Jews Will Not Abandon New York — Jews Will Redeem It

 By Dr. Shmuel Legesse
Upcoming author of Moral Diplomacy for a Broken World: Inspired by the Vision of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

When fear rises, courage must rise higher. Some Jews in New York whisper about leaving, moving to other U.S. cities or even back to Israel because they sense the city’s political winds turning against them. They fear that leaders indifferent to Jewish concerns could endanger the safety and dignity of Jewish life. But Jews have been here before. Our story is not retreat, it is resilience, renewal, and redemption.

New York is not just another metropolis. It is the beating heart of Jewish life outside Israel, the city where Jewish creativity, philanthropy, and moral vision have flourished for more than a century. From the Lower East Side’s sweatshops to the skyscrapers of Midtown, from the yeshivot of Brooklyn to Jewish hospitals and universities, Jews helped build this city. We invested our life in its future. Jews are not guests in New York; we are founders and partners in its destiny.

When Jewish immigrants fled pogroms and persecution in Europe, they arrived at Ellis Island with little more than hope. Within a generation, they built institutions that became the backbone of civic life. Mount Sinai Hospital founded in 1852 as “The Jews’ Hospital” became one of the world’s finest medical centers, serving all without distinction. Maimonides, Kingsbrook, and Long Island Jewish Medical Centers grew from that same conviction: healing is holy work, and to save one life is to save a world.

Jews compassion also created social-service institutions that rescue generations from despair. The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services aids tens of thousands yearly with mental-health care and family support. The Met Council on Jewish Poverty feeds the hungry and shelters the vulnerable. The Hebrew Free Loan Society, the Hebrew Free Burial Association, and The New Jewish Home continue sacred traditions of chesed and tzedakah, loving-kindness and justice.

Jewish education, too, has elevated the city’s moral and intellectual life. The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Touro College have trained generations of doctors, scholars, and civic leaders. These are not insular enclaves, they are engines of human progress.

The truth must be spoken clearly: New York without its Jews would not be New York. It would lose its moral compass, creative energy, and compassion. Yet amid rising antisemitism and political cynicism, many Jews doubt their place here. But abandoning New York would be surrendering to hatred instead of healing it.

Zionism was never about running from the world, it was about transforming it. To be a Jew anywhere is to carry moral responsibility everywhere. The Jews of New York must not flee they must lead. We must lead a new renaissance rooted not only in security but in purpose. It is time to renew Jewish identity, reconnect to Torah and ethics, and rebuild the moral foundations that once made this city a beacon of light. Jewish schools and synagogues must again become centers of learning and courage. Philanthropists and business leaders must invest not only in safety but in moral renewal for Jews and for all New Yorkers.

That renewal must include community-based security trained neighborhood patrols working with law enforcement. This is not vigilantism; it is partnership. Every Jewish neighborhood should have a coordinated network protecting synagogues, schools, and families. We should also create a Jewish Legal Aid Network to defend students and families facing antisemitic harassment. Protection must be lawful, united, and dignified.

As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l taught, this is a time not for fear but for moral leadership. “The antidote to fear is faith, and the answer to hate is responsibility.” Were he alive today, he would tell the Jews of New York: Do not hide build. Do not curse the darkness and light more candles. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the refusal to be defined by it. And he would remind America that the moral test of any civilization is how it treats its minorities and that Jews have always been the world’s moral barometer. Our vision must reach beyond our own community. The Jewish story has always been intertwined with the destiny of others. When Jews are under attack, it warns that a society’s moral health is in danger. When Jews suffer, the entire human family is diminished. Our pain is prophetic: it calls Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and atheists alike to remember that moral decay begins when hatred of one group is tolerated.

Now is the moment to create for a bold alliance. Jews must stand shoulder to shoulder with Black, Latino, and Asian New Yorkers with Christian and Muslim neighbors, with all who cherish freedom of religion and human dignity. Let synagogues in Brooklyn join hands with churches in Harlem and mosques in Queens. Let Jewish philanthropists and civic leaders build coalitions that confront hate, strengthen education, and revive the moral foundation that once made this city great. We do not need to flee this city, we need to redeem it. Israel remains our eternal homeland, our spiritual compass, and the root of our identity. But the Jews of New York are Israel’s great ambassadors to the world. The pulse of Jewish life in the Diaspora beats strongest here. To abandon it would be to abandon our post in the world’s moral struggle to let fear silence faith.

As a Black Ethiopian Jew and Israeli who served in the New York City government for over two decades who studied, married, and raised four Black Jewish children here I say this with conviction to those who whisper “leave,” : Jews will not leave.

This is the city where Elie Wiesel taught conscience and compassion, where Golda Meir inspired Zionist hope, where generations of rabbis, poets, doctors, and activists proved that Jewish values are universal values. New York has seen tragedy and rebirth before from the ashes of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to the grief of 9/11 and each time, Jews helped it rise again. So let Jews rise once more. Let every synagogue, every Jewish school, every home remember: retreat is not our destiny. The same people who rebuilt Jerusalem from ruins can renew New York from cynicism.

We are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Our legacy is not escape, it is endurance. When the Jews of New York thrive, the whole city thrives. And when this city stands tall in justice and compassion, it sends a message to the world: humanity can still rise above hate. Am Yisrael Chai—the people of Israel live—and we will help New York live, too.