The primary election of Zohran Mamdani as the Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York City, an avowed supporter of Hamas and a proponent of “globalizing the Intifada,” should send chills up every Jew’s spine. In a city with the largest population of Jews outside of Israel, such a result should have been unthinkable.
His policies, as well – including free buses, government-run grocery stores, and freezing rent increases, not to mention defunding the police – should be a major warning to all those concerned about a socialist takeover of the economy. We have witnessed time and time again, in Venezuela and in major cities in our own country, how the socialist idea brings ruin in its wake. Great cities like Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; and Oakland, California, have been laid to waste due to this type of government. We have seen what “defund the police” has wrought. We have seen the destructive results of cashless bail. Can’t people learn a lesson from any of this? Do we need more progressivism?
I have read of a call to United States Attorney General Pam Bondi to consider revoking Mr. Mamdani’s visa, due to the fact that he has been a US citizen for only seven years and yet embraces a terrorist organization such as Hamas. Not a bad idea, although that will never happen.
Most disturbing to learn is that up to 20 percent of Jewish voters voted for Mamdani. And, of course, there was the usual – but shameful – embrace of our enemies by Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Jerrold Nadler, who drooled over their relationship with Mamdani and how he will be good for all New Yorkers, including Jews.
To what do we attribute this tendency of a significant number of Jews to show allegiance to their nemesis?
In a powerful post by Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, she goes on to describe how Jews over the years – from the time of the Hellenists, to the Conversos during the Inquisition, to the Jewish police under Stalin – went all out to show that they were on the side of the oppressors in an effort to curry favor and to say, “We are not that kind of Jew; you can spare us.” It never worked. Ultimately, all those Jews were purged alongside their brethren.
However, I think it may be more than just a matter of calculated survival. It could very well be that Jews, in their own perverse way of thinking, genuinely do align with the enemy’s ideology. The hundreds of woke Jewish kids who have joined the Palestinian cause truly believe that Israel is guilty of genocide and apartheid. I am sure that many who voted for Mamdani honestly believe that he will be the messiah for all. Of course, the likes of Schumer and Nadler are simply political harlots. To my delight, I was glad to see that Senator Gillibrand did call out Mamdani for using the term “Global Intifada,” which implies death to Jews everywhere.
Is there anything we can do to stop this trend of Jewish youth on the left betraying their own people? The answer is: too little, too late. Without an education grounded in Torah values, it is very hard to influence Jews otherwise. The only thing we can hope for is that these Jews will learn from the school of hard knocks. But there have been hard knocks everywhere – yet the perversion continues. It doesn’t look good, but perhaps this is a wake-up call for good Jews everywhere to try to get out the message about the dangers of Jews betraying their own. Be like the rest of mankind: Be loyal to your own. That’s one thing that can be learned from Mamdani.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
