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Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum joins Mamdani rally with progressive leaders in Queens
This piece first ran as part of The Countdown, our daily newsletter rounding up all the developments in the New York City mayor’s race. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. There are 8 days to the election.
A rally in Queens
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Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, a longtime advocate of LGBTQ rights and anti-Trump activist, campaigned with Zohran Mamdani for the first time at a huge rally on Sunday.
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Mamdani also stood with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — a trifecta of the country’s Muslim, Jewish and Christian progressive stars — at the Queens Forest Hills Stadium, where nearly all 13,000 seats were filled.
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The generational torch of democratic socialism was on show, with 34-year-old Mamdani crediting 84-year-old Sanders for his meteoric rise. He told the crowd, “I stand before you tonight only because the senator dared to stand alone for so long. I speak the language of democratic socialism only because he spoke it first.”
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Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez also demonstrated a united progressive front around Mamdani’s pro-Palestinian platform, which has been as core to his campaign as affordability.
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“They want us to think we are crazy,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “We are sane to demand affordable and decent housing, a decent wage, the right to health care, that we pay to care for our people instead of the flattening of Palestinians and oppressed people abroad.”
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Gov. Kathy Hochul also appeared in her first time campaigning with Mamdani since she endorsed him in September, showing the support Mamdani has amassed among moderate Democratic leaders.
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Hochul was heckled with a “tax the rich” chant, referencing a key proposal of Mamdani’s that Hochul has opposed. Mamdani joined her on stage and clasped her hand to throw their arms up together, softening the crowd’s reaction.
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Kleinbaum, who retired from the LGBTQ synagogue Congregation Beth Simchat Torah last year, admitted in her speech, “I don’t agree with our leader Zohran Mamdani in everything that he says,” an apparent reference to Mamdani’s pointed rhetoric about Israel. She added, “I don’t agree with anyone on everything.”
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Kleinbaum also said, “One thing I know for sure: that Muslims and Jews must work together for a shared future of all of us, where the humanity of Palestinians and Israelis have a future of shared security, freedom, dignity and justice.” She said she strongly rejected attacks on Mamdani’s faith from his critics and opponents. (Kleinbaum’s wife, Randi Weingarten, helms the American Federation of Teachers, the union whose New York chapter endorsed Mamdani, to some Jewish educators’ chagrin.)
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Brad Lander, who ran against Mamdani in the primary and now campaigns with him, also spoke about a shared future for Israelis and Palestinians and Jews and Muslims in New York City. Citing his own Jewish values, Lander also said that “10s of 1000s of Jewish New Yorkers” were supporting Mamdani and that he was committed to all Jews’ safety.
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“On primary night, Zohran made a commitment to reach out to people who disagree with him, and since then, I have seen him keep that promise in dozens of meetings with rabbis and Jewish leaders, in house parties, in synagogues, at town halls, at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services,” Lander said.
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Jewish comedian Sarah Sherman, who has parodied Islamophobic Mamdani critics on SNL, emceed the event. She targeted Cuomo, for whom Hochul was a deputy, in her jokes, saying, “Imagine how bad you have to be if all your former coworkers get together to complain about you to a stadium full of people?”
A late endorsement and a reversal
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Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader from Brooklyn, gave Mamdani a last-minute endorsement on Friday.
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Jeffries, like Hochul and other moderate Democratic leaders who have lined up behind Mamdani, acknowledged “areas of principled disagreement” with the candidate in a statement to The New York Times.
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Among those is his longstanding pro-Israel stance, including close ties with the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.
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Jeffries cited Mamdani’s pledge to invite Jewish police commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on along with conversations about protecting Jewish New Yorkers in his decision.
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“Assemblyman Mamdani has promised to focus on keeping every New Yorker safe, including the Jewish community that has confronted a startling rise in antisemitic incidents as well as Black and Latino neighborhoods that have battled deadly gun violence for years,” said Jeffries.
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Meanwhile, Dov Hikind — one of Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa’s most ardent Jewish supporters and an impassioned Cuomo critic — switched his endorsement to Cuomo on Saturday.
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“Four months ago, I endorsed Curtis Sliwa for mayor,” Hikind said in a video. “But today I am asking you, pleading with you, to vote for Andrew Cuomo. Here’s why: New York City is in a critical moment. If Mamdani wins, the future of our city is on the line.”
Early voting surges
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About 164,000 New Yorkers went to the polls this weekend for the first two days of early voting. That turnout is close to the entire early voting count from 2021.
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The early record-breaking turnout represents voters mobilizing both for and against Mamdani, according to The City. He has appealed aggressively to new voters, while his democratic socialist platform and views on Israel have animated many moderate, conservative and Jewish voters to vote for Cuomo.
