Features
As the U.S. General Election Looms, How Will American Jews Vote?
By HENRY SREBRNIK May 5, 2024 First of all, before I go any further, we should get something straight: this whole so-called debate about anti-Zionism vs antisemitism is nonsense on stilts.
Sure, especially before the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, many Jews were dubious about or even ideologically or theologically opposed to the Zionist project of recreating a Jewish state in the land of Israel. These groups ranged from various socialists on the left, such as the supporters of the Jewish Labour Bund, to haredim like the Satmar Hasidim. The latter still are, but no one thinks of them as “antisemites.”
All of this has virtually nothing to do with today’s so-called “anti-Zionists,” almost all of whom are non-Jewish antisemites making use of a word to confuse people about their desire to destroy a modern sovereign Jewish state, now more than 75 years old. (Yes, there are some misguided Jewish students involved, and the media loves them, but this is mainly a matter of ignorance and “Stockholm Syndrome.”)
Do you remember, not so long ago, that when right-wing Republicans and/or supporters of Donald Trump, made even mild criticisms of one or another Jewish politician or Jewish organization, leftwingers immediately said these were “dog whistles,” implying that this was code for antisemitism.
Now, though, when protestors parade around proudly with placards reading “F—k Zionism,” or ask Jewish students whether they are “Zionists,” this has nothing to do with wondering whether they are a member of a Zionist organization or a person who subscribes to the Jewish nationalist ideology centered on the Land of Israel. They are asking whether these people are Jewish, pure and simple.
“Zionist” has simply become a derogatory slur or abusive term for “Jew,” used by Jew-haters as a synonym, and not all that different from earlier, now archaic, versions such as “kike,” “sheeny,” or “Yid.” The animus is also directed at Hillels, synagogues, and other institutions which are Jewish, not technically “Zionist” as such. Is this really that hard to understand? And we Jews should not play their games by arguing the point.
After all, the word “antisemitism” is itself a euphemism, coined by a German Jew-hater in the 19th century, so as to appear a more “scientific” word for hating Jews. It’s not even accurate – as we know, Arabs and other peoples are also Semites, and no one who hates Jews has them in mind. Judeophobia would be a more accurate term, and we should make more use of it.
Anyhow, we also must stop trying to be “even handed” by trying to equate old-style Jew-hatred on the right with today’s versions, which are coming overwhelmingly from the left, under the rubric of “anti-Zionism.” Remember, anti-Israel demonstrations began the very next days after the Oct.7 massacres, and almost three weeks before Israel even launched its counterattack.
All this is by way of a segue to a very important matter coming our way this November: For whom will American Jews turn out in the forthcoming presidential election? We all know the statistics: For almost a century, a large majority of Jews have voted for the Democratic candidate, beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932. No Republican, including those who were victorious, came even close to capturing a majority of Jewish voters. Over the past several decades, according to data from the Pew Research Center, an average of 70 per cent of Jewish Americans consistently voted for the Democratic Party.
But October 7 has been a genuine zeitgeist shift. Even Jews blinded by an almost-religious loyalty to the party understand that it is being quite quickly captured by its far-left wing. Joe Biden may even be the last “pro-Israel” Democratic president (and he hasn’t exactly shone in that regard of late). The president himself has been unable to really condemn unequivocally and without moral relativism the outrages taking place on campuses.
I have for a long time thought that Israel shouldn’t have put all its defence needs in the U.S. basket. America is changing, demographically and ideologically, in a manner detrimental to Israel. The Democratic Party post-Biden will sooner or later be in the hands of the left-wing Congressional representatives known as the “Squad.” The protesters on the American university campuses should be called “Young Squadniks!”
The Hamas onslaught has left a mark on how Diaspora Jews look at their identity, especially in the United States. A recent survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee found that 78 per cent feel less safe since Hamas attacked Israel. “We are seeing an awakening, a heightened sense of consciousness among Jewish Americans,” asserted Steven Windmueller, professor emeritus of Jewish Communal Studies at the Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.
