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Jews in the tea party? You betcha!
In fact, the key person behind the Bay Area branch of the right-wing populist movement is Sally Zelikovsky, a Jewish resident of San Rafael.
Her involvement belies what one might expect from a bloc of people that traditionally lines up behind liberal and Democratic causes. After all, Jewish Americans aren’t apt to latch onto a socially conservative, God-and-country movement that has emerged from the right wing of the political spectrum — right?
Wrong, Zelikovsky proclaims. And beyond the Jews actively involved in the tea party, she says, are many other Jews who are ideologically on board even though they are reluctant to openly express those kinds of political viewpoints.
Zelikovsky’s personal road to supporting limited government, individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, lower taxes and free markets at all levels of government — in other words, the tea party movement — occurred as part of a gradual political transformation that took her from being a Democrat to a Republican.
As a Jewish resident of strongly liberal Marin County, she experienced a few bumps and jostles along the way, never feeling that her conservative views were welcome in her own backyard. But she eventually emerged as the coordinator of the tea party in the Bay Area and founded the movement’s local arm, the Bay Area Patriots.
“I knew that this was a liberal area, but I had no idea what I was in store for,” says Zelikovsky, 50, who spent three years as a New York City litigator after earning advanced degrees from Northwestern University Law School and Columbia University. She’s now a stay-at-home mother of three.
“You get older, you have kids, you get involved with the kids … Everything sort of starts snowballing,” Zelikovsky says in an interview in her suburban home. “I was trying to figure out where I fit.”
The puzzle pretty much snapped into place after she and her husband, Alex, moved to Marin 12 years ago. Wherever she went, from participating at school board meetings to listening to others at her synagogue, she began to feel a “visceral hatred” for her point of view.
That realization galvanized her into action. About five years ago, Zelikovsky began inviting fellow conservatives to her home for salon-like discussions, “so we could have a place to talk about issues, and do so freely … without fear of being ridiculed, marginalized and maligned.”
From there emerged the Bay Area Patriots — described on its website as “a nonpartisan, grassroots organization … whose beginnings were founded in the Tea Party movement of 2009.”
Zelikovsky is a blur of political activity: A prolific writer of opinion pieces, largely for the conservative online magazine American Thinker, she keeps the Patriots’ website current, organizes rallies and other tea party events, speaks to conservative groups and serves as a spokesperson when Bay Area media outlets seek a local tea party voice.
Among her admirers are staunch Republicans Bob and Ilene Meyers of Larkspur. “We’re very proud of her as a Jew and conservative leader,” states Irene, 70, a retired public school teacher and principal who serves as second vice president of Marin Republican Women.
The Meyerses are ardently pro-Israel and adhere to the AIPAC model of supporting candidates who support the Jewish state. Bob notes that they have made financial donations to Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and other Democrats, strictly due to their pro-Israel stances.
But make no mistake about it: They are both Republicans who are now drawn to the tea party. Why? The Republican Party has “lost its way a little bit in the last 10 to 15 years,” says Bob, 75, a scientist who was a post-doctoral fellow at Caltech, has written or edited 12 scientific books and holds more than 20 chemical patents (and who still works out of his home and a local coffeehouse).
Moreover, two tea party tenets — supporting Israel and reducing the size of government — are “a major thrust of everything we do,” Bob says. “You won’t find a stronger group for Israel. It’s very easy to be pro-Israel and pro-American through the tea party.”
And through the Republican Party, as well, the Meyerses say. They take comfort in their estimation that most of the current candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are friends of Israel, as does Lisa Cohen of Menlo Park.
Cohen says the second intifada (the Palestinian uprising that erupted in September 2000) triggered her ramped-up pro-Israel activism and distanced her from the Democratic Party she once supported. Now she is a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition and a strong supporter of the local chapter of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
And, she adds, “The people are so pro-Israel.”
Cohen believes there is more Jewish support for the tea party than one might think. “I know there are [Jews in the movement],” she says, “but not everybody is willing to come out as a tea party person. They’re afraid of being ostracized.”
