The Congressional Minyan

the long version

"Since 1841, the year the first Jew was elected to the United States Congress, 179 Jewish men and women have served in either the House or Senate. Some were so unrecognizable in their Jewishness as to be all but invisible. Others were the product of families steeped in the religious customs, practices and traditions of their fathers and mothers.". "The members of this "Congressional Minyan" have little in common save their ancestry. They have hailed from the West Indies, Germany, Russia-Poland and Palestine, from New York, Kansas, Alabama and Iowa. Among them are: Harvard-trained doctors and Oxford Dons; farmers and shopkeepers; and children of poverty and scions of unimaginable wealth.". "They have been Democrats and Republicans, Whigs and Socialists, radicals and reactionaries. In short, the dramatic personae comprising "The Congressional Minyan" is a microcosm of America. Included among the 179 members of "The Congressional Minyan" are: 124 attorneys, 44 graduates of Ivy League schools, 25 judges, 4 Ambassadors, and 1 cabinet secretary."--BOOK JACKET.