This Reform Rabbi is a ‘no’ for Mamdani

Since the Talmud, disagreement is the hallmark of rabbinic discourse, even in times of great distress. It should therefore surprise no one familiar with Judaism’s ongoing internal debates that even in this time of fear and anxiety for the Jewish community in New York, five rabbis would “enthusiastically endorse” a candidate for mayor, Zohram Mamdani, with an overt history of anti-Israel advocacy. That’s the thesis of Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg’s recent Times of Israel blog post, signed by several Reform Rabbis, one a current professor and administrator of our Reform Movement seminary, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

These rabbis certainly have the right to support, even endorse, anyone they wish. But their endorsement contains lies and whitewashes language that threaten Jews, and so this Reform rabbi felt compelled to speak out.

First, Rabbi Goldenberg’s endorsement falls outside the mainstream of the Reform Movement because we are a Zionist Movement. Our congregations and camps are Zionist institutions, and our Reform Movement in Israel is thriving and growing. We Reform Jews have ongoing, contentious arguments over Israeli policy, especially about Gaza and the West Bank, but such internal disagreement shouldn’t be confused with calls for the elimination of the Jewish state.  Left out of Rabbi Goldenberg’s blog are Mamdani’s refusal to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, his advocacy for BDS against Israel, his public support of the “Holy Land Five,” the heads of an organization convicted of aiding Hamas, and his most recent statement blaming October 7th on Israel.

But Rabbi Goldenberg’s most egregious lie whitewashes Mamdani’s comments on the incendiary phrase “Globalize the Intifada.” A cursory internet search will easily identify this phrase as an incitement for violence against Jews. As an example, the anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime, published a map of Jewish organizations in New York under the banner “Globalize The Intifada-Zone of Operations.” You don’t need a seminary education to see the implications here. It is clearly an incitement for attacks against Jews. One would think a group of rabbis might be concerned about this, and about a candidate for mayor who refuses to condemn, clearly and unequivocally, rhetoric calling for violence against the very people these rabbis are called to lead. After the Washington, DC murders and the violent attack on elderly Jews in Boulder, a rabbi might fear that normalizing antisemitic rhetoric could lead to more violence against innocent Jews. A rabbi might also consider with concern, Mamdani’s long fixation on the Jewish state. Why hasn’t he advocated for the destruction of any other nation with a dominant religious or cultural identity. There are many to choose from. Why such intense criticism of the only Jewish state, while ignoring all the others?

And many of us are very, deeply concerned about Zohran Mamdani’s history of statements and actions, concerned that his election will endanger innocent Jews, and if Rabbis Goldenberg, Stein, Ellman, Lippman, Wiener and Grossman consider our concern a “bad faith attack,” so be it.