More than 650 rabbis across the US signed a letter expressing alarm about a Zohran Mamdani mayoralty’s impact on the Jewish community — just hours before the final debate in the race for City Hall Wednesday.
The letter, released by the Jewish Majority, was signed by 121 rabbis in the Empire State, including more than 60 in New York City.
“We are writing in our personal capacities to declare that we cannot remain silent in the face of rising anti-Zionism and its political normalization throughout our nation,” the rabbis said.
“When public figures like New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide, they, in the words of New York Board of Rabbis president Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, ‘Delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility toward Judaism and Jews.’”
Signatories include the leaders of some of the largest synagogues and institutions in the Big Apple, including: Rabbi Joshua Davidson, senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, Rabbi David Gelfand; senior rabbi at Temple Israel of the City of New York; Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, senior rabbi at Kehilath Jeshurun; Rabbi David Ingber, founder of Romemu and senior director of Jewish Life and the Bronfman Center at 92NY and Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, president of the New York Board of Rabbis and senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
The letter quotes from the recent sermon of Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue, who said the lefty Democratic nominee is a “danger to the security of the New York Jewish community.”
“Zionism, Israel, Jewish self-determination—these are not political preferences or partisan talking points. They are constituent building blocks and inseparable strands of my Jewish identity,” he said.
“To accept me as a Jew but to ask me to check my concern for the people and state of Israel at the door is a nonsensical proposition and an offensive one, no different than asking me to reject God, Torah, mitzvot, or any other pillar of my faith.”
In the letter released Wednesday, the rabbis said, “We will not accept a culture that treats Jewish self-determination as a negotiable ideal or Jewish inclusion as something to be ‘granted.’ The safety and dignity of Jews in every city depend on rejecting that false choice.”
“We call on all Americans who value peace and equality to participate fully in the democratic process in order to stand up for candidates who reject antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric, and who affirm Israel’s right to exist in peace and security,” the rabbis wrote.
“Now is the time for everyone to unite across political and moral divides, and to reject the language that seeks to delegitimize our Jewish identity and our community.”
The Post reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment.
The democratic socialist and mayoral front-runner has been an ardent Israel basher and backer of Palestinians in the Middle East, including Gaza.
Mamdani supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and, if elected mayor, has vowed to arrest Israel Prime Minister Benjamin as a war criminal if he sets foot in the city.
The Queens state assemblyman has faced blowback for not condemning the phrase “globalize the intifada” — which many believe is a Jihad call for violence against Jews, though he recently said he advises against using the phrase.
But Mamdani also vowed to protect Jews in the city against antisemitism as mayor, proposing to dramatically boost funding for hate violence programs from $3 million currently to $26 million.
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