Zelensky married a non-Jewish woman who was baptized, and he and his wife baptized their two children in the Greek Orthodox tradition, according to press reports. Boleslav Kapulkin, the spokesman for Chabad Lubavitch in Odessa, Ukraine, was even under the impression that Zelensky himself had converted to Christianity. Eduard Dolinsky, executive director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, went further. He attested that Zelensky is “a Ukrainian with Jewish ancestry; he’s not a member of the Jewish community, he’s not religious, doesn’t keep Jewish traditions and never speaks of himself as a Jew.”

There’s a long-running and complex debate over what constitutes Jewish identity. But there’s no question that Zelensky’s life choices have been inimical to the survival of the Jewish people and the Jewish faith. //

He also slammed, of all nations, lo and behold, Israel for refusing to arm Ukraine. (Israel hasn’t armed Russia either.) Now there is reporting that Zelensky is pushing the White House to pressure Israel.

Worse still, Ukraine, under Zelensky, has been rather hostile to Israel at the United Nations, the international forum where the Jewish state has been under sustained assault for decades. According to UN Watch, in a total of 122 resolutions involving Israel, Ukraine has voted against Israel in 95 and abstained in 27. That means it did not vote in favor of Israel once. Yet Zelensky continues to make demands of the Jewish state, which must deal with a Russian presence in neighboring Syria, where Israel conducts counterterrorism operations against Islamic extremists. //

So what are we to make of the enthusiasm for Zelensky the “Jewish hero,” and, moreover, the fact that it’s predominantly on the left? The answer is simple. Zelensky represents not Judaism as it has been known for thousands of years, but the left’s own brand of Judaism. The progressive brand of religion demotes the “outmoded” pillars of authentic faith — custom, tradition, ritual, faith, community, and family. //

The left has long wanted Judeo-Christian civilization erased from the face of the planet. From that perspective, it’s easy to see why so many liberals and progressives cheer on an individual wholly detached from anything resembling revealed religion. Sure, Zelensky is a hero to many. If anything, he’s a hero who’s a Jew — not a “Jewish hero.” That’s a distinction worth making.