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New York Synagogues Speak of Courage — But Then Retreat in Fear in New York Mayoral Race
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s recent message to members of Central Synagogue in New York City struck a nerve. She affirmed her commitment to Israel and condemned antisemitism in heartfelt, eloquent terms. Then, in the next breath, she insisted that Central would remain “neutral” in New York’s mayoral election.
It’s a familiar move from American Jewish institutions: speak of courage, then retreat behind the language of neutrality. But neutrality is not virtue when Jewish security, dignity, and self-determination are under attack. It is moral negligence.
I understand the impulse. A synagogue should not be campaign headquarters. Communities must be open to those who disagree politically. Yet there is a difference between partisan engagement and moral abdication. When a candidate tolerates anti-Zionist rhetoric, minimizes antisemitic harassment, or treats Jewish self-determination as debatable, refusing to speak clearly is not an act of pluralism — it is an evasion of responsibility.
This is not an abstract question.
Since October 7, Jewish institutions in New York have been defaced, Jewish students have been harassed, and Jewish events have been shouted down by mobs invoking “anti-Zionism” as cover for bigotry. The city that once symbolized Jewish belonging is again a place where Jews think twice before showing their identity.
Walk past almost any synagogue or day school in Manhattan and you’ll see the cost of silence: armed guards, security barriers, and parents who wonder whether their children are safe walking home in a kippah.
In moments like these, Jewish leaders cannot hide behind process. We don’t need moral neutrality. We need moral leadership.
The First Amendment’s separation of church and state was never designed to muzzle faith communities. It was designed to protect their freedom of conscience. For centuries, American Jews have exercised that freedom: organizing for civil rights, fighting for Soviet Jewry, and defending the rights of others to live without fear. Our civic engagement was never about partisan politics. It was about moral responsibility.
To suggest that synagogues must be silent in the face of threats to Jewish life or the Jewish State is a distortion of that heritage. A synagogue that cannot speak to the moral character of public life is not protecting pluralism; it is hollowing it out.
In my recent essay for the American Enterprise Institute, “Solidarity Requires Self-Respect,” I argued that genuine solidarity begins with a clear sense of self. You cannot build coalitions by erasing your identity or apologizing for it. A people that hides its convictions for the sake of belonging will ultimately lose both its dignity and its allies. True solidarity grows out of self-respect and self-respect requires clarity.
For Jews today, that means speaking plainly: Israel is not a “foreign issue.” It is part of who we are historically, spiritually, and existentially. A candidate who traffics in anti-Zionist rhetoric is not simply taking a policy position; they are questioning the moral legitimacy of Jewish belonging. To remain neutral in the face of that is to tell Jews that their identity is conditional.
Jewish tradition rejects that posture.
Jeremiah commands us to “seek the peace of the city,” and Hillel warns, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” Those are not polite suggestions. They are calls to moral and civic engagement.
Judaism commands not silence but tochacha — the duty to offer moral rebuke when wrongs threaten the community. To be for ourselves means to defend Jewish life without apology. To seek the peace of the city means to do so publicly as Jews, as citizens, and as moral agents.
I do not believe rabbis should generally tell their congregants how to vote. But I do believe they must tell them what is at stake — and in New York, the stakes are high, even existential. Political clarity is not optional; it is a moral duty. When one candidate flirts with ideologies that deny Jewish legitimacy, while another defends Jewish safety and inclusion, pretending the two positions are equally valid is not fairness. It is confusion.
Central Synagogue is one of the most visible Jewish institutions in America. Its history is a proud one: a congregation that has embodied confidence, civic engagement, and faith in both Judaism and America. That legacy deserves to be carried forward not through silence, but through conviction.
The rabbi is right to fear the politicization of religion. But there is a far greater danger in the depoliticization of morality — in the idea that religious institutions can opt out of public life at precisely the moment their voices are needed most.
We can cherish diversity without dissolving our identity. We can respect pluralism without surrendering our principles. Pluralism doesn’t survive through avoidance; it survives through citizens and communities willing to name truth and stand for it in public.
Our community needs leaders willing to say, without hesitation, that some truths are non-negotiable: that Israel’s legitimacy is not up for debate; that Jewish safety is not contingent on political fashion; and that being a Jew in public life means standing, visibly and unapologetically, for our people and our future.
The next mayor will shape whether Jewish life in New York remains vibrant or fearful. Neutrality will not safeguard that future. Conviction will.
If our institutions cannot summon the courage to say what is true, they risk becoming sanctuaries of comfort rather than centers of conscience. Jewish life has never thrived in silence. It thrives in clarity, confidence, and courage.
Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
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Herzog Says Wellbeing of Israelis His Only Concern in Deal With Netanyahu’s ‘Extraordinary’ Pardon Request
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Latvia, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
i24 News – In an interview with Politico published on Saturday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog remained tight-lipped on whether he intended to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “extraordinary” pardon request, saying that his decision will be motivated by what’s best for Israel.
“There is a process which goes through the Justice Ministry and my legal adviser and so on. This is certainly an extraordinary request and above all when dealing with it I will consider what is the best interest of the Israeli people,” Herzog said. “The well-being of the Israeli people is my first, second and third priority.”
