Why are so many Jews liberal?

Question

The question is entirely legitimate since Jews (outside of Israel) are indeed overwhelmingly liberal and disproportionately left of liberal as well. For example, other than blacks, no American group votes so lopsidedly for the Democratic Party. And the question is further sharpened given that traditional Jewish values are not leftist. That is why the more religiously involved the Jew, the less likely he is to be on the Left. The old saw, "There are two types of Jews — those who believe Judaism is social justice and those who know Hebrew," contains more than a kernel of truth.

Answer 1

I would say it's a protection mechanism. Say you are Jewish and you don't want everyone to think you are a hawk since this is what they're going to assume by default (see Joe Lieberman). So, what do you do? you become a liberal. You still believe in fiscal responsibilities, less taxes, smaller government the works (see Arnold) but you are suddenly very concerned with human rights, the right to choose and no guns in school. So what does this make you? a liberal? not sure about that. Liberal is a very confusing word. You see, when you tell me someone is liberal, I would think she is really open to new ideas etc. Is that what the left is?