Good News: American Rabbis Become Political  

A seismic change has occurred in the America rabbinate which is now functioning totally opposite to what was their normal positioning prior to 2025.

Ever since the US Internal Revenue Service’s establishment of 501(c)(3) status in 1954, charitable organizations were given tax exempt status and were more or less enjoined from engaging in political activity, lest they put that exemption in jeopardy.

From 1954 until earlier this year it was very rare to see clergy people of any faith speaking about political issues from their pulpits.  In American Judaism there were, of course, individual rabbis who acted politically on behalf of themselves, but rarely on behalf of their organizations or as a result of their urging their congregants to do so.   The most famous example would probably be of Rabbi Abraham Joshue Heschel who marched arm in arm with Martin Luther King Jr. in the fight for civil rights in the American south in 1965.   Or Rabbi Joachim Prinz, a prominent Newark, New Jersey rabbi and civil rights activist who was a key organizer of the 1963 March on Washington.

However, on July 7^th of this year the IRS reversed a decades-old ban on clergy supporting candidates from the pulpit.  Prior to this, congregations rana the risk of losing their tax-exempt status if religious leaders openly stumped for politicians.

The decision was made in a court filing after two churches and an association of Christian broadcasters sued the IRS to reverse the 1954 Johnson Amendment, named for then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, who introduced the amendment, which set nonprofit tax laws connected to politics. The filing said that campaigning within houses of worship is now seen as “a family discussion.” Rabbis across denominations agreed that endorsing candidates from the pulpit will only bring problems to the family.

Clearly the new legislation coming as it did at a time when conventional behavioral norms seem to have totally changed, Rabbis and other clergy are now free to speak their minds from the pulpit.  The risk is no longer the loss of tax-exempt status for the organization although the risk of alienating members who disagree with the position taken by an individual spiritual leader remains an issue.

All of this has made it possible for what we are observing now in the US as individual congregational rabbis in New York City have urged their congregants not to vote for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist candidate for Mayor to replace Eric Adams, the incumbent. Dr. Elliot Cosgrove, Rabbi of the Park Avenue Synagogue, opened his shabbat sermon last week by saying, “To be clear, unequivocal, and on the record: I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of New York Jewish community.”  This was followed a by a long description of why he felt this way and an urgent plea for his flock not to vote for Mamdani and to try to convince others they know not to do so as well.

He was joined in his approach by Amiel Hirsch, Rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue who stated that “Opposition to Mamdani is a Jewish imperative.”

Soon afterward Rabbi Michael Miller, CEO Emeritus of New York’s Jewish Community Relations Council said electing Zohran Mamdani would risk the safety and future of New York’s Jewish community, calling on voters to choose Andrew Cuomo.  As he noted, this was the first time in Rabbi Miller’s life that he had ever publicly endorsed a candidate for public office.

In the six days following Rabbi Cosgrove’s sermon, over 850 rabbis nationwide have signed on to a letter urging that Mamdani be defeated.  The letter, titled “A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future,” cites Mamdani’s defense of the phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” which he has since said he would “discourage”; his refusal to acknowledge Israel’s existence as a Jewish state; and his repeated accusations against Israel of genocide in Gaza. Mamdani has also vowed to arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York.

Certainly, in my lifetime, I have never seen such a large and almost universal public statement by the American rabbinical community who, thankfully, have seemed to have learned the lessons of Jewish history and chosen not to remain silent.

Of course, truth be told, the Jewish community is fighting an uphill battle.  According to an article in today’s New York Times, polls show that Mamdani is running 8-24 percentage points ahead of Cuomo.  Ealy voting begins on Monday with election day just 11 days away on November 4^th.  Nevertheless, the fact that religious leaders are banding together to address dealing with a potential problem for New York City’s Jewish community (the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel) is far different from the days when the fear of angering the “other” forced us into silence.

While it may not be possible for New York’s Jewish community to prevail in this fight, the leadership is to be commended for not being complicit by being silent. In that effort the community can take great  pride in its religious leadership.