NEW YORK — Michael Bloomberg isn't known here as the Jewish mayor.

In fact, his religion is a non-issue in a city that had its first Jewish chief executive, Abe Beame, three decades ago. The New York Jewish community is so large and active that even non-Jewish mayors take counsel from rabbis. So when Bloomberg won the 2001 mayoral race, Jews saw no significant advantage in having one of their own in City Hall.

But if the billionaire businessman decides to run for the White House, his faith will become much more than an afterthought: He would be on a path toward being elected the first Jewish president of the United States.

"I think it's a great commentary on American political life when a person who happens to be Jewish is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate," said Rabbi Joseph Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis, who speaks regularly with Bloomberg and has hosted the mayor at a Passover seder and other events.

Bloomberg denies any plans to run but recently switched from Republican to unaffiliated, clearing the way for a possible independent bid in a field where none of the announced candidates is Jewish.

Bloomberg would compete against two other New Yorkers, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, both with strong ties to the Jewish community.

In a campaign season when Democrats are speaking out as much as Republicans on the importance of faith, the mayor may be at a disadvantage.

Bloomberg, who declined to comment, has said he is not very religious. Other than mentioning that he plans to celebrate a few major Jewish holidays with his family, he almost never discusses his faith. He joined a prominent Upper East Side synagogue, Congregation Emanu-El on Fifth Avenue, which is part of the liberal Reform branch of Judaism, but only occasionally attends worship, Potasnik said.

"Don't pull out his attendance record," the rabbi joked.

In a 2005 interview with The New York Times, Bloomberg made a rare comment on his religious views. "I believe in Judaism, I was raised a Jew, I'm happy to be one — or proud to be one," he said. Then he paused and added: "I don't know if that's the right word. I don't know why you should be proud of something. It doesn't make you any better or worse. You are what you are."

Bloomberg, 65, had a fairly typical religious upbringing for American Jews of his generation.

He was raised in a kosher home in Medford, Mass., just outside Boston, had a bar mitzvah and, according to Potasnik, still remembers a few Yiddish words. Jewish leaders who speak with him regularly say they haven't heard him mention facing anti-Semitism as a child.

After the media mogul earned his fortune, he created an endowment for his hometown synagogue, which was renamed for his parents: Temple Shalom, the William and Charlotte Bloom-berg Jewish Community Center of Medford. The congregation belongs to the Conservative movement, which emphasizes traditional observance while allowing some changes that adapt to modern times.

Bloomberg has given millions to Jewish causes in the United States and in Israel. He emphatically supports the Jewish state and has traveled there numerous times.