You know them as denominations. In Judaism it has many names: movements, traditions, varieties, branches, etc. Sects isn't used by some, because, reasons. It is not unusual for an individual or family to switch affiliation. Intertraditional marriage is normal and fine for most although I assume not the case if you're a Hasidic Jew in Brooklyn.
You have orthodox, reconstructionist, reform, conservative, humanistic, many more.
American Jews have traditionally been liberal as a whole, but there always have been and will be conservative American Jews. The antisemitic dog whistle about the media being controlled you see MAGA and Trump thrown around is an attack designed against influental Jewish media moguls, just look how many times @knaup1 has attacked George Soros on here.
The movements themselves can range from very conservative in principle to very progressive but it's not apples to apples. When looking at precinct level voting data, Brooklyn has one that basically covers a Hasidic neighborhood (street signs, ambulances, etc are in Hebrew). They will all vote who the community leaders (Rabbi, essentially) tell them to vote for. The precinct was 99%+ for Obama but for whatever reason the leaders decided they didn't like Hillary, so it went 99% Trump in 2016.
There also are Jewish ethnic subdivisions: Ashkenazi ("Germany" in old Hebrew denoting the central European locale), Sephardic ("Hispania" or "Iberia" in Hebrew, with ethnicity from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and surrounding regions where traditional Arabs live). There exists a third one for non-European or sub-Saharan African Jews in other parts of the world not descended from the other two. There many differences among these.
Israel has its own Parliament consisting of multiple political parties (there is no two party Duopoly like in the US) that form coalitions to elect their own Prime Minister, the same way the rest of the world does it outside of the US mostly. There are progressive parties that believe in a two-state solution, have compassion for Palestinian civilians, and support ultra liberal/progressive causes. There are conservative parties and far-right parties, the Likuds being the main far-right party with their main ideology being one of force and strength above all else. It often criticizes the Supreme Court and its current leader and sitting Prime Minister attempted to abolish their own Supreme Court but relented after mass protests. It does have moderates within the party that believe in border security but aren't with the whole fascism thing. Fun fact: even the most hardcore far-right parties in Israel wouldn't dare attempt to repeal and replace their nationalized healthcare system. That is only a conservative thing in America.
Jews are different politically and ideologically across the globe, and even within a single country, state, or even kibbutz. Just like there are Democrat Catholics and Republican Catholics. Sure, certain areas or movements have a more concentration of one over the other, but in general, not much different than other religions.
When I see people assuming Judaism is binary, that all Jews are cookie cutter, uniform, share the same principle and politics - that totally has to mirror the leader of the far-right fascist Likud party of course - I just assume general ignorance and lack of education on the subject (which is totally fine, because it is complicated and if you're reading this, you're likely an American).
It is equally insulting and comical when I see someone who hasn't set foot in a synagogue, knows absolutely nothing about the culture and history, probably never attended someone's bar mitzvah, try to Jewsplain politics, culture, and bash them for not agreeing with you. But well done, @knaup1 , you are the board's resident racist, Apartheid promoting, antisemite. You've accomplished far more than what brad ever could've done, and boy did he ever try.
You have orthodox, reconstructionist, reform, conservative, humanistic, many more.
American Jews have traditionally been liberal as a whole, but there always have been and will be conservative American Jews. The antisemitic dog whistle about the media being controlled you see MAGA and Trump thrown around is an attack designed against influental Jewish media moguls, just look how many times @knaup1 has attacked George Soros on here.
The movements themselves can range from very conservative in principle to very progressive but it's not apples to apples. When looking at precinct level voting data, Brooklyn has one that basically covers a Hasidic neighborhood (street signs, ambulances, etc are in Hebrew). They will all vote who the community leaders (Rabbi, essentially) tell them to vote for. The precinct was 99%+ for Obama but for whatever reason the leaders decided they didn't like Hillary, so it went 99% Trump in 2016.
There also are Jewish ethnic subdivisions: Ashkenazi ("Germany" in old Hebrew denoting the central European locale), Sephardic ("Hispania" or "Iberia" in Hebrew, with ethnicity from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and surrounding regions where traditional Arabs live). There exists a third one for non-European or sub-Saharan African Jews in other parts of the world not descended from the other two. There many differences among these.
Israel has its own Parliament consisting of multiple political parties (there is no two party Duopoly like in the US) that form coalitions to elect their own Prime Minister, the same way the rest of the world does it outside of the US mostly. There are progressive parties that believe in a two-state solution, have compassion for Palestinian civilians, and support ultra liberal/progressive causes. There are conservative parties and far-right parties, the Likuds being the main far-right party with their main ideology being one of force and strength above all else. It often criticizes the Supreme Court and its current leader and sitting Prime Minister attempted to abolish their own Supreme Court but relented after mass protests. It does have moderates within the party that believe in border security but aren't with the whole fascism thing. Fun fact: even the most hardcore far-right parties in Israel wouldn't dare attempt to repeal and replace their nationalized healthcare system. That is only a conservative thing in America.
Jews are different politically and ideologically across the globe, and even within a single country, state, or even kibbutz. Just like there are Democrat Catholics and Republican Catholics. Sure, certain areas or movements have a more concentration of one over the other, but in general, not much different than other religions.
When I see people assuming Judaism is binary, that all Jews are cookie cutter, uniform, share the same principle and politics - that totally has to mirror the leader of the far-right fascist Likud party of course - I just assume general ignorance and lack of education on the subject (which is totally fine, because it is complicated and if you're reading this, you're likely an American).
It is equally insulting and comical when I see someone who hasn't set foot in a synagogue, knows absolutely nothing about the culture and history, probably never attended someone's bar mitzvah, try to Jewsplain politics, culture, and bash them for not agreeing with you. But well done, @knaup1 , you are the board's resident racist, Apartheid promoting, antisemite. You've accomplished far more than what brad ever could've done, and boy did he ever try.