Masha Merkulova of Redwood City isn’t afraid to show her tea party colors. A member of Congregation Beth Jacob on the Peninsula and the leader of a local teen club for unaffiliated Jewish boys, she openly aligns with many tea party positions.
A former Democrat whose friends used to call her “a bleeding heart liberal,” the Soviet émigré says she began learning more about Israel and discovering her Jewish identity when she came to the United States with her family at age 18.
“I began moving more and more to the center, and probably now to the right,” says the 37-year-old, who has a hearty respect for Zelikovsky.
“Most people are very surprised when they find out the founder of the Bay Area movement is Jewish, a mom,” Merkulova, an obstetrics nurse, says. “She is absolutely unique. And it’s good. Jews have always been movers and shakers.”
Merkulova acknowledges it’s not easy being a Jewish conservative in the Bay Area. But the more that Jews show their faces, perhaps minds will change, she hopes. “We’re not scary. We’re not crazy.”
Still, changing minds might take some time. In one of her online pieces in 2009, Zelikovsky pointed to the “onslaught of ridicule and vilification” she experienced after the election of President Barack Obama, when she tried “to have civil conversations with Democrats” and felt brushed aside.
She implies that discomfort led her and her family to leave Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon, where they had been members. Though she gives the congregation credit for letting her put an ad in the synagogue bulletin seeking fellow Jewish conservatives (“I got eight to 10 responses,” she says), she says she found the atmosphere “[too] ideologically driven” which was “wrong, wrong, wrong.”
“It is a problem in Marin County when you’re a Jewish conservative,” Zelikovsky charges. “There’s a lot of preaching from the pulpit that’s liberal — without regard to people sitting in the congregation.”
This past year, her family began worshipping at Chabad of Mill Valley.
And her Jewish values mesh just fine with tea party causes, says Zelikovsky, who grew up in a Reform household and sent her children to the San Rafael campus of Brandeis Hillel Day School. “Conservatives tend to embrace individual responsibility, charitable giving … and I can say with total confidence [that] the Israel love among tea party people is huge.”
The Meyers, who belong to Reform Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, are well aware of their minority status in the Marin Jewish community and the domestic Jewish community at large.
Whereas they are comfortably outspoken among their Republican friends, and they had no problem attending a breakout session on the tea party at this year’s national AIPAC conference, elsewhere they avoid political discussions.
Says Bob Meyers: “There is very little sharing of politics with our Jewish friends. They get angry. We get angry.”
Cohen, on the other hand, openly shares her views. Her self-described “politically incorrect SUV” sports Sarah Palin and National Rifle Association bumper stickers, and she sometimes wears a T-shirt emblazoned with U.S. and Israeli flags.
“I just feel that there are a lot of my brethren who are closing their eyes to facts.”
Those facts, as the tea party sees them, include a federal government that is overspending, overtaxing and over-regulating. It’s domestic issues such as those, beyond the tea party’s pro-Israel stance, that have driven some Jews to support the movement.
This past April, Steven Windmueller of Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles released a study that confirmed the Pew findings that tea party values resonate with about 15 percent of Jews.
Using a cohort of 2,300 Jewishly engaged voters, Windmueller’s study found that men (51 percent) were more likely than women (31 percent) to find the tea party “refreshing” rather than “alarming,” as were 45 percent of voters in their 60s versus 20 percent of voters in their 20s. Just as religiously conservative Americans in general support the tea party message, so did 67 percent of the Orthodox respondents in Windmueller’s study, versus 20 percent of the nondenominational and Reconstructionist Jews he surveyed.
In a September post on his website, the Wind Report, Windmueller wrote, “The Jewish vote is more complex than the media often describes.”
For example, on the issue of gun control, the media often writes that a majority of American Jews are anti-gun. Yet there is a sizeable number of Jews, such as Cohen, a card-carrying member of the NRA, who are pro–Second Amendment — a common tea party sentiment.
