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A new organization aims to combat antisemitism and spread Jewish joy in New York’s theater industry
Shortly after Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, Seth Rudetsky, a well-known New York City theater fixture and a host on Sirius XM’s On Broadway station, received an email from an American living in Israel who expressed confusion at the relative silence of the theater community concerning the plight of the hostages.
At first, Rudetsky — who is not particularly religious but is culturally connected to his Ashkenazi heritage — didn’t want to enter the fray. He had not been vocal on Israel in the past and had done little fundraising for Jewish causes generally.
But the more Rudetsky noticed the dearth of support for Israelis online, the more he realized that someone should do something. And so, along with his husband, James Wesley, and with support from others, Rudetsky began gathering talent to sing on a music video, based on “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables,” asking for the release of the hostages.
The effort was successful — the video Rudetsky music directed and helped produce, “Bring Them Home: A Broadway Prayer,” released Nov. 10, 2023, featured an all-star cast, including Tovah Feldshuh, Linda Lavin, Debra Messing and Billy Porter. It has received almost 500,000 views on its designated YouTube page.
Rudetsky was surprised at some of the pushback the video received. “I got some crazy posts,” he said, referring to social media posts that targeted him personally and labelled him as a “rabid Zionist.”
The hate Rudetsky experienced made him realize the need for the Jewish theater community to band together to combat what he saw as misinformation about Israel and Jews. And so he formed the Jewish Broadway Alliance. The organization’s aim, according to its mission statement, is “to support and empower Jewish artists through community, education, advocacy and celebration of our unique culture, heritage and peoplehood.”
On Sunday, JBA hosted a virtual Hanukkah gathering, celebrating the holiday but also recognizing the Bondi Beach attack. Among those appearing were actress Julie Benko, comedian Judy Gold and Tony-nominee Lorna Courtney, who called in from her vacation to participate.
“Seth is really great at gathering people and it just lifts you up,” said Courtney, who has a Jewish father and was not raised Jewish, and formally converted to Judaism earlier this year. “It brings light, it brings joy. You create your community. You have more friends because of it, more people that you can connect with.”
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, many Jews — and Jewish artists, specifically — have felt sidelined by their communities. Jewish authors have been dumped by their literary agents, Jewish comedians have had shows cancelled and visual artists have shared stories about being abandoned by fans and friends. Members of New York’s theater community also felt abandoned, despite the sentiment, as a 2023 New York Times headline put it, that “Jewish people built the American theater as we know it.”
For example, Damien Bassman, a drummer currently working in the Death Becomes Her orchestra, said there are generally observed sensitivities backstage when it comes to wearing attire that might offend. That hasn’t stopped another team member from wearing a “Free Gaza” shirt — even after Bassman tried to explain why he considered the slogan troubling.
“I think it is surprising [that] for a community that constantly talks about empathy and this idea of multiple things being true and nuance, there’s a remarkable lack of it when it comes to this particular issue,” said Israeli-born Broadway veteran Etai Benson, known for featured roles in The Band’s Visit and Company.
Benson said has lost friends over his support of Israel, but he emphasized that his in-person encounters have been better than the “troubling” material he has seen posted online.
The Jewish Broadway Alliance soft-launched by helping organize “Shabbat on Broadway,” a starry Shabbat service at the St. James Theatre on Jan. 27, 2024. From there, the organization expanded to recording YouTube segments about antisemitism and collecting anonymous feedback about anti-Jewish bias in the theater industry.
In March 2025, JBA launched a weekly virtual Shabbat, “designed to spread Jewish joy,” according to Rudetsky. The event has drawn the likes of Trading Spaces host Paige Davis, Tony Award-nominee Julia Lester and four-time Tony-winning director Jerry Zaks.
The organization is on the verge of being granted 501(c)(3) status. Rudetsky and the other volunteer leaders — who include actress Laura Patinkin and philanthropist Lee Perlman — hope that, with the help of a still-to-be-hired executive director, they can develop an educational program they can extend to different Broadway shows, with the goal of including antisemitism in DEI trainings.
Alexandra Socha, a recent Glinda in Wicked and Benson’s wife, converted to Judaism a few months before Oct 7. She said she now stands as a “proud Jew” who believes the Jewish theater community needs to make clear “we are not going to give up a part of our identity to be accepted by our fellow industry workers.”
“The best thing we can do is develop some training to help Broadway companies understand what antisemitism — and not just hatred of Jews but dismissal or distrust of Jews — looks like,” she said, adding that prior to her conversion, she was less cognizant of the impact of words and actions that now sting.
Tony-winner Ari’el Stachel — whose recent off-Broadway show, Other, unpacked his upbringing with an Ashkenazi mother and Yemeni Israeli father — hopes JBA can help showcase a wide range of Jewish voices, particularly those of Jews of color, which he believes is essential to help counter misplaced assumptions about Israel.
“It means a lot to me that Seth involved me and that he spoke about my Yemeni Jewish heritage,” Stachel said, referring to a recent JBA field trip to Other and a discussion with Rudetsky at an after-show talkback. “These are sort of basic facts that I’ve lived with my whole life that really complicate the white settler narrative. Seth is doing a lot of work on that. I think right now standing united in our full diversity is really important.”
