Reply #68: I don't think Jews are any different from anyone else...

[Darranar]

I think the liberalism that they are known for comes from the same source as the liberalism of the other minorities: The liberals in this country are more tolerant.

I wouldn't describe either government as liberal. But Israel's economic system is certainly more liberal than that of the US.

I think you are overgeneralizing a bit too much here. As you have pointed out, "conservatism" in politics and "conservatism" in non-political language have almost completely different meanings. The liberals of this country advocate many "conservative" ideas, like conserving the environement. I think liberals can be personally conservative; I am somewhat of an asthetic ivory-tower intellectual sort of person myself, but I post on DU, after all, and am far left of center in American politics.

One of the ways I think the Jews preserved their heritage was a little integration of cultures; in other words, a few cracks to prevent complete shattering. The difference of Ashkenazic and Sephardic customs are strong, and that is in part due to the cultures of the places in which they lived in.