a national concern?..­.I'm not backing Palin but her encountering much less knowing 2% of the population is completely irrelevant

[PDinCA]

The point isn't just that 2%. It's all the other 2%s she knows nothing about. All 50 of them. :)

[wandering girl]

I am presuming that the point of Mr. Littman's article is Jews who identify as Jews on the basis of ethnicity or religion. that Ms. Palin may have Jewish ancestors in no way equates to actually knowing anyone who identifies as a Jew. and I would hazard a guess that Ms. Palin, as a result of her theology, conflates all Jews with Israel. of course she supports Israel, because biblical prophecy says that Israel figures prominently in the End Days. oh, and of course by then all Jews will have converted to Christianity, thereby precipitating the Rapture. but individual Jews? nah, unless they're donors to the Republican Party.

[Lafemme1]

I hate to kill the premise of this piece, but is the author not aware that Sarah, while being a Christian fundamentalist, is Jewish by heritage? A friend sent me this today, from wikihow:

"Sarah Palins mother (Sally Sheigam) was of Lithuanian Jewish heritage and so were both of her mothers parents (Louise Sheigam and Shmuel Sheigam). Her father Chuck Heath can also be considered of Jewish blood because his mother, Beatrice Coleman, was of Jewish decent. http://newsfromthewest.blogspot.com/2008/09/is-sarah-palin-jew.htmlFurther information on Governor Palin's ancestors can easily be found in the vital records in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives in Vilnius. http://www.archyvai.lt/ The Archives holds birth, marriage, divorce, and death records for the Lithuanian Jewish community from 1851 until 1915 when the Jews were required to leave the country because of World War I. They are in 18th Century Cyrillic script and Yiddish Many of these records include the mother's maiden name and town of registrati­on."

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Sarah_Palin_jewish

This is pretty specific and detailed and if true only proves that you cannot label a person's political position based solely on their ethnicity or heritage. I'm black and learned that a long time ago.

[dbartenstein]

I am 25% Jewish by heritage (my father's mother), but I knew very little about Jews or their culture until I married one.....

[Cowboylove]

There are many full blooded Jews who are curiously anti-Semitic, just as there are homosexuals who hate gay people, Larry Craig and Lindsay Graham to name a few.

[miriamac]

How dare you. Craig and Graham are not homosexuals. In fact both of them behave as if they haven't been any kind of sexuals in years.

[DB55]

You'd better get a better source than wiki.answers.com. Anyone can put anything there, and who knows who posted this one.

Wikipedia lists Palin's mother's name as "Sarah Sheeran", not Sheigam. According to Irish Forums, Palin's mother's family is full-blooded Irish and migrated from Ireland to the US in the mid-1800s:

http://www.sceala.com/phpBB2/irish-forums-24699.html

[my2cnts]

has sarah palin encountered any jews?

the scariest answer is she has, probably, encountered "1" jew(black, gay, 'fill in the blank', etc), and bases her opinion on '1" person)... she has had such a limited life... and, even worse, doesn't seem to have read extensively!