Thanks, Danny, for bringing this article to my attention.  The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative “think” tank in Washington, D.C., held a conference yesterday to laud us Jews for being more intelligent than the rest of you.  Dana Milbank’s description of the event did not mention whether or not the AEI panel  (Entine, the author of a book on the subject, Murray, another AEI guy, and Zoloth, who was invited to challenge the other two) addressed the veracity of any other claims about Jews’ genetic predispositions.  Now that we have the good news, we may want to determine if Tay-Sachs disease and intelligence are also accompanied by genetic mutations for hubris, bad judgment – a possibility raised by Milbank while reminiscing about the extraordinary decision-making capabilities of Paul Wolfowitz, another AEI fellow, during his time in office – or greed. 

Although I have about as much science on my side as these guys probably do, my theory is that Jews’ seemingly “higher” intelligence level stems from our deficiency of athletic ability.  Evidence for our less-than-average athleticism can be found in my bad lower back, knees, heels, and my shaky right hand.  In order to survive the thousands of years of persecution, people like me were compelled to be creative because our non-aerodynamic facial features and poor foot speed rendered us sitting ducks. 

But these theories of Jewish intelligence raise one question that our abnormally intelligent friends at AEI probably have not considered: if Jews are so smart, why are there so few of them?  Wouldn’t smart people multiply and seek to protect themselves by winning the numbers game? 

If I had to imagine the panelists’ answers (not Zoloth), they would probably bicker over who is to blame more for the paucity of people who claim allegiance to the Jewish faith: the Christians or Muslims.  Yet, there is probably another reason for the lack of Jews; people like these guys at AEI. 

In a roomful of Christians, I feel like a Jew.  In a roomful of Jews, I tend to feel even more ostracized.  Indeed, it’s the hubris of people such as Wolfowitz, Entine, and Murray that fuel my sense of isolation; the same hubris that causes Israel to avoid peace with the Palestinians (regardless of the Palestinians’ own efforts to avoid peace).  This hubris can also be found in the temple to which my family belongs, where, in the wake of the most recent destruction of Lebanon, we were handed contact information - with our prayer books - for foundations that support wounded and killed Israeli soldiers.  There was no piece of paper for the thousands of injured and killed Lebanese.  Nor was there a paper for the 1.4 million Israelis living in poverty. 

For people like Wolfowitz, Entine, and Murray, their hubris eats away at their intelligence like a cancer, rendering their ideas want of judgment.  In short, they are ignorant.  Fortunately, not all Jews suffer from this disease.  And, as it turns out, people of other faiths are not immune to it either; neither Bush nor Cheney are Jewish, thank god.