We Must Take Responsibility — Especially for the 33%

Rabbi Reuven Kahane and Dr. Shmuel Legesse

Something profound and dangerous has emerged from the latest New York City election. Roughly one-third of Jewish voters supported a candidate who refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist and has tolerated rhetoric that borders on antisemitism. That number should shake every Jewish heart. This is not merely about politics or party loyalty it is a moral emergency. When Jews themselves empower voices that slander their own people and defame the only Jewish state, it signals a deep fracture in identity, faith, and moral memory.

Let us be honest: this is not a failure of politics; it is a failure of education, of leadership, and of courage. Somewhere along the way, our community has lost its moral vocabulary. We taught our children to achieve, not to belong to arguing, but not to understand. We gave them access to every platform but not to their purpose. Many of those who now denounce Israel do not hate their heritage; they simply no longer know it. They are Jews by ancestry, not by conviction. And that is not their fault, it is ours.

For years, we relied on institutions instead of relationships. We built magnificent synagogues and schools, but we forgot the personal invitation that keeps faith alive. We stopped listening to the doubts of our own youth and left them to learn about Israel from professors who despise it and journalists who distort it. We expected loyalty without teaching love. We demanded solidarity without sharing meaning. Today’s alienation did not happen overnight it is the harvest of decades of silence and superficiality. When rabbis avoided hard truths to stay “apolitical,” when educators replaced covenant with culture, when parents substituted comfort for commitment, we sowed the seeds of confusion. And now, as antisemitism rises globally and Israel is demonized in international courts, part of our own family has joined the chorus of accusation. That is why this election is not just a statistic—it is a warning.

I speak not as a partisan but as a Jew who has lived the journey of our people from Ethiopia to America to Jerusalem. In Ethiopia, my ancestors prayed for centuries facing Zion, sustained by faith alone. In New York, I saw what freedom can do but also how comfort breeds indifference. In Jerusalem, I learned that survival is not enough; we must live for a moral purpose. Across continents, one truth echoes: when Jews forget who they are, the world quickly forgets too. This is the time for moral awakening. We must stop outsourcing Jewish identity to institutions and start embodying it in our homes, our communities, and our discourse. Every rabbi must teach not only ritual but responsibility. Every parent must talk about Israel not as a political issue but as a living covenant. Every Jewish organization must make education its first mission again not fundraising, not branding, but the transmission of truth.

We cannot dismiss the “33%” as lost souls. They are not enemies they are estranged relatives. The way back is not through condemnation, but through courageous conversation. Invite them to Shabbat. Challenge them intellectually. Show them the Israel that heals Syrian children, that trains African doctors, that shelters Ukrainian refugees. Show them the Judaism that feeds the hungry and defends the stranger. Show them that being Jewish means to be a moral light not a political slogan. The danger before us is not only external antisemitism, but internal amnesia. When our own youth echo the propaganda of those who wish us harm, the threat becomes existential. If we fail to act, the next generation will inherit confusion instead of conviction. But if we rise now if we rebuild education with empathy and courage, we can transform this crisis into renewal.

Judaism has survived empires and exile because it is more than identity it is destiny. It is not defined by race or geography, but by covenant and conscience. Israel is not a colonial project; it is the rebirth of an ancient promise. And the Jewish people are not divided by politics; we are united by moral purpose. We must teach that truth again, boldly and unapologetically. The election of a mayor who refuses to recognize Israel should awaken every American Jew to their responsibility. Mayor Mamdani’s victory may reflect democracy, but it also exposes moral confusion. I congratulate him on his service to this city I love and served for more than two decades but I urge him, and the public, to engage in honest dialogue about Israel and the Jewish people. False accusations of apartheid and colonialism are not intellectual positions—they are weapons that endanger real lives. And when leaders or media outlets amplify those lies, they give license to hatred.

That is why I call on international media CNN, BBC, Fox News, and respected voices like Piers Morgan to host open educational debates. Let those who accuse Israel of apartheid sit across from those who know apartheid firsthand Africans, Ethiopians, Jews who lived through it. Let truth and experience speak louder than slogans.

I also speak directly to my fellow Jews in New York: we cannot remain silent while disinformation corrodes our youth and hatred masquerades as justice. The Jewish community must return to its root’s moral education, courageous dialogue, and unity in diversity. We must take responsibility especially for the 33%. Not because they are the problem, but because they are the test of our collective soul.

If we succeed, this painful moment can become a turning point. If we fail, it will be remembered as the generation that forgot itself. The choice is ours to shrink into fear, or to rise into purpose. Judaism has never been about perfection it has always been about responsibility. And today, our responsibility is clear: to defend truth with courage, to teach faith with love, and to rebuild the covenant of our people one heart, one home, one truth at a time.

About the Co-author: Reuven Kahane is the President of RKRE Properties, a real estate investment firm in New York. He is also an ordained rabbi from Yeshiva University and holds a law degree from Cardozo School of Law, combining business leadership with a lifelong commitment to ethics and community service. Rabbi Kahane has built a distinguished career blending business acumen with a deep commitment to community and philanthropy.