A Jew-by-choice who converted at the age of 15, Cohen grew up in “shoot ’em up Texas,” she says, and attended Texas A&M, “just like [Rick] Perry,” her favorite for the Republican presidential nomination.
“If you don’t want a gun, don’t have one,” she says, dismissing government regulation as unnecessary and intrusive. Cohen owns and has used firearms.
Gay marriage? That’s a state issue, not a federal one, she says, adding that she has “family members who are gay.” Abortion? That’s a states’ rights issue, too, she says.
Labor unions? A property appraiser for the County of San Mateo, Cohen belongs to the Service Employees International Union and is not happy about it. “I am not in favor of the SEIU.”
Her views on many social issues lie far to the right of mainstream U.S. Jewish thinking. And why are so many Jews liberal? “I feel like we’ve gotten too soft and we care too much about being liked,” she posits.
The Meyerses are also sour on unions, even though Ilene was once a member of a teachers union. The couple says that unions were “absolutely necessary” before World War II, but have served their purpose.
In summing up tea partiers’ opinions on unions, Zelikovsky paints a moderate picture. “We’re not anti-union,” she says, but “public pensions are bankrupting states, municipalities and cities.” She adds that unions are in bed with Democrats and “out in full force with the Occupy movement, which is problematic.”
And in summing up tea partiers in general, she says, “We are people with families. We drink the water. We breathe the air. We eat the food … We are not anti-environment, but we do have a different approach.” Tea party supporters favor “minimal government intrusion and maximum freedom,” she says. “It’s a balance that we are looking to achieve in society.”
As for abortion: “We don’t go there,” Zelikovsky states. “Why do I have to take on abortion or gay rights when there are so many other issues?”
Zelikovsky, who says she has thought of running for office someday, hasn’t decided whom to support in the Republican primaries. Though she hosted a fundraiser breakfast for Michele Bachmann in September, she says she would do that “for almost all of the [Republican] candidates.”
One thing is for sure: She has crossed Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) off her list. “I would have a hard time with him for his foreign policy and his stance on Israel,” she says.
Merkulova feels the same way. “Israel is sort of my litmus test” when considering candidates, she says. “I would look very carefully on where they stand on foreign policy.”
Ilene and Bob Meyers are backing Mitt Romney. They liked Sarah Palin, and then they liked Herman Cain, “but we have to be practical,” Ilene says.
“When you try to steer the ship through water,” Bob says, “you don’t make any hard left or right.”
I am happy to know that there are more conservative Jews! Yeay for Sally and all the people who were profiled in the article. Too bad that Beth really have no understanding nor appreciation of Judaism,- otherwise she would have been proud of the fellow Jews who have the balls to stand for the truth.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownThe DNC they’ve worked so long and hard for has abandoned them while failing it’s own constituencies, which are now officially the bottom and top 1%...[literally, the country club members and their ball fetchers/servants]...while Obama is heckled by Occupy-ers as he solicits campaign donations from the top 1%..(note: occupy miami leader recently (nov 25) revived the “Go back to the oven” phrase).
The working class spinal column of America is now the true underdog, officially abandoned for the 2012 election.
The best thing CA voters can do is vote the Left out of Sacramento. It would be nice to decimate the moniker, “Left Coast”.
