The Lesson on Ethics We Should Take from the New York Mayor’s Race
Now that the New York mayoral race is over, we have an opportunity to reflect on the discourse that occurred around this in the Jewish community. Various Rabbinic leaders in Jewish communities across North America chose to make public statements opposing New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s positions on Israel. Some perceived Mamdani’s position as impressively hostile or antisemitic, and some viewed Mamdani as expressing legitimate political critique or solidarity with Palestinians. Either way, there are lessons to draw from this experience that start by asking our Jewish leaders to ask themselves ethical questions (rooted in Santa Clara’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics):
- How should Jewish community leaders speak publicly about political figures whose positions they believe harm Jewish communities or the State of Israel?
- How should Jewish communities balance pluralism, solidarity, and safety — especially when members hold divergent political or moral views?
- What responsibilities do rabbis have when they speak in the name of Jewish communities?
- How can community members discuss these disagreements without deepening division or vilifying one another?
In order to ethically approach this situation, we must first gather facts. We should clarify what each public figure has said, rather than rely simply on social media summaries. We should identify who the stakeholders are: rabbis, congregants, local Jews, conservative and progressive activists, Mamdani himself, etc. We also need to understand some context, including that antisemitism and Islamophobia both exist in North America’s discourse about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and that people’s lived experiences of harm and fear are real and shape their reactions to these conversations.
Of the six ethical lenses we could use to explore this moment, I want to lean into the Rights Lens, Virtue Lens, and Care Lens.
The core idea of the Rights Lens is that every individual has moral rights to be respected, including to express their thoughts, to be free from slander or discrimination, and to live safely. Rabbis and community leaders have the right and the responsibility to voice moral concerns about issues affecting their communities. Similarly, Mamdani has the right to political speech without being misrepresented or dehumanized. Our congregants and community members have the right to access nuanced information, and to express dissent respectfully.
The Virtue Lens asks us what kind of person or community we want to be. Do we want to have the courage to speak truthfully even when it’s an unpopular opinion? Can we have the humility to admit the limits of our knowledge or moral certainty? Will we develop compassion to humanize folks with opposing views from our own? What does it look like to align our speech (publicly and behind closed doors) with Jewish ethical principles of emet (truth), shalom (peace), and elu v’elu (multiplicity)? When will we cultivate a Jewish community that simultaneously models moral conviction and humility?
Having ethics rooted in relationships, empathy, and context is the focus of the Care Lens. Through this lens, we ask ourselves: How do these debates impact real people’s wellbeing and sense of belonging? What emotional and relational repair is needed when speech causes pain? How can we hold communal spaces softly so that those hurt by this debate (whether feeling unsafe, unheard, or abandoned) can still feel that crucial sense of belonging?
Jewish educators, Rabbis, layleaders, board members, and community builders: We have many choices to make on how we bring people together, and this moment feels pivotal. Have difficult, novel, thoughtful discussions. Develop sensitivity for those who are different from you. See how wide you can intentionally make your tent. Build the muscles we need to strengthen Jewish communities so that we can live out Jewish values. Choose an ethical path forward.
Ethics is not merely how we feel or following a law or doing what your culture or religion thinks is “right.” Ethics is an intentional practice of examining how we live, how organizations and societies operate, and considering how we treat one another. Living an ethically Jewish life in 5786 requires acquiring and processing knowledge, taking deep breaths, building skills, having conversations with people outside of our echochambers, implementing meaningful rituals, and developing healing habits.
