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How Would God REALLY Vote: A Jewish Rebuttal to David Klinghoffer's Conservative Polemic

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Secular and religious individuals with a liberal political bent who are uncomfortable with David Klinghoffer's conservative polemic, "How Would God Vote," will welcome the piercing rebuttal found in "How Would God Really Vote?" by Larry Yudelson and Yori Yanover.

The slim volume (143 pages) uses traditional Jewish texts to seek insight into God's opinions and admonitions on ten current hot social issues: abortion, capital punishment, contraception, divorce, evolution, gay marriage, health care, illegal wiretapping, religious wars, and women's suffrage. With wry humor, deep personal commitment, and broad familiarity with Jewish (and occasionally non Jewish) sources, the two "Y's Guys" refute Klinghoffer with authoritative texts and opinions from biblical, rabbinic, Talmudic, and even 20th century (CE) Orthodox Jewish giants.

The authors' purpose, as stated in chapter one, is to convey "a sense that Torah -understood broadly to include rabbinic commentary - is not a conservative manifesto."
The authors never make holding the Conservative position on any of these issues to be unGod like. However, they point out time and time again that Klinghoffer's reasoning is not based on a "yiddishe kop" (a traditional Jewish mind set) or a Jewish approach to the Bible, fully understood, from a Jewish perspective.

Jewish readers with a sound grounding in Jewish texts and thought will find few surprises but several chuckles at points made with deft humor. Jewish readers with little or no exposure to classic and current traditional rabbinic discourse may be astonished by the contemporary application of age old insights. Although one might assume the book is written for a Jewish audience, short footnotes and parenthetical translations of Jewish (and Yiddish) terms make it accessible to all readers who appreciate serious political issues presented with knowledge and wit.

This is a powerful book that destroys the myth that we have to choose between being religious conservatives or liberal atheists. All the better that it is both funny and scholarly... a great combination that makes for an easy read. The topics covered will be just as important in 2010 or 2012 as they were before the 2008 election. And since the sources are largely Torah and Talmud, the fundamental arguments will not become dated.