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/11/29/obama-to-abandon-white-working-class/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203802204577066640654042360.html
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownOffering a different perspective - as a tea party member/activist, and nonJewish, I was so pleased to read the wonderful article which includes personal friends of mind who work tirelessly to make a positive difference! I am so sorry to see “Bethy” feels embarassed, but understand that is precisely what these wonderfully brilliant Jewish-Tea Partiers are fighting against. Being involved in the Jewish community all too often we see such stagnation when it comes to opening up hearts & minds to see what is really beneficial to people, and that is, of course, less government, more opportunities to use our God-given gifts & talents. Government doesn’t help people—people help people. It is proved time and again that people who know and love God reach out in greater numbers to lift up and support one another. Think about Katrina..who is there, still to this very day, helping rebuild..that’s right Christians and churches of other faiths. Their government did NOTHING to help! There’s something very positive in reconsidering your views on the principals behind the Tea Party movement.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownLimited government, individual liberty, fiscal responsibility, lower taxes and free markets… touché! These are the principles on which our beloved country was founded on, and pillars on which it stands today. As Jew, who immigrated from the Soviet Union, I can tell you what big government, redistribution of wealth, national health care, etc. will bring. No need to subject this great country to this ridicules experiment… I will tell you how it ends. I know, I lived it!! Moreover, how can any Jew that loves Israel support the current administration and its policies? Telling Bibi to go back to pre-1967 boarders, are you kidding me? Upshot, I was moved by this article. Tea Party-on. We need more people like Sally. Thanks you J Weekly for publishing it.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownThis comment exemplifies all that is wrong w/ the average Jew’s perception of conservatives, tea partiers and republicans. Statistics actually demonstrate that conservatives give more to charity (tzedakah) in terms of time and money than liberals. See Arthur Brooks. If you ever took the time to talk (not yell at) a conservative maybe you would know that conservatives just believe the private sector, that is private giving and faith based organizations, do a better job of feeding the hungry, helping the poor, providing opportunities for the downtrodden than the inefficient, corrupt programs run by the government. To wit, Bill Gates has done more to vaccinate the world’s children than the UN has accomplished in decadese and billions of dollars later. Yes, we all believe in paying taxes and providing a safety net for those who fall on hard times. But most of all, we believe in TRULY EMPOWERING people to take care of themselves, realize their potential without becoming a drone or slave of the government. You shouldn’t be embarrassed. We believe in healing the world, giving to others, doing to others as we would have done unto ourselves, living by the golden rule, etc…taking in the stranger, but we just don’t see the government as the solution to the problems and frankly, if you want to bring Jewish teaching into it, neither did G-d. G-d charged each one of us w/ living by the 10 commandments. G-d didn’t appoint a government to force us to do certain things. Prayer, repentance and charity will get one inscribed in the book of life, no? It is supposed to come from within each of us. We are supposed to take care of each other. Conservatives believe very strongly in that. WE don’t want a large, bossy gov’t telling us what to do all the time. We believe in the power of the individual to make good choices and live w/ the consequences of bad choices, always with the chance for improvement in one’s life, acceptance and lessons learned from our mistakes. If you are embarrassed it should be that you have such a limited understanding of conservatism and not only would write such a comment, but actually believe it.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownThis is the first information of its kind I’ve yet read or heard of, on the Internet or anywhere else, which tells us all we need to know about the MSM.
Bethy, I’m sure you are a very nice lady, but your worldview reflects exactly the mindset that caused Jews to obediently go to the gulags and concentration camps likle mooing herd animals. Your belief in collectivism and central government control of and interference with people’s lives only contributes to the subjugation of the whole American population, not just Jews. Jews in America have, rightly or wrongly (and I believe that it’s rightly) been associated with Bolshevik immigrants whose culture in NYC spawned the traiterous Rosenbergs, and meddling retirees to South Florida, who bring their poisonous collectivism here and gnaw at our liberties like termite larvae in the woodwork.
It is exhilirating to discover that 15% of American Jews have finally realized why G-d repeatedly admonished them for being “a stiff-necked people” and have seen the light. Having been raised as a conservative Jew in Pennsylvania, I deeply appreciate my people’s growing enlightenment, and I pray that it continues until all vestiges of that suicidal historical mindset have been excised from the Jewish body politic.
Never again. For ANYBODY.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownIt seems impossible that Bethy read the same article I just read and came to the conclusion she did. There is nothing “un Jewish” about the conservative views expressed in the article. With all due respect to Bethy, my conclusion is that Bethy must reside somewhere deep in the asteroid belt. No way Bethy lives in the same world we do.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownMy wife and I are proud to be part of the Marin Tea Party Movement under the leadership of Sally Zelikovsky. While neither my wife or I are of Jewish heritage, we are both Christians and fully understand how truly important we are to each other, given the current state of the politics around the world, and most recently,
in America.