Pushing for Jewish voters
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Cuomo is centering his pitch to Jewish New Yorkers in the last days of the campaign. On Sunday, he stumped at a “Stand With Israel” rally in Kew Gardens Hills.
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“New York is not New York without the Jewish community,” said Cuomo, before going on to say he would best address affordable housing, public safety and boosting business in New York City.
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The event was hosted by the Bukharian Action Council. Queens is home to some 70,000 Bukharian Jews, who hail from Central Asia. The crowd chanted messages including, “We will not be erased” and “We will stand for our Jewish community.”
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On Friday, Cuomo also met with Orthodox leaders in Flatbush and won an endorsement from the Flatbush Jewish Community Coalition.
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Meanwhile on the Upper West Side, left-wing Jewish groups including Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and Bend the Arc gathered to canvas for Mamdani over the weekend.
Islamophobia takes the stage
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Mamdani posted a speech decrying attacks on his Muslim identity on Friday in a video that has amassed over 22 million views.
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He argued that Islamophobia is not treated with the same condemnation as other forms of hatred. “For as long as we have lived, we have known that no matter what anyone says, there are still certain forms of hate acceptable in this city today,” he said. “Islamophobia is not seen as inexcusable.”
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Cuomo accused Mamdani of “theatrics” in his own press conference. “Today, he’s playing the victim, but in reality he is the offender. What he has done has so offended the Jewish community in this city,” said Cuomo, according to Politico.
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Vice President JD Vance attacked Mamdani for an emotional recounting of the way his family was affected by Islamophobia, including an aunt who “stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.” Vance said on X, “According to Zohran the real victim of 9/11 was his auntie who got some (allegedly) bad looks.”
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The post Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum joins Mamdani rally with progressive leaders in Queens appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Emil Kalin wins Mendele Prize for Yiddish Literature 2026
דער תּּל-אָבֿיבֿער שטאָטראַט האָט די וואָך אַנאָנסירט, אַז דער ייִדישער שרײַבער עמיל קאַלין האָט זוכה געווען צו באַקומען דעם מענדעלע-פּּריז פֿאַר ייִדישער ליטעראַטור. דעם פּרײַז טיילט די שטאָט אויס יעדע פֿיר יאָר פֿאַר בעלעטריסטיק, ליטעראַטור־קריטיק אָדער אַנדערע בײַטראָגן צו דער ייִדיש־ליטעראַטור.
דעם פּריז האָט מען אים געגעבן אין שײַכות מיט זײַן לעצטן ראָמאַן, „צוזאַמענבראָך“ (2025), וועגן אַ געוועזענעם חרדישן ייִד פֿון ירושלים, וואָס פֿאַרלאָזט זײַן פֿרוי און קינד און לאָזט זיך גיין אויף אַ קאָמפּליצירטן גײַסטיקן דרך. דאָס בוך איז דערשינען אין פֿאַרלאַג ייִדיש-בראַנזשע און לייוויק-פֿאַרלאַג, מיט דער שטיצע פֿון דער „נאַציאָנאַלער אינסטאַנץ פֿאַר ייִדישער קולטור“. מע קאָן עס קויפן דורך leyvik.org.
נישט לאַנג נאָך דער פּובליקאַציע פֿונעם ראָמאַן האָט דער פֿאָרווערטס־רעצענזענט מיכאל קרוטיקאָוו געשריבן וועגן דעם בוך, און בפֿרט וועגן דעם הויפּט־פּערסאָנאַזש, הערש, אַזוי:
קאַלין שילדערט סײַ מענטשן און סײַ לאַנדשאַפֿטן אָן קײן שום באַפּוצונג. ער איז אַ מײַסטער פֿון מעטאַפֿאָרישן אימאַזש, װאָס שאַפֿט אַ געהעריקע שטימונג. די שטאָט תּל־אָבֿיבֿ איז אַ מין לעבעדיקע, פֿיבערדיקע חיה, װאָס כאַפּט הערשן פֿעסט אַרום „מיט בײדע שװיציקע הענט.“ די אױטאָבוסן זײַנען „אומגעלומפּערטע יבשה־שיפֿן, װאָס שנײַדן זיך קױם דורך אַ װעג אין דער ברױזנדיקער באַװעגונג.“ ער אַנטלױפֿט קײן ירושלים מיט אַ האָפֿענונג, „אַז ירושלים װעט מיך דערהײבן מיט זיך, אָבער דאָס פֿאַרקערטע איז געשען: ירושלים האָט מיך דערנידערט, אַראָפּגעשלעפּט מיט זיך אין בלאָטע.״
די דרײַ ריכטער פֿונעם פּריז־קאָמיטעט — דבֿ־בער קאָטלערמאַן, דניאל גלאַי און נירה תּובֿל — האָבן געזאָגט, אַז קאַלינס בוך איז נישט בלויז זייער גוט געשריבן, נאָר איז אויך איינער פֿון די גאָר ווייניק מאָדערנע ראָמאַנען אויף ייִדיש, וואָס באַהאַנדלען טעמעס פֿון דער הײַנטיקער ישׂראלדיקער געזעלשאַפֿט.