They now have seen how elite university campuses like Harvard, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania, many of which are heavily funded by Jewish donors, have been breeding and spreading a climate of antisemitic hate.
As apparently some 100 university campuses across the United States are aflame with anti-Israel and “anti-Zionist” fervor, and Jew-hatred has now become mainstream in Democratic politics, Jews are reconsidering many of their basic assumptions about their position in America generally and the Democratic Party specifically.
Many liberal Jewish Americans also feel betrayed by some of their alleged allies, those whose causes they had supported throughout the years, from the Civil Rights movement to Black Lives Matter activists. The left doesn’t care about antisemitism if they deem it inconvenient to their cause. They just call it “anti-Zionism” and carry on.
A few weeks ago, a sermon by Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, the senior rabbi at the Steven Wise Free Synagogue in New York delivered a stern warning to the Democrats. “Do not take American Jews for granted.”
Hirsch explained, “I have spoken to many American Jews in the past few months who have surprised me with their anxiety about developments in the Democratic Party, and their perception that it is becoming increasingly hostile to Israel, and tolerant of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism in its own ranks.”
Jewish Democratic voters who never considered voting for Republicans have been announcing that they are voting for Trump, or will stay home or vote for independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., but will never vote for Biden.
It is true that New York and California have the largest Jewish communities, and they remain firmly in the Democratic column, even if not a single Jew were to vote for them. The Jewish vote for Biden will decrease, and in the very blue states where Jews live, like California and New York, it doesn’t really matter. But four swing states –Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona — may well be decided by their large Jewish communities. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Pennsylvania, the swing state with the largest Jewish population – about 300,000 voting-age Jews — in a state President Joe Biden won by roughly 80,000 votes in 2020. (We are U.S. citizens who vote absentee ballot in Pennsylvania.)
I’m guessing that many Jews will sit it out. Of those voting, it will be hard for a lot of them to vote for Trump, constantly vilified day after day, but it may still reach 40 per cent. Still others who do vote may just leave the presidential line blank, and vote for Republicans for House and Senate seats.
I think there will be an almost perfect correlation between Jews who feel a deep attachment to the Jewish people — be it religiously, culturally, ethnically, or whatever –and voting Republican this year. For those who are Jewish mainly by “biology and genealogy” and for whom being Jewish is relatively unimportant, they are far more concerned with universal matters that now come under the rubric of terms like social justice, liberalism, diversity, inclusion, and so forth. They will come in at about 85 per cent for the Democrats. But as we don’t know the relative percentages of these two groups of Jews, predicting the overall Jewish vote for each of the two parties is difficult.
Addendum (added May 9):
Since writing this article, there have been two important developments. President Biden has said that he will in effect impose a partial arms embargo on Israel should the IDF complete the defeat of Hamas by capturing Rafah. Secondly, a number of American websites report that they have found evidence that many of the campus protests currently underway in the United States have been funded by foundations and non-profits whose money comes from wealthy donors who are supporters of Biden and numerous Democratic campaigns.
Given this, I’d revise my estimates of Jewish votes in November to predict that the overall vote for Republican candidates might exceed, for the first time in a century, 50 per cent. Even liberal Jews, typically reliable Democrats, will break at only about 75-25 per cent for Biden.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
Features
A daughter comes to terms with her father’s Holocaust experience many years later
“How to Share an Egg” by Bonny Reichert
Published by Appetite by Random House, 2025
Book Review by Julie Kirsh, former Sun Media News Research Director
Exclusive to The Jewish Post and News
Bonny Reichert writes with great compassion about her father, a Holocaust survivor. In reviewing children of survivor literature, much has been said about the need to compensate for the suffering of the Holocaust survivor. To upset parents after what they have been through, is to be avoided at all cost.
In my own survivor family, I learned that to ask questions of my parents about what happened during the war and even before the war was to cause pain. I learned not to ask, not to cause pain.
In 2015 Bonny Reichert and her family made a trip to Warsaw. The tomb of an ancestor called out to her father. The author’s great-grandfather was “a pillar of his community and a beloved scholar.” His namesake, the author’s father, was jubilant to find the headstone in the Warsaw cemetery. Afterwards the famished family found a deserted restaurant and revelled in a bowl of borscht garnished with fresh condiments. The description of this delicious meal is the reader’s introduction to the author’s moving memoir about food, love, hunger and survival. The author writes that in her family “food was connected to the meaning of life itself; an understanding woven into our very being.” The dining table was a very important place in the daily life of the family.
At age 5, the author noticed the blue-green numbers on her father’s arm. It was at this time that the father started to talk about his Holocaust experiences. By retelling his stories, the author’s father was reframing the horror into stories of bravery and triumph. In some ways, he was healing himself in the process of telling.
His daughter, the child of the survivor, tests her father’s Holocaust experience by putting a bare foot in the snow or trying to imagine unspeakable hunger. Trauma passed down the intergenerational chain has been explored in the children of the Holocaust survivors’ literature. Bonny Reichert absorbed her father’s trauma without understanding the origin of her own inherent sadness and dark feelings.
My high school years were spent going to movies, shopping and finding out about boys with my best friend, Linda. Her family, unlike my own, was a Canadian Jewish family who came to Toronto before the war. I considered Linda’s family normal and healthy. There were many aunts, uncles, cousins and even grandparents. Similarly, Cathy was the author’s best friend. In Cathy’s home there were no accents and no sad stories about tragedy and loss.
In her twenties, the author takes us through her engagement and marriage to the “right” guy. Turning down an opportunity to go to law school, staying at home with a baby, not dealing with depression was her life which she portrays poignantly in this memoir.
Most unexpectedly, she did not get the support that she needed from her father. He ignored her feelings. He saw her in the role of a traditional wife who had no outside aspirations other than to be a homemaker.
Therapy sessions helped her to take control of her life and become more aware of her authentic self. Her father was able to love her deeply and share the truths that he had learned through his Holocaust experience. However she came to understand that no one can define another person’s path. Taking journalism courses and having her voice published, helped the author’s sense of independence and self-esteem. In her late twenties, after divorcing her first husband, she married Michael, had two more children and balanced motherhood with her job as a magazine editor.
At age forty, the author enrolled in a culinary school. Conquering her unnamed fears, gave her an outlet for the energy trapped within. She learned that “being afraid is no way to live”.
In addition to exploring her personal psyche, the author writes about recreating lost recipes from before the war. The reader learns that Jews have been making cholent for many decades. Putterkuch or butter crumble cake was painstakingly recreated in her modern kitchen and taken to her father for his approval and insight into what he remembered about his mother and his childhood. Food became the trigger for buried memories.
In the final chapters of “How to Share an Egg,” the author goes on a fact finding mission to Berlin and Poland. She visited ghettos and concentration camps with a tour group.
Hedy Bohm is one of the Holocaust’s oldest survivors and was my mother’s best friend. She is the catalyst for persuading the author to conquer her lifelong fear of understanding the Holocaust survivor experience. At age eighty-four, she told her story in a German court of justice. For Hedy, this experience was validating, transforming her entire world view.
The author leaves us with food for thought. Fight the worst that history had to offer the Jews with beauty, happiness and continuation of life. Her father modelled resilience, courage and strength, allowing his daughter to choose her own response to life’s challenges.
Features
Trump Wants to Incorporate Cryptocurrencies into the Strategic Reserve
President Trump intends for digital assets like Bitcoin, Ether, and a select group of other cryptocurrencies to eventually become part of the US strategic reserve. Although the exact process remains uncertain, market trends are already reflecting increased optimism beyond the US, drawing the attention of Canadian crypto adopters. Following Trump’s recent announcement, Bitcoin experienced its highest peak of a long time, a notable recovery from its previous drastic drop just days earlier.