Our elected officials are turning their backs on Israel and openly portraying those who espouse the continuing ability of Israel to defend itself, as being evil land-grabbers who have wronged the Palestinians.
I’m sorry, I don’t buy it and I don’t buy the argument that Israel is brand new and that only the Palestinians have a legitimate claim to the land which Israel curently occupies. As a Christians who were brought up reading both the Old and New Testimants, we both are aware that the Jewish peoples were part of that land from the beginning of recorded time.
What the Tea Party stands for is a return to family values and the days of government giving us all a chance to aspire to be what we want to be, and the freedom to then go out and realize that dream.
What the modern day Democratic Party stands for is nothing less than a collective of the masses who depend on government to provide for all of their needs by redistributing the wealth by literally taking it from those who have played by the rules and aclhieved their dreams, just to give it to those who have failed to even try to make something of themselves.
I’m sorry, but that it wrong and and co-facilitating the masses to never realize and achieve their goals is an afront to our Creator, no matter an Orthodox Jew or a dedicated Christian. I have said that my belief is that there are only two really evil deeds and one is to stand in the way of one’s own spiritual growth and the other is to stand in the way of someone else’s spiritual growth. Looking to government to resolve all of our problems and take care of us, participate or not, is both of those wrapped into one.
Sally, keep up the good work and we’ll keep supporting you in your quest to make things right.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownNice Journalism! Just when I thought journalism was dead—not so! Bethy is really quite representive of the typical liberal. I do hope she sees the commentary so far and decides to re-read the article—this time with an enquiring mind.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownGiving Bethy the benefit of the doubt, I decided she must be an ESL (English as a Second Language)student. She couldn’t possibly be fluent in English reading and conprehension and reach her conclusions.Either that or she only read the headline and not the article.Congratulations to Sally and the other Tea Party members for their belief in limited government, individual liberty,fiscal responsibility and lower taxes.If Bethy wants to be embarrassed let it be for the the large percentage of Jews who are not affilated with the Jewish Community and who allow the government to do all of their thinking as well as spend their money, educate their children, choose their doctors and their charities.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownWhat I find most pleasing is that we as a people are coming together just as our God wishes for His children. The news media kept telling us how awful the TeaParty movement was, racist, anti-Sem..etc., and here we, Jew and Christian standing side by side, loving one another to unite in fighting a cause bigger than us - to bring our Nation back to its founding - a Judeo Christian Nation. We have to stand together, and what better tool is there than the TeaParty movement! This article is wonderfully fair, and yes, Sally is an inspiration to us all. People have to wake up and realize there is too much at stake if we either close our minds to seeing other sides of the issue (as liberals do) or not wanting to get involved because its hard work and time consuming. I ask, what is the alternative? As “screaming trumpet” eluded to, they have read both the Old and New Testaments of God’s Word. I’d like to add something to that - from those of us that know how it ends - God honors His Word and at the end of a horrible battle Israel wins and God’s chosen land prevails. I’m chosing to be on the winners side - we have to support Israel. No matter how you believe or walk through this journey - God Wins. We’d do well to take a breathe of fresh air and see this disasterous administration for what it is. Thank you dear Lisa for opening my eyes, I’m honored to be a member of JRC.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownYes, I agree. Sally does has it right. I am a member of the San Francisco Tea Party and I see how hard she works. Keep up the great work Sally! I am behind you.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownI am so proud of Sally. She has the right attitude, the passion, and the education to back what she says. I kn ow Sally and fully support her. I have members of my own family that are liberals. It isn’t easy to stand up for what you believe. It has a cost, but it is worth it when the other way doesn’t make sense. So I stand with Sally and support her. She is on the right track. Thank God we have her on our side! A Tea Partier with moxie!
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownThe Tea Party stands for:
1) a balanced budget
2) reduction in the federal deficit and federal spending
3) reduction in the size and scope of government
4) upholding the letter of the law of the US Constitution
5) strong support for Israel
As a roman catholic father of ten children and an admirer of our elder brothers in the faith; as a conservative Republican and editor/publisher of a quarterly for Marin Republicans. I loved this article and have great respect for Sally Zelikovsky. Her energy, organizational skills, and patriotism are to be lauded.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownGreat job Sally on a fabulous article! As a non Jew who is a conservative, I appreciate the information and support that the Bay Area Patriots provides to individuals like myself. Because of people like Sally, we have an outlet for our voices to be heard; thus creating positive solutions in these harsh economic times. Conservatives care about our fellow human beings who love liberty and want to see jobs being created. Conservatives realize that creative people build jobs that last, and become a career, not our Government. Thanks you!
T-
>As a roman catholic (mo)ther
Ditto Deke, wholeheartedly!
Although I would add: The matter of abortion could’ve been better framed for clarity: BAP focuses less upon social issues and more on"TaxedEnoughAlready.”
Still, abortion isn’t merely a “social” issue, but core to human existence, to family, and to what kind of a people we Americans are.
The First Right front-and-centered by our leadership, the existence of our struggles would diminish—even resolve— exponentially.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownOn a related note:
Sunday December 4 at 7:30 PM at Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley (1316 University Avenue):
“Has the Obama Administration Been Good for Israel?”
“More than at anytime in recent years, some in the Jewish community are asking the question about how much support Israel has in the White House, and whether President Obama has helped or harmed Israel’s security. Whether you love, loathe or are ambivalent about the President’s approach, please join us for a vibrant and open panel discussion (including written and open mic audience Q&A) with 3 Bay Area activists who write and/or speak extensively about the Middle East. Participants are Mike Harris (grassroots activist with StandWithUs/SF Voice for Israel), Jon Segall (liberal pro-Israel blogger, founder of Team Shalom at DailyKos) and Mike Lumish (PhD in history, longtime pro-Israel blogger, and liberal critic of the left). The program will be moderated by Rachel Eryn Kalish.”
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownI read your comments but still do not understand why you are embarrassed. What or who exactly embarrasses you?
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownWonderful journalism. Finally JWeekly has recognized the thousands of Jews in the Bay Area who are conservative and especially the supporters of the Tea Party. Now Orthodox and Conservative Jews can feel that Jewish life in the Bay Area is not just a Lefty nightmare.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownI came away from reading this article wondering what country these Jewish Tea Party supporters have been living in for the last decade. Both major political parties support Israel, as always, current political troubles notwithstanding. Taxes are lower than they were in the 90s. Public spending has been cut way back (and boy are we feeling it). Regulation? Well, thanks to the lack of it, we’re still feeling the effects of the banking disaster, including lower home values.
What really bothered me, though, was the checklist of Tea Party “values.” None of them seemed to include concern for those suffering from job loss, homelessness or worse. Between the lines, it seemed each and every person quoted was saying “I’ve got mine and I’m going to keep it. Who cares about the greater community? Not me!”
Tikkun Olam in the Tea Party? Not so much.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownIt is the Tea Parties pro-Israel stance that has attracted Jews to their party and meanwhile at Tea Party rallies I continue see signs reading, this is a Christian nation. The Tea Party is a party of racists. Continue to drink the cool aid.
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12/02/2011 at 12:15 AM
I am embarrassed for so many reasons…I expect Jews to know better than to actually support (much less believe in) people who and ideas that are so hurtful to so many people—much less hurtful to Jews!
What they are supporting is the complete antithesis of everything Judaism stands for.
Tzedakah? Forget it!
Tikkun Olam? Forget it!
Love thy neighbor as thyself? Forget it!
Let no one be harmed in my name? Forget it!
etc…etc…etc…
Yes, I am not responsible for how these people have chosen their actions…and yet I’m still embarrassed.
Login to reply to this comment or post your ownYes, it’s my problem.
*sigh*