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Republican John McCain has picked a relatively unknown governor, Alaskan Sarah Palin, as his running mate.
We don’t know much about Palin, and neither do the Republican Jewish activists we’ve talked to. But here’s a quick rundown of some Jewish Alaska connections (No, Palin’s not Jewish, but what else are we supposed to do?):
- Alaska Airlines played a role in the airlift of Yemenite Jews known as Operation Magic Carpet.
- Michael Chabon imagined a Jewish semi-state in the actual Alaskan region of Sitka.
- Alaskan Jew Ethan Berkowitz, the Democratic minority leader in the state House of Representatives, is currently running for the state’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- The web address www.frozenchosen.org belongs to an actual Alaskan synagogue, Reform Congregation Beth Sholom in Anchorage.
- And Joel Fleishman, the nebbishy Jewish doctor on “Northern Exposure.”
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