From a reader;

Jonah,

I do believe it was in their most recent book that Stephen and

Abigail Thernstrom did some research that would shed light on your

current Corner topic. Though I didn’t read the book, I do know that

they discussed how many different geographic (and, I’d imagine, also

genetically distinct) groups of Jews throughout history have all

maintained a strong cultural affinity for learning. Apparently the

first Jews to start establishing themselves in Russia showed up as

somewhat of a footnote in the first Czarist census, remarking that

even amongst the poorer classes, Jews had far more books in their

homes and were far more literate than anyone else.

The real money line that I recall from the book was in an interview

(I think on CSPAN) when Abigail was asked why Jews do so well on

standardized tests: “Because they’ve been studying for them for 8,000

years.”

Good stuff, I think.