The Roosevelts...and Judaism?

The New York Times unravels the mystery surrounding the Roosevelt family. Okay, so no mystery, merely just what has happened to the family since the two fifth cousins, Franklin and Eleanor, married. Of course, such marriages are perfectly legal in Kentucky and West Virginia.

But in at least one surprising way Joshua Boettiger, the 31-year-old great-grandson of Franklin and Eleanor, is not a Roosevelt in the classic aristocratic mold. He is studying to be a rabbi, working with a small congregation, Mishkan Ha'am, in southern Westchester County and Riverdale in the Bronx. He credits Franklin and Eleanor's striving for social justice as an inspiration and believes Eleanor would have particularly given him her blessing.[...]

Among Jews, Mr. Boettiger is usually asked how he can rationalize why Franklin Roosevelt did not rescue more Jews from the Nazis, and did not bomb the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz.

"On the one hand this was the president most beloved by the Jews ever - who did more for the poorer Jewish community than had anyone - a friend of the Jews," he said. "And people are trying to square that with the fact that he didn't do as much as could have saving Jews from the Nazi machine. Somehow we have to hold both thoughts."

Roosevelt was not a Jewish name the last time I checked.

What has happened to the rest of the family? All descriptions come from the Times article.

The Grandkids:
James Roosevelt Jr.--became a Boston lawyer who made an unsuccessful stab at a Congressional seat against another dynastic heir, Joseph P. Kennedy II.
Nina Roosevelt Gibson--Arizona psychologist who has worked with children of drug-addicted and abusive parents.
Frank Roosevelt--flirted with Marxism in the 1970's and has made it a specialty of his economics teaching at Sarah Lawrence College.
Elliott "Tony" Roosevelt Jr.--Texas oilman who supports President Bush's plan to overhaul Social Security.
Hall Delano Roosevelt--environmental consultant, former city councilman in Long Beach, California (1996 to 2000)
Sara Delano Roosevelt--married a piano prodigy who was the son of an immigrant barber.
John Boettiger--married Janet Adler, the daughter of a small-town Jewish family from Indiana.

The Great-Grandkids:
Dr. David Russell Luke--mathematics professor who studies topics like nonsmooth analysis.
Amelia Roosevelt--concert violinist
Joshua Boettiger--studying at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pa.