Asked specifically about President Donald Trump’s request, Herzog said “I respect President Trump’s friendship and his opinion,” adding, “Israel, naturally, is a sovereign country.”
Herzog addressed a wide range of topics in the interview, including the US-Israel ties and the shifts in public opinion on Israel.
“One has to remember that the fountains of America, of American life, are based on biblical values, just like ours. And therefore, I believe that the underlying fountain that we all drink from is the same,” he said. “However, I am following very closely the trends that I see in the American public eye and the attitude, especially of young people, on Israel.”
“It comes from TikTok,” he said of the torrent of hostility toward Israel that has engulf swathes of U.S. opinion since the October 7 massacre and the subsequent Gaza war, “from a very shallow discourse of the current situation, pictures or viewpoints, and doesn’t judge from the big picture, which is, is Israel a strategic ally? Yes. Is Israel contributing to American national interests, security interests? Absolutely yes. Is Israel a beacon of democracy in the Middle East? Absolutely yes.”
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Syria’s Sharaa Charges Israel ‘Exports Its Crises to Other Countries’
FILE PHOTO: Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa addresses the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday escalated his messaging against Israel at the Doha forum.
“Israel is working to export its own crises to other countries and escape accountability for the massacres it committed in the Gaza Strip, justifying everything with security concerns,” he said.
“Meanwhile, Syria, since its liberation, has sent positive messages aimed at establishing the foundations of regional stability.
“Israel has responded to Syria with extreme violence, launching over 1,000 airstrikes and carrying out 400 incursions into its territory. The latest of these attacks was the massacre it perpetrated in the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside, which claimed dozens of lives.
“We are working with influential countries worldwide to pressure Israel to withdraw from the territories it occupied after December 8, 2014, and all countries support this demand.
“Syria insists on Israel’s adherence to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. The demand for a demilitarized zone raises many questions. Who will protect this zone if there is no Syrian army presence?
“Any agreement must guarantee Syria’s interests, as it is Syria that is subjected to Israeli attacks. So, who should be demanding a buffer zone and withdrawal?”
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Turkey’s Fidan: Gaza Governance Must Precede Hamas Disarmament in Ceasefire Deal
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends a press conference following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, May 27, 2025. Photo: Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Saturday that not advancing the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan to its next stage would be a “huge failure” for the world and Washington, noting that President Donald Trump had personally led the push.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Fidan said a credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force needed to be in place to allow Hamas to disarm, and that the group was prepared to hand over control of the enclave.
“First of all, we need to see that the Palestinian committee of technical people are taking over the administration of Gaza, then we need to see that the police force is being formed to police Gaza – again, by the Palestinians, not Hamas.”
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza. It played a key role in brokering the ceasefire deal, signing the agreement as a guarantor. It has repeatedly expressed its willingness to join efforts to monitor the accord’s implementation, a move Israel strongly opposes.
Talks to advance the next phase of President Trump’s plan to end the two-year conflict in Gaza are continuing.
The plan envisages an interim technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave, overseen by an international “board of peace” and supported by a multinational security force. Negotiations over the composition and mandate of that force have proven particularly difficult.
Fidan said the Gaza police force would be backed by the international stabilisation force. He added that Washington was pressing Israel over Turkey’s bid to join the force, to which it has voiced readiness to deploy troops if needed.
FIDAN SAYS KURDISH SDF IN SYRIA NOT WILLING TO INTEGRATE
Asked about a landmark deal in March in which the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and Damascus agreed that the SDF would be integrated into Syria’s state structures, Fidan said signals from the SDF showed it had “no intention” of honouring the accord, and was instead seeking to sidestep it.
Ankara, which considers the SDF a terrorist organisation, has threatened military action if it does not comply, setting a deadline of the end of the year.
“I think they (SDF) should understand that the command and control should come from one place,” Fidan added. “There can be no two armies in any given country. So there can only be one army, one command structure … But in local administration, they can reach a different settlement and different understandings.”
Almost a year after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad, Fidan said some issues of minority rights were unresolved, insisting that Turkey’s backing of the new Syrian government was not a “blank cheque” to oppress any groups.
He said Damascus was taking steps toward national unity, but that Israeli “destabilisation policies” were the chief obstacle.
Israel has frequently struck southwestern Syria this year, citing threats from militant groups and the need to protect the Druze community near the frontier. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he expected Syria to establish a demilitarised buffer zone from Damascus to the border.
TURKEY: U.S. COULD REMOVE SANCTIONS ‘VERY SOON’
Fidan also said Washington’s initial 28-point plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war was just a “starting point,” and that it was now evolving in a new format. He said mediation by US officials was “on the right path.”
“I just hope that nobody leaves the table and the Americans are not frustrated, because sometimes the mediators can be frustrated if they don’t see enough encouragement from both sides.”
Asked about efforts to lift US sanctions imposed in 2020 over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, he said both sides were working on it, adding: “I believe we’ll soon find a way to remove that obstacle.”