‘This Is Time for an Exception’: Rabbis Enter Political Fray Over Possible Mamdani Mayoralty

Fearful of what a Mamdani mayoralty would mean for New York City’s Jewish community, scores of rabbis across the city are wading into politics — many for the first time — and urging their congregants to vote for Governor Andrew Cuomo.“Look, I have never in a 30-year career in the rabbinate endorsed a candidate,” Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, leader of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, tells the Sun. “But to have someone who is a supporter of terror, who is a committed anti-Zionist, become mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population in the world is just unthinkable.”Rabbi Steinmetz is one of many Jewish religious leaders confronting Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani’s stances on Israel and Zionism. Though he has refrained from involving himself in politics in the past, he views this election as a moment to break from tradition.“I’m a believer that every rule has an exception,” Rabbi Steinmetz says. “Like, for example, every single rule we have for Shabbat can be broken if there is a danger to life.” He adds: “This is time for an exception.” Rabbi Steinmetz began speaking out against Mr. Mamdani in the spring and has continued voicing his views through sermons and interviews with the press. Earlier this month, he signed an open letter from rabbis across the country condemning Mr. Mamdani’s anti-Zionist rhetoric and urging Americans 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 letter has garnered signatures from more than 1,000 rabbis, including the leaders of some of New York City’s most influential synagogues. Rabbi Steinmetz’s encouragement appears to be resonating. Earlier this week, he helped organize a phone-banking operation at the synagogue that drew some 20 volunteers. “We are having a turn-out-to-vote effort that we have never had before,” Rabbi Steinmetz says.A few blocks south, Rabbi Shlomo Farhi, leader of the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue, has mounted a similar effort, urging his congregation to view voting as a serious responsibility in impassioned sermons.“We should be embarrassed of the fact that there is an antisemite who hates Israel,” Rabbi Farhi told his congregation. “You have the chance to stop it, and if you did nothing because of some selfish reason, I don’t care what it is, shame on you.”Rabbi Farhi says that his synagogue has spent “a lot of time trying to communicate to people that they have both a civic and religious responsibility and obligation to go out and vote,” he tells the Sun. “And thank God our people are doing that.”

‘This Is Time for an Exception’: Rabbis Enter Political Fray Over Possible Mamdani Mayoralty

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