אַחוץ „צוזאַמענבראָך“ האָט קאַלין אַרויסגעגעבן צוויי אַנדערע ראָמאַנען, און הײַיאָר וועט דערשײַנען זײַן פֿערטער. די אויסטיילונג וועט פֿאָרקומען דעם 1טן דעצעמבער 2026 אין עינבֿ-זאַל, וווּ עס וועט אויך בײַזײַן דער תּל-אָבֿיבֿער בירגער-מײַסטער רון חולדאי.
עמיל קאַלין איז געבוירן געוואָרן אין 1982 אין בוקאַרעשט, און האָט מיט זײַן משפּחה עולה געווען קיין ישׂראל אין עלטער פֿון 7 יאָר.
ער האָט פֿאַרענדיקט זײַנע הויכע לימודים אינעם העברעיִשן אוניווערסיטעט אין ירושלים, און האָט לאַנגע יאָרן געאַרבעט אין הײַטעק. הײַנט לערנט ער פּסיכאָלאָגיע אינעם תּל-אָבֿיבֿער אוניווערסיטעט.
קאַלין האָט אויך איבערגעזעצט אויף ייִדיש דאָס דײַטשישע בוך „דער גאַנג פֿון די הינט“, וואָס איז אַרויס דורכן פֿאַרלאַג „אָלניאַנסקי טעקסט“. זײַנע אַנדערע ביכער זײַנען אַרויס דורך די פֿאַרלאַגן „ייִדיש בראַנזשע“ און „ה. לייוויק“.
זײַנע קירצערע ווערק קען מען לייענען אינעם דיגיטאַלישן זשורנאַל „ייִדיש בראַנזשע“, רעדאַקטירט פֿון באָריס סאַנדלער.
אין יאָר 2025 איז ער פֿאַרבעטן געוואָרן אויף אַ טור אין אַכט שטעט אין דײַטשלאַנד, כּדי פֿאָרצושטעלן דאָס בוך „צוזאַמענברוך“.
ער וווינט אין תּל־אָבֿיבֿ מיט זײַן פֿרוי שבֿע כּהן און זייערע דרײַ קינדער.
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Brussels Airlines workers threaten strike over flights to Israel, citing ethical objections
(JTA) — A Belgian union has threatened to strike against Brussels Airlines for compelling staff to work on flights to Israel, saying that anyone with “safety or conscientious objections” should be able to refuse.
ACV Puls, Belgium’s largest trade union, said on Tuesday that the company was breaking previous agreements to rely on volunteers for flights to Tel Aviv. The airline resumed flights to Tel Aviv on August 3, following a five-month pause because of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, and its first flights were operated with volunteers.
“Serious concerns exist among the staff regarding both physical safety and the mental and ethical impact of these flights,” ACV Puls spokesperson Jolinde Defieuw said in a statement. She added that making staffing mandatory was “particularly serious in the context of the ongoing war and the genocide in Gaza.”
ACV Puls, which represents aviation employees including pilots, cabin crews and ground staff in Belgium, said that a strike could follow if Brussels Airlines does not reverse its decision to resume regular staffing. The union argued that flying to Israel could not be deemed sufficiently safe, citing Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which advises against “all non-essential travel to Israel and Jerusalem.”
They also said that workers should be able to decline the flights for ethical reasons. Those who have “safety or conscientious objections must be able to refuse these flights without financial, professional, or disciplinary consequences,” said the union.
Nico Cardone, a spokesperson for Brussels Airlines, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that safety was the company’s “highest priority, whether we operate with volunteers or not.” He added that the airline was “not a political party” and made decisions about flight operations based on safety and demand.
“We do not engage in political discussions about the governments of certain destinations, and we ask our staff to uphold this same professional standard,” said Cardone.
ACV Puls said the airline was compelling crews to work because it had not found enough volunteers. Cardone disputed that, saying the airline always aimed to return to regular crew scheduling over time.
Along with threatening a strike, the union called on the Belgian government to weigh in. ACV Puls said the government should take a stance on the availability of commercial flights to Israel “despite the ongoing war, the massive civilian casualties, and the serious accusations of war crimes and human rights violations against the Palestinian population.”
