politics

NYC Mayoral Election

Rabbi Ben Herman , , , ,

          On Monday I received the High Holiday Survey percentages and on Tuesday I received the comments. I read every one of them. First let me say I’m glad this was done anonymously because it enabled people to be brutally honest in their comments. Second, I gleaned some key takeaways, including that people want sermons which are relevant to the events of our day. Hence this week’s remarks on the New York City mayoral election. Of course, the danger of that is it enters politics which means a number of you will disagree with my remarks and ask Dan to remind me that we are a synagogue with diverse political positions. It’s a no-win for a rabbi, yet this particular issue is worth a sermon.

          I signed the rabbinic letter against Zohran Mamdani for the simple reason that I don’t believe that anti-Zionism should have a place in American politics. With that being said, I was not surprised that Mamdani won election. Many people on my Facebook feed, including rabbis and Jewish educators, wrote that they voted for him and are excited about his leadership. Primary reasons were his platform to make NYC more affordable, lowering grocery prices, taxing millionaires and corporations, offering free childcare and bussing, rent freezes and raising the minimum wage. These people indicate their belief that Mamdani will follow through on his campaign promises.

          Of lesser importance to these Jewish individuals was Mamdani’s anti-Zionism. I saw comments that as mayor he will only deal with domestic issues. Many of these people are also vocally critical of the Israeli government. I don’t think they’d mind if Mamdani arrested Bibi Netanyahu the next time he visits NYC-if he even has the power to do so. The area in which I differ with them is I see Mamdani’s anti-Zionism, his use of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” his comparing NYPD boots on people’s necks as being “laced by the IDF” and other hateful rhetoric as being deeply problematic. I don’t dismiss them as simply tweets after George Floyd’s murder as Mamdani did in his 2nd mayoral debate. Further troubling is Mamdani will not endorse Israel as a Jewish state, as he claims he would not do for any other country that favors one group of people over another. He also has said he may displace the Cornell Tech campus, a joint venture between Cornell University and the Technion Institute.

          There is much to be disturbed about regarding Mamdani. Yet I want to raise the question as to what do we do about it? Rabbi Wolpe, when speaking as our scholar in residence, said that if elected, Jewish New Yorkers should work with Mamdani on bettering the city. It is this point that I want to make and relate to our situation in Sacramento. Like Rabbi Wolpe, I signed the rabbinic letter “expressing concern over the normalization of anti-Zionism and its implications for the Jewish community” and urging people not to vote for Mamdani or anti-Zionist candidates. At the same time, I cannot help but wonder about the other legs of Mamdani’s platform that appealed to so many of my contemporaries in NYC. If we only decry Mamdani’s anti-Zionism and perhaps antisemitism without grappling with the domestic aspects of his agenda, I believe we are being obtuse and missing the mark.

          I’ll give you an example in Sacramento. A year and a half ago, many of us, including me, went to City Council to protest Mayor Steinberg’s Gaza ceasefire resolution. We were up in arms against what I continue to believe was a flawed resolution. Since the resolution passed, I have yet to make it to another City Council meeting. What message have I sent by not going back? We need to build relationships with people rather than just railing against them when they don’t do what we want. I’m happy that at least I have met with a number of councilmembers, including Mayor McCarty, yet Mamdani’s victory was a wakeup call to me that I need to do a better job of meeting with political leaders in advance of any problems, and see if I can support them in what they want in addition to asking for what I want.

          How do we relate this to the watershed moment of Mamdani’s victory? Some have been inviting people to move to their communities from NYC, including a couple of my rabbinic colleagues. Frankly, I find that distasteful, just as I found it distasteful when Prime Minister Netanyahu said people in Paris should move to Israel after an antisemitic attack. I don’t believe we can live in fear, catastrophizing the worst-case scenarios and claiming that the sky is falling. Because our people have survived for so long, we often have anticipatory stress. Don’t get me wrong-there is plenty of danger with Mamdani becoming mayor. Yet to fear that NYC, the city with the most Jews in the world, will collapse overnight, is preposterous. I’m not saying damage won’t be done. Maybe Mamdani will succeed but maybe he will fail. In either event, we cannot give up hope that New York Jews will be safe nor can we stop trying to build bridges if there’s a willingness to do so from the other side-of course with eyes wide open.

          I’m urging us to be hazak v’ematz, strong and courageous. There are many Jews who are not all anti-Zionist or “self-haters” who proudly voted for Mamdani. Perhaps there is a certain degree of naivete-I certainly think so. Yet to preach doomsday at this point is not only premature but also out of proportion. There might G-d forbid come a time when that is the reality; I pray that time does not come and that Mayor Mamdani does what we says he will in ensuring the safety and security of the 1 million Jews he will govern at the turn of the year.

October 8

Rabbi Ben Herman , ,

Many of us saw the movie October 8 last month at the center about the pro-Palestinian radicalization on college campuses. I learned about it firsthand having served on the Hillel Board of Directors the past 2 years and from speaking with students. The lack of safety that Jewish students on campus have felt, amplified since the October 7th massacre, has become clear. Interestingly the film was entitled October 8, for the day after October 7 when the celebration and justification for the most Jews murdered on any day since the Holocaust began. Many have called themselves “October 8 Jews” that October 7 woke them up to the realities of antisemitism. Brett Stephens coined the term, as he wrote one month after the horrific attack “On Oct. 8, Jews woke up to discover who our friends are not…What can Oct. 8 Jews do? We can stop being embarrassed, equivocal or defensive about Zionism, which is, after all, one of the world’s most successful movements of national liberation. We can call out anti-Zionism for what it is: a rebranded version of antisemitism, based on the same set of libels and conspiracy theories. We can exit the institutions that have disserved us: ‘Defund the academy’ is a much better slogan than ‘Defund the police.’”[1] One year after that horrific attack, Stephens wrote about October 8 Jews, “Those who woke up a day after our greatest tragedy since the Holocaust to see how little empathy there was for us in many of the spaces and communities and institutions we thought we comfortably inhabited. It was an awakening that often came with a deeper set of realizations.”[2]

Interestingly the film had a different name, H8TE, with an 8 serving in the position of the “A.” It was another sign that the emphasis is on those who hate us having shown their true colors after October 7th while also indicating what should be our response the day after. On October 8, when there were still Hamas terrorists in communities in Israel, there was a rally, or should I say celebration, in Times Square. In addition, on that date Harvard said, “We hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible” and did not mention Hamas. Shai Davidai, on Columbia closing its gates for the first time since the Vietnam War, “I wasn’t seeing  a debate; I was seeing hatred.”Students had to think if it was sake to walk outside and risked their magen david being taken off of them. This coordinated campaign to accuse Israel of genocide was seen in so many ways: the encampments, each with the same tents and supplies; the blocking of students being able to go to their classroom and their being castigated as “baby killers”; pictures of hostages being torn down and Israeli flags being burned.

Despite this powerful story, Wendy Sachs had a a lot of trouble getting the film into theatres. Eventually Eventually she got it into AMC theatres for one week, although AMC did not publicize it. Wendy Sachs, the filmmaker, said “I sent it to NBC News Studios, I sent it to CNN, I sent it around, and everyone said no…I couldn’t get an agent or any representation, which is pretty extraordinary given all the incredible people involved in the film…ironically all of the agents are Jewish. Everyone saw rough cuts of the film and said ‘I like you. It’s a great film. Good for you for making this. But sorry I can’t touch this…there is a radioactivity in Hollywood to this kind of film.’”[3]

This year we have seen many Jewish celebrities, from John Stewart to Mandy Patinkin, publicly castigate Israel. We saw actors Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Ayo Edebiri publicly boycott Israel. It appears to be the “in” thing to do. With all the world’s problems, the desire is to boycott Israel. Hearing Mandy Patinkin, who was my mom’s hero, say “How could it be done to your ancestors and you turn around and do it to someone else?”[4] has become bulletin board material for those who accuse Israel of genocide. Debra Messing and Michael Rapaport have tried to bring attention to the importance of bringing the hostages home but unfortunately there are more on the other side. As Douglas Murray pointed out, the “Bring Back Our Girls” from Boko Haram was far more successful than the bring back the hostages campaign has been. As Ritchie Torres points out, