Luke Ford

A very successful Jewish friend and I were talking recently about our children. I mentioned that I would be a happy man and proud father if my sons grew up to be, for example, electricians, so long as they had good character, were good Jews, good Americans, good husbands, and good fathers, and that they didn't waste their lives, for example, watching TV. I am not terribly concerned. I told my friend, with what my children will do for a living.

My friend didn't believe me.

If his son didn't enter law, medicine, or some other prestigious (or, I assume, high-paying) field, he would be an unhappy man. He couldn' t believe that I wouldn't as well.

Jews are certainly not the only people who venerate professional success, and not all Jews do. But no group has produced the proportion of successful doctors, lawyers, and businessmen that Jews have. Many Jews seem to live in order to be able to say, "My son the doctor" -- and, increasingly, "my daughter the doctor."