I just ran across this article and thought I'd pass it along. It's just a brief backgrounder on her early life, long before she worked in any government or Harvard office.
Here's a link to the story
Update:
A second article on the same site I hadn't seen before I posted this.
I'm Jewish, like Kagan, but I didn't grow up in a particularly Jewish area. Growing up in a burb of Cincy and then Orlando, I only recall one or two neighbors that were Jewish. All our exposure to other Jews was in the home, at family events, and at Synagogue.
I found the article, with its descriptions of a mostly Jewish neighborhood, especially a NYC one, interesting. NYC Jews are often looked at in very positive and very negative ways within the Jewish community - at least the one I grew up in. I always find it neat to read even surface descriptions of various Jewish communities.
It's not really a surprise that the area she grew up in was considered liberal, as Jews in this country have quite a history in various liberal causes, be they civil rights, gay rights, women's equality, etc. I like those influences on Kagan.
I'm an atheist now, though still deeply connected to the cultural side of Judaism, so I guess that makes me a little more willing to indulge Elena and give her the benefit of the doubt than some others...I don't know. In some way, it's always nice to see "one of your own" doing something great.
In some ways, it sounds like maybe Kagan's parents were the true liberal crusaders - let's hope more than a little of that rubbed off on her!