Julie Benko, left, and Cantor Azi Schwartz star in a video that the Jewish Broadway Alliance helped make, “Hanukkah on Broadway,” filmed in Times Square on Dec. 13, 2024. (YouTube screenshot)
No one thinks one organization is going to solve antisemitism, even in a relatively small industry. But Rudetsky hopes JBA can help Jews in New York’s theater scene feel comfortable speaking out, something he feels is essential in these times.
Feldshuh, a four-time Tony nominee who’s currently in the Netflix hit Nobody Wants This, agrees. “I want to be clear that I’m a practical woman: If you want to kill me, I object,” she said. “It’s really quite simple. If you want to kill me, I object and I will speak out about that.”
Feldshuh, who has attended JBA events, relayed how misguided she finds her colleagues who support Palestinians without rejecting the noxious politics of Hamas. She said they are “supporting [a] value system which spells, if it ever took hold, it literally spells the death of Western civilization.”
As an example, Feldshuh referenced how women’s rights would be curtailed in the sort of Islamist fundamentalist society envisioned by Hamas. She believes several actors have fallen for “half-truths” from the “phenomenal Hamas/Hezbollah media machine” that have led to their public statements against Israel.
But she noted she and others still had their voices. People can speak up, she said, and Jews can persevere by celebrating their rich traditions through organizations such as JBA.
“[Community] is crucial,” she said. “And Seth Rudetsky is a lightning rod … He helps people get together for these age-old traditions of keeping the Sabbath.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
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Mamdani touts ‘Babies not Bombs’ messaging after flexing political muscle in the New York primaries
(New York Jewish Week) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated the victories of the progressive candidates he endorsed in New York’s Democratic primaries describing their success as a “shift in the balance of power.”
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the morning after the primaries, Mamdani touted the triumphs as a shift in the balance of power between “working people” and “special interests.”
Mamdani-endorsed candidates Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez won Democratic nominations for Congress. During the press conference, the mayor repeatedly highlighted their calls to restrict U.S. military aid to Israel and redirect federal funding to domestic priorities.
Following Mamdani’s election night sweep in New York, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “America the Beautiful will NEVER be a Communist Country!!!”
The victories offered an early demonstration of Mamdani’s political influence beyond City Hall, as several Democratic Socialist candidates he backed, including Chevalier, defeated established Democratic incumbents in their districts.
“The working person is struggling in our city to afford basic needs,” Mamdani said, adding that Avila Chevalier’s oft-repeated slogan of investing in “Babies not Bombs,” is “the kind of conscience, the kind of clarity, the kind of conviction that has been missing in our politics for far too long.”
Mamdani responded to the president’s post on Wednesday, telling a reporter who asked whether his goal is to make America a “socialist” country that his “goal is to make America a place that every American can afford.”
When asked about federal policies that could be affected by Mamdani’s endorsed candidates, the mayor cited Valdez’s support for “foreign policy that understands human rights for all” and Lander’s commitment to co-sponsoring the Block the Bombs Act, which prohibits the sale of certain U.S.-made offensive weapons to Israel.
Mamdani also dismissed a question about whether he was concerned about how the victories would play out in November as Democrats try to win back the House.
“Every time the fight for working people takes a step forward, you will hear Republicans say that this is actually going to jeopardize the existence of that very fight,” he said.
When asked whether the election of Chevalier, who has faced scrutiny for past social media posts attacking Democrats and her appearance at an Oct. 8, 2023, pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square, could “complicate campaigns for Democrats as a whole,” Mamdani replied “No.”
“[Chevalier] often speaks about a politics of life. She speaks about ‘Babies not bombs,’” Mamdani continued. “What could be a better example of what the people of the district want to see versus what the people of the district have been forced to experience, which is tens of billions of dollars being spent at a national level to bomb children overseas, while children in our own districts are struggling.”
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Jewish anti-Zionist David Orkin defeats incumbent in NY Assembly primary
(New York Jewish Week) — David Orkin, a Jewish anti-Zionist attorney and democratic socialist, defeated incumbent New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Orkin won State Assembly District 38, which includes parts of Queens.
Orkin, an immigrant workers’ rights attorney and union organizer, received 58.8% of the vote, while Rajkumar, who has represented the district since 2021 and is the first South Asian woman ever elected to office in the state, received 40.9%. The district covers a swath of Queens, including parts of Ridgewood, Glendale, Ozone Park, Woodhaven and Richmond Hill.
“Pro-Palestine candidates are sweeping in NYC tonight,” Jewish Voice for Peace Action wrote in a post on Instagram celebrating Orkin’s win Tuesday. “Palestine was on the ballot — and won. David will be a champion for Palestinian freedom in Albany.”
The post from JVP Action echoed a message Orkin had highlighted throughout his campaign.
“It’s so incredibly meaningful to me to be running this race as an anti-Zionist Jew, to be one of the few anti-Zionist Jewish voices that is in an elected seat in the state government,” Orkin said in an Instagram reel posted by Jewish Voice for Peace Action earlier this month.
