Do Jews in America see themselves as Americans?

Answer 1

For the most part, yes. However, like other minorities, they are less likely than White Protestants to become the President of the United States (or to be admitted to certain country clubs). By and large Anti-Semitism does not play a role in workplace discrimination (although it can be present in rare circumstances).

Currently, most Anti-Semitism in the United States manifests in strong Anti-Zionism from parts of the population that moves beyond criticism of Israel's policies to arguments against the validity of Jewish Statehood. Since Anti-Zionism is primarily targeted at Israelis, Israeli-Americans suffer some discrimination from this, but since most American Jews are not Israelis, they are generally spared the vitriol, though there are sometimes hate crimes such as personal attacks and arson against synagogues.

If you had asked this question before the 1950s and 1960s, then you would see distinct discrimination against American Jews. Prestigious Universities had quotas of Jews (i.e. limits on how many Jews could be accepted). The entire idea of making Law a graduate program (as opposed to an undergraduate program like in most countries) was to prevent Jews and Blacks from becoming lawyers. Workplace discrimination was commonplace. It was also legal for covenants to be put in land deeds to prevent the occupant of a building from being a Jew.

Answer 2

Depending on which Jews you talk to the answer to this question can be very different. As this question has two components, it should be answered in two parts.

Do Jews in America see themselves as Americans

The differentiation in answers to this question actually says a lot about how the Jews living in America have embraced its ideals and virtues. Outside of the United States, Jews typically identify themselves as pertaining to a region using an adjective, some common examples including: British Jew, French Jew, Polish Jew, Moroccan Jew, etc. The view of these Jews and of others was that they were fundamentally Jewish and were just "conveniently" living in the country of relevance. There are some today who use the term American Jew in much the same way. This tends to be much more common in Orthodox and Hasidic Circles. However, most Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and Secular Jews in the United States prefer the term Jewish-American. This indicates that they see themselves primarily as Americans, but with a Jewish character in the same way that an Irish-American is primarily an American, but with an Irish character. America is unique in this regard in that while it does not accept everyone, it does not deny entry based on race or religion (it usually denies entry for medical cause or exceeding quotas). The people who identify as Jewish Americans do identify primarily as Americans; it is those who identify as American Jews who see themselves as only living in America.

Why do some American Jews see themselves as a group of people living in America?

Most of those who identify as American Jews see America as Another Country in the long list of countries that form the Diaspora. Since the exodus from Judea under the Romans, Jews became part of nearly every country west of India. These countries became known as the Jewish Diaspora. Some of them repressed the Jews harshly in a consistent manner. Some of them had periods of relative tolerance followed by pogroms and massacres. In each case, when the situation became intolerable, the Jews would be forced to leave and go somewhere else. Naturally, this did not breed any sort of patriotism between the Jew and the land he settled. To the American Jew, America is just another country in the long lineup of Diaspora countries and the situation in America is one of relative tolerance. However, there are certainly groups in America that could make America very intolerant of Jews in the long run. For those who dispute that something like that could occur, note FDR's apathy as concerned the Holocaust (he never had any of the numerous bomb-Germany missions target the rail lines to the Concentration camps or anything similarly easy) or how Islamic Spain and tolerant Christian Spain existed in tandem for 700 years before the Spanish Inquisition. American Jews believe this bitter reality and refuse to ever be lulled into the dream that they could ever become "real Americans". A secondary reason for this is that religious Jews await the arrival of the Messiah, who, in their opinion, is the only true representative of the Divine Sovereign and therefore a consideration of non-Messianic politics is unnecessary and beneath them.

Answer 3

Yes, there is no reason not to.