Belgium has grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and Israeli settlements in the West Bank since 2023. Earlier this year, Belgium banned aircraft carrying military equipment bound for Israel from crossing its airspace. The government in July approved a ban on goods imported from Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
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Haiti saved Jewish lives then. Our silence is not an option now.
In the late 1930s, as Nazi Germany intensified its persecution of Jewish people and the warning signs of a far darker future became increasingly clear, Jewish families searched desperately for countries willing to receive them. While many nations turned their backs, Haiti did not. It issued life-saving visas and offered them safe haven.
Nearly 90 years later, history has come full circle.
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians who have lived and worked lawfully in the United States under Temporary Protected Status (TPS) now face forcible deportation to a country engulfed in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
This moment is deeply personal.
My mother survived a Nazi forced-labor camp, where she was forced to manufacture explosives. My father and three of his nephews survived Auschwitz. The rest of my family perished. I grew up with that history and with a profound awareness of what it means to be uprooted, persecuted and abandoned by the world.
That history shaped not only who I am, but the course of my life. I began my career as an art historian, but eventually felt called toward a different path: working alongside communities confronting abject poverty, famine, conflict and disaster.
My humanitarian career began in 1988 at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), under the mentorship of Aryeh Cooperstock, who in the spirit of Tikkun Olam – repairing the world – led JDC’s international development work with non-Jewish communities around the globe. Aryeh fundamentally influenced my professional practice by instilling the conviction that true development starts with humility and listening to local partners who know their own challenges best.
While at JDC, its archive revealed a truth I never forgot. In the late 1930s, Haiti said yes to desperate Jewish refugees while bigger nations said no. My family wasn’t among those saved, but the grace of that gesture stayed with me forever.
Thus, in 2009, after working extensively across 24 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America, I founded EcoWorks International to work in Haiti, as an enduring expression of profound gratitude.
For the past 17 years, we have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Haitian professionals and communities in a broad range of sectors. Following the devastating 2010 earthquake, and with a generous grant from JDC, we built and equipped a physical rehabilitation center at Bernard Mevs Hospital, Haiti’s leading trauma center, restoring mobility and hope to thousands of victims.
Near the capital of Port-Au-Prince, we helped local farmers establish the first regional agricultural cooperatives that they own and manage.
After the 2021 earthquake, we worked with coastal fishing communities to rebuild the underwater systems that their livelihoods depend on. Today, in Haiti’s northern region, we work with 2,500 rice farmers to adopt a sustainable farming method that uses significantly less water, relies on organic fertilizer, and can nearly double yields.
Yet, in nearly two decades of standing with Haiti through natural disasters and socio-political upheaval, I have never witnessed such a level of unchecked violence, widespread displacement, and profound despair as now.
Armed gangs control almost all of Port-au-Prince, key regions, and major transit routes. Murder, kidnapping, rape, extortion and arson are daily instruments of terror. More than 1.5 million people are displaced and 5.7 million face severe hunger. Hospitals and clinics have been attacked, burned or forced to close.
Recently, Bernard Mevs Hospital, where we worked following the earthquake, was attacked and burned. In Ganthier, where our organization worked for years, the 400 Mawozo gang drove some 20,000 people from their homes. Their victims now live homeless and in hiding and our friends, partners and colleagues are still unable to return.
Today, Haiti has not one elected official. Basic institutions and services have collapsed. Parents struggle to feed their children. Pregnant women may have nowhere to give birth safely. Simply traveling to work, school, a market, or a hospital puts people at risk of kidnapping, rape or death.
This is the abyss to which some 350,000 Haitians in the United States now face forcible deportation, a process that has already begun.
The Haitians who lost their TPS are our neighbors, coworkers, healthcare professionals, teachers, business owners, taxpayers and friends. They built dignified lives and raised families here under a legal humanitarian program created to protect people from precisely the nightmare Haiti is experiencing today.
As we approach the High Holidays, a sacred season of Cheshbon HaNefesh, a call to reflection and duty, moral fortitude and a choice of who we choose to be, we are commanded not to stand idly by while our neighbors suffer.
In the past Haiti chose compassion over indifference toward the Jewish people. Today, the moral choice is ours. Write to your senators and representatives demanding the extension of TPS for Haitian people. Ask your rabbi, synagogue, Jewish Federation, and community leaders to issue public statements and take action. Share Haiti’s historical connection to our people.
Yesterday, Haiti opened its doors to save Jewish lives. Today, Haitians desperately need our voices. May history remember that when they needed us most, we did not remain silent.
The post Haiti saved Jewish lives then. Our silence is not an option now. appeared first on The Forward.