He added that, if elected, he would be able to go in front of the state legislature and assert that “criticizing Israel for genocide, demanding an end to the occupation, demanding an end to funding war abroad is not antisemitic.”
Orkin’s victory came amid a strong night for democratic socialist candidates across New York City, including left-wing congressional candidates Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who also defeated establishment-backed opponents in their primaries.
While Orkin was not endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whose winning endorsements of Lander, Chevalier and Valdez signaled a pro-Palestinian lurch for the party in the city with the world’s largest Jewish population outside of Israel. Nonetheless, his victory elevated a self-described anti-Zionist to the ranks of New York’s elected officials at a time when debates over Israel have become increasingly prominent within Democratic politics.
While Israel-related issues were not listed on Orkin’s platform, which centered on affordability and immigration, he repeatedly expressed his support for a “free Palestine” and attacked Rajkumar’s record of support for the Jewish state during his campaign.
“In the past several years my opponent AM Rajkumar has walked in the Israel day parade but has said NOTHING against the war in Gaza, occupation of Palestine, or Islamophobic attacks faced by the people of New York,” Orkin wrote in a May post on X.
Rajkumar, who was a close political ally of former New York City Mayor Eric Adams, in her campaign platform vowed to combat antisemitism.
After establishing a Jewish Voice for Peace chapter in Tucson, Arizona, in 2014, Orkin remained involved in pro-Palestinian activism as a member of the anti-Zionist activist group.
“I’ve been involved in the Jewish Palestine Solidarity Movement for 12, 13 years,” Orkin told Democratic Left last month. “I’ve dedicated part [of my] life to making sure that Jewish people are creating religious spaces outside of Zionism, and to making more space for Palestinian organizing to have an impact.”
On the campaign trail, Orkin received a host of endorsements from prominent progressive groups and lawmakers, including Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, JVP Action and NYC Democratic Socialists for America.
Rajkumar was endorsed by ActJew, the new nonprofit focused on combatting antisemitism, as well as the Queens Jewish Alliance and Assemblymembers Sam Berger, Kalman Yeger and Chuck Lavine.
Orkin received over $290,000 in campaign contributions for the election cycle, including over $156,000 from the office of the state comptroller, while Rajkumar received over $270,000, including $9,000 from health care executive Daniel Lowy.
“I have dedicated my life fighting for immigrants and workers, I am proud to have earned their support in this election, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life winning the beautiful and joyous lives we deserve,” Orkin said in a statement, according to QNS.
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Half of Americans think the U.S. is ‘too supportive’ of Israel
(JTA) — A new survey found that 48% of American voters think the United States is “too supportive” of Israel, the highest since the pollster started asking the question in 2017.
The survey published Wednesday by Quinnipiac University also found that 60% of respondents reported that military intervention in Iran was “not worth it” as opposed to 34% of voters who said it was “worth it.”
The number of respondents who think the U.S. support of Israel is about right is 38%, while just 7% think the U.S. is not supportive enough of Israel, the poll found.
Broken down by party, 66% of Democrats think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, while 9% think it is not supportive enough and 18% think U.S. support for Israel is about right.
Among Republicans, 20% think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, 69% think American support for Israel is “about right,” and 6% think the U.S. is not supportive enough.
Among independent voters, 55% think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, 34% think U.S. support for Israel is about right, and 7% think the U.S. is not supportive enough.
The poll data were released one day after three Democrats critical of Israel swept their House primary races in New York City, and in races around the country even some reliably pro-Israel Democratic candidates distanced themselves from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
A survey last year by Gallup found dwindling support for Israel among Democrats, as well as waning support among Republicans.
Still the party divide was also in sharp evidence in the latest poll. In responses to the question about whether the Iran war was “worth it”, Democrats disfavored military action in Iran at 93% and independents at 66%, while 75% of Republicans surveyed thought it was “worth it.”
Given a list of 10 issues and asked which, if any, they considered priorities in their decision-making process in the election for the U.S. House of Representatives, 41% of voters cited the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, above AI data centers (38%) and Donald Trump (38%). The high cost of living (70%) and health care (59%) topped the list.
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from June 18 to 22, and includes responses from 1,165 self-identified registered voters.
The margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.
Among those surveyed, 48% said they had an unfavorable view of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Twenty percent said they had a favorable opinion, and 30% “haven’t heard enough” about him.
“Netanyahu gets poor marks from American voters as their appetite for supporting Israel wanes, with the share of voters who think the U.S. is too supportive of Israel hitting a new high,” Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy wrote in the report.
Voters were also asked about their views on the June 17 memorandum of understanding with Iran, which begins a 60-day negotiation period that does not outline an end to Iran’s nuclear program.
“After months of diplomatic fits and starts, global economic repercussions and a broad loss of life in the region, a majority of voters make their feelings clear: the Iran war was a bad idea,” Malloy wrote.
Voters who are either not confident or “not so confident” that the deal will succeed numbered 59%, and 61% think it is either likely or very likely that Iran will develop nuclear weapons.
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