Mamdani in hush-hush conference with select rabbis

Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a closed-door meeting with a select group of Jewish spiritual leaders on Monday, barring both traditionally Orthodox and more broadly recognized leaders.

The roundtable discussion was “an open, positive and constructive conversation,” Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, said in a statement afterwards, even though the confab was anything but open.

It “focused on strategies to strengthen Jewish safety and belonging, maintain candid lines of communication and collaborate on issues where we have shared values and goals,” Wisdom, said.

“Mayor Mamdani met for an hour with a group of New York City rabbis from several denominations, including Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox, as well as unaffiliated groups,” she said, adding that it “focused on strategies to strengthen Jewish safety and belonging, maintain candid lines of communication and collaborate on issues where we have shared values and goals.”

“Mayor Mamdani has and will continue to engage with Jewish life in New York City in order to meet the needs of our communities and reaffirm his commitment to the thriving of Jewish communities across the five boroughs,” Wisdom added.

Neither the New York Board of Rabbis — which represents more than 750 rabbis across religious denominations in the New York area — nor the Rabbinical Council of America was invited to the roundtable, the groups told JNS.

JNS asked the mayor’s office for a list of attendees but an official list was not supplied.

A source told JNS that spiritual leaders who attended were: Union for Reform Judaism president Rick Jacobs, Rabbinical Assembly COO Ashira Konigsburg (Conservative), Steven Exler of The Bayit / Hebrew Institute of Riverdale (Open Orthodox), Jon Leener of Prospect Heights Shul (Modern Orthodox), Felicia Sol of B’nai Jeshurun (non-denominational), Rachel Timoner of Beth Elohim (Reform), Michelle Dardashti of Kane Street Synagogue (Conservative), Ellen Lippmann of Kolot Chayeinu (non-denominational), Josh Rabin of Astoria Center of Israel (Conservative), and progressive New York Jewish Agenda executive director Margo Hughes-Robinson.

Timoner told the New York Times that those present urged the mayor to stop criticizing Israel and focus more on issues local to the city. Another rabbi told the newspaper that “there was a uniform sense that something about Mr. Mamdani’s relationship with the Jewish community had to change.”

“If he is going to criticize Israel or speak for Palestinian freedom, which I do regularly, then it really matters that there is complexity in his message,” said Timoner.

Jacobs told the Times that he urged Mamdani to soften his tone when speaking about the Jewish state.

“I’m happy to work in partnership with your administration, but Mr. Mayor, you are 90% of what could be different here,” Jacobs recalled telling him during the meeting. “If instead of vilifying Israel, you spoke constructively, in measured tones — that would move the needle more than anything else, and I’m hopeful you’ll use that power.”

“There was no tiptoeing around the elephant in the room,” said Rabbi Jonathan Leener of the liberal Orthodox Prospect Heights Shul.

“The mayor’s comments have ramifications and he needs to be aware of how in the current climate, that just adds to the temperature and creates an environment that I think a lot of Jews feel vulnerable in,” Rabbi Leener told the Times.

Rabbi Leener, a Zionist with family in Israel, explained that he wasn’t trying to alter Mamdani’s views on Israel, but rather to encourage him to create a safer environment for his Jewish constituents, he told the Times, urging the mayor to devote more police resources to protecting synagogues and other Jewish institutions.

“That should be his focus and not making comments unnecessarily about the conflict,” Rabbi Leener said. “Or having a bit more nuance around it. That it’s not just good versus evil.”

With Rikki Zagelbaum, JNS