These developments have sparked curiosity among Canadian investors, who could reshape market trends. In initial discussions in financial circles, experts pointed out that if the trend continues on an upward trajectory, this could spur the rise of innovations such as a number of new cryptocurrency. In this context, besides investing in the common Bitcoin and Ether, it would be worth considering investing in other cryptocurrencies. Exploring new cryptocurrency investment opportunities can be challenging, but experts claim that when approached wisely, it has the potential to be highly rewarding.
On Sunday, Trump disclosed for the first time the specific cryptocurrencies that could be integrated into a newly envisioned US crypto reserve. In a statement he posted on social media, he emphasized that leading digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ether should form the core of this reserve, positioning them as essential elements in the nation’s future financial strategy. Following his announcement, President Trump not only emphasized Bitcoin but also identified other lesser-known cryptocurrencies – such as Ripple, Solana, and Cardano – as key components of his envisioned reserve. In his social media post, he declared, “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.”
Crypto prices have rallied significantly after Trump’s announcement regarding the inclusion of Bitcoin and other digital currencies in strategic discussions. This announcement has sparked both excitement and skepticism among investors. Industry experts predict that these developments will drive broader institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies across Canada. This could prove to be an influential factor in comprehensive regulatory reform and increased market stability.
Experts claim that, although vague, Trump’s promises give hope to investors worldwide. In the first few weeks of his presidency, the crypto sector did not receive the anticipated support. However, that initial disappointment seems to have transformed into renewed enthusiasm. Investopedia reports that by Monday morning, Bitcoin – after reaching a peak of about $109,000 in January and dropping last week on Trump’s announcement – had rebounded by over 8% to around $93,000. At the same time, Ether climbed roughly 7%, Solana increased by more than 13%, XRP surged over 16%, and Cardano jumped by over 50%.
Investopedia further reports that Bitcoin’s price encountered obstacles after it was confirmed that the Trump administration would proceed with its intended trade tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Investopedia further explains that investors often see tariffs as a driver of inflation. As a result, the expected interest reductions for the year of 2025 could be effectively offset, increasing pressure on volatile assets such as Bitcoin, which do not generate returns.
Investopedia notes that since 2013 Bitcoin has posted an equal number of gains and losses, making its performance hard to predict. Despite a roughly 5% drop in Bitcoin’s price since the beginning of 2025, Investopedia states that this cryptocurrency remains up approximately 25% compared to its level during the U.S. election period. This upward trend is largely driven by optimism that a Trump-led White House, along with a crypto-friendly Congress, will introduce policies that support the digital asset market.
Canadian crypto advocates see digital currencies as an opportunity to modernize everyday life. Local trading platforms are experiencing rising sales and an increase in user registrations. The recent fluctuations in cryptocurrencies have been accompanied by interest from strategic investors. Experts see the current developments as a potential turning point that could push digital financial solutions further into the spotlight for the public and politicians, which ultimately has long-term implications for Canada’s economic success. One sector that stands to gain significantly is Canada’s online gambling sector, a major contributor to the national economy.
Despite the current peak, financial experts warn of the risks. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, especially when political and economic conditions change rapidly. Investment strategies must therefore adapt to a market that is both promising and unpredictable. Experts advise newcomers to invest cautiously and keep an eye on global trends. Such trends can have a lasting impact on the Canadian market.
Although the exact structure of future reserves remains unclear, the crypto-enthusiast President Trump has taken action by ordering the creation of a digital assets task force. This group is set to determine by July whether the US government should establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Investors are on edge, closely watching the potential ripple effects this development might have on the global trading market. Meanwhile, market observers expect further crypto-focused announcements from Trump in the coming days. The first crypto summit is scheduled to take place at the White House on Friday.
Features
Leading Jewish poker players
From smoky bar-rooms in Texas to high-end casinos on the French Riviera, poker is booming across the world.
From underground games in China to Arctic villages where players bet with their ration supplies, the game has now spread across the planet’s different cultures, adapting to each one.
From online poker to a seat at an opulent casino table, the rules are simple but the strategy is deep… and that’s why it appeals to everyone.
How poker is conquering the world
In the US poker took off in the 19th century, spreading along the Mississippi River on gambling boats.
In China, variations like Dou Dizhu share poker’s competitive spirit. In Europe, poker thrives in plush casinos from London to Monaco.
Hollywood and TV have kept poker in the spotlight. From Casino Royale to Rain Man, big-screen showdowns have made the game even more glamorous.
The arrival of poker online games pushed the game even further. Today anyone with a phone can play against opponents worldwide.
Poker is about skill, risk and reading people. A strong hand isn’t always enough—you need nerve.
That’s why it remains an ultimate test of strategy and psychology. Whether played for pennies or millions, in dimly lit rooms or bright casinos, poker is a global game.
What type of player plays poker?
Poker appeals to no fixed type. Anyone can play.
Over the years, poker champions have come from every background. Old, young, rich, broke.
Men, women. Every nationality and every walk of life.
Doyle Brunson, the grizzled Texas road gambler, played through the Wild West days of poker and lived to write the book on it.
Johnny Chan, the Chinese-born master, dominated the 1980s, with his lucky orange always beside him.
Barbara Enright was the first woman to reach the WSOP Main Event final table. Vanessa Selbst, a Yale-educated lawyer, crushed high-stakes tournaments for years.
Online prodigies like Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom took on the world’s best from his computer screen.
From Arctic truckers playing in frozen outposts to Saudi businessmen gambling behind closed doors, poker appeals to every type.
It’s not about where you’re from or what you look like. It’s about how you play.
That’s why poker remains the most democratic and cosmopolitan game in the world.
The rise of Jewish Poker
Players from the Jewish community have always been a force in poker. The culture values sharp thinking, debate and strategy – perfect skills for the game.
For centuries, Jewish communities have embraced card games, from Eastern Europe to New York’s Lower East Side. The appeal is clear: poker rewards intellect over luck, skill over status.
That’s why some of the greatest players in history have been Jewish.
Take Erik Seidel. A quiet, calculating master, Seidel has nine WSOP bracelets and over $40 million in earnings.
He first made his mark in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, losing heads-up to Johnny Chan in a hand made famous by the movie Rounders. Seidel kept evolving, mastering live and online poker alike.
Stu Ungar was another legend. A fearless, aggressive genius who won three WSOP Main Events.
Ungar was raised in a tough New York neighborhood as a prodigy at gin rummy before switching to poker. His natural talent was stellar but his self-destructive lifestyle cut his career short.
Barry Greenstein, dubbed the ‘The Robin Hood of Poker,’ made millions in high-stakes cash games. Then donated much of his winnings to charity. Greenstein’s calm, disciplined style made him a feared opponent on poker tables everywhere.
Or how about Vanessa Selbst, the highest-earning female player in history? She was a fierce competitor with an aggressive style. Selbst dominated tournaments and made history by winning three WSOP bracelets in her career.
These players and many other success stories show how Jewish culture, with its love of wit, argument and mental agility, has always found a natural home at the poker table.
Poker can be played by everyone
Jewish players like these have left a deep mark on poker.
The game rewards intelligence, strategy, and psychological insight – traits valued in Jewish culture. From Erik Seidel’s quiet precision to Stu Ungar’s raw talent, players from the community have shaped the game at every level.
Whether in smoky backrooms or high-stakes tournaments, they’ve benefited from their sharp minds and fearless play.
But poker belongs to no single group. It thrives in every culture.
In China, card games with poker-like strategy have existed for centuries. In Russia, cold, calculated players dominate the online scene.
In Brazil, an energetic new poker generation is making waves. From Arctic villages to African casinos, the game is adapting to the modern world.
Poker’s appeal is universal. It’s not about where you’re from, but how you play.
Bluffing, reading opponents, taking risks – these are human instincts.
That’s why poker will remain the world’s greatest card game. It speaks a language that everyone understands.
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