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Podhoretz too quickly dismisses the most popular explanation, favored by Jewish liberals themselves, that there is an essential Jewish quality -- compassion -- to which liberalism, or least liberal rhetoric, speaks in a way conservatism doesn't. This isn't necessarily to say Jews are more compassionate, but rather that we think of ourselves that way. The Talmud goes so far as to say if you meet someone claiming to be a Jew who shows no mercy to the needy, you should consider his lineage suspect: "Be certain he is not a descendant of our forefather Abraham" (Beitzah 32b). Maimonides codifies the observation as a matter of Jewish law.
 


But the contributing factor that Podhoretz leaves out entirely, and I find this surprising from the author of a book with the title Making It, is the social prestige conferred by one political stance as compared to the other. "One of the longest journeys in the world is the journey from Brooklyn to Manhattan -- or at least from certain neighborhoods in Brooklyn to certain parts of Manhattan," goes the memorable and very Jewish opening sentence in Podhoretz's memoir.