Here’s a political question nobody’s talking about these days: with conspiracy theories running rampant in the Arab world and elsewhere in the wake of the September 11 attacks, what would it be like if Joe Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, were now the vice-president? I won’t hazard a guess on that, but it’s something to ponder while reading a new volume perfect for political junkies, Jews in American Politics (Rowman & Littlefield). A product of the Solomon Project, a nonprofit group whose charge is "to educate American Jews about Jewish civic involvement," the book includes an introduction by Lieberman, a series of scholarly essays on Jews in American life, an all-but-mandatory encyclopedia of Jewish politicians, and several databases vital to political addicts, such as lists of "Jews Holding Statewide Constitutional Offices," "Jewish Mayors of Major Cities," and "Jewish Voting Patterns."

Ira Forman, director of the Solomon Project and co-editor of the book with L. Sandy Maisel, says the September 11 attacks have made the tome more relevant. "Like other Americans, but even more so, American Jews realize how fragile our democratic institutions are and how they must be nurtured and protected," says Forman. "They understand it’s not just about parochial interest. Political involvement means nurturing American democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. All the things that Al Qaeda hates."

The book also has a Boston angle. David Shribman, the Washington bureau chief of the Boston Globe, penned a prologue, "The Lieberman Candidacy," and a chapter on "The Future of Jews in American Politics." Deep in the book’s indices, readers find that Jews have been mayors of New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore, and even St. Paul, Minnesota. (N.B.: not Boston.) And in the book’s section of biographical profiles, readers can find entries as diverse as William Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, Gloria Steinem, a "feminist leader," Samuel Gompers, a 19th-century labor leader, and Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist and member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. For Boston references, see US Supreme Court associate justice Louis Brandeis, Congressman Barney Frank, Republican political consultant Arthur Finkelstein of Ipswich, Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman, and Worcester’s own Abbie Hoffman.

I know what I’ll be reading this winter.

Issue Date: November 22 - 29, 2001

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