Comments on Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg’s Blog
I read Rabbi Goldenberg’s enthusiastic endorsement of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and I was stunned and aghast, and 10 days later I still am. I suspect many readers have the same feelings judging from the hundreds of comments the blog elicited. I found two issues perplexing – the first one is her characterization of Jewish values and Judaism as “our” Judaism (and by extension “our Jewish values”). This clearly separates “her” Judaism from Judaism of other Jews. It reminds me of the question the wicked child poses in the Haggadah: “What is this service of yours?” It is a mirror question separating the wicked child from other Jews just as Rabbi Goldenberg’s “her” Judaism separates her from traditional halachic Judaism.
Goldenberg’s concept of Judaism paves the path to her unequivocal support of Zohran Mamdani. Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg starts her apotheosis of Zohran Mamdani with listing certain Mamdani’s campaign issues as reflecting Jewish values. It is interesting and revealing that abortion access is on top of her list. She is mistaken, free access to abortion is not a Jewish value. Yes, Halacha allows abortion under certain circumstances, such as during the first six weeks of pregnancy, and perhaps most revealing and significant is that abortion is allowed to save the mother’s life during the entire pregnancy. Laissez-faire approach to abortion is not a Jewish value, “be fruitful and multiply” is. To me and to most traditional and even less traditional Jews, Jewish values are based on Halacha, that is one thing connecting Jews, even those not particularly observant.
According to her, it is the values of her Judaism that are also Mamdani’s values: social justice, public education, and civil, immigrant, and workers’ rights. According to her she sees reflection of these Jewish values in Mamdani’s socialist platform. It will be difficult to put his proposals and mandates into practice if he is elected as their implementation would put major burden on already stretched out budgets of most New Yorkers and New York City for that matter. His idea to tax wealthy and whiter neighborhoods will not go well with people living in these neighborhoods, especially if such idea smacks of racism. It is not only white people who are well off, many Brown and Black people are upwardly mobile and doing well, including Mamdani’s parents. And these socialist ideas do not age well when put into practice – I know from my experience growing up in communist Prague.
As an Assembly member, Mamdani voted in favor of prohibiting fundraising in NY by charities such as ZAKA and Hatzalah accusing them of fundraising for settlements in the West Bank. I have no idea whether they fundraise for Israeli settlements, but I know that these organizations are first medical responders not only in Israel, but other countries as well. They collect also human parts and blood remnants of people killed in terrorist attacks, car accidents and other events so the victims can receive proper Jewish burial.
Rabbi Goldenberg believes that Mamdani is not antisemitic and that he is committed to protect Jews in New York City. I know very little about Mr. Mamdani, but I understand that his strong support of chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine while a student at Bowdoin college (he was one of the founders of the chapter) makes his claims about not being an antisemite and his assertion of protection of Jews if he gets elected as a NYC mayor less credible. Though he (grudgingly) admitted Israel’s right to exist but with reservations, he is unabashedly a pro-Palestinian advocate since his college years. He supports the BDS movement, appears together with Mahmoud Khalil and accuses Israel of genocide.
All of this resonates with Rabbi Goldenberg who is elated that she and other reform rabbis have very similar if not identical views on Israel actions in the West Bank and Gaza. That the hostage kidnapping and now held by Hamas for ransom and to blackmail Israel is behind the war in Gaza is not considered to be the major player in the dismal situation in Gaza. Mr. Mamdani was accused of support of slogan “Globalize the intifada”. He did not provide explicit support for it but did not condemn it either. Rabbi Goldenberg omitted this incident, or did she just make sure not to mention it? Mamdani’s evasion is troublesome because he must be aware what “Globalize intifada” means – uprising/fight not just against Israel but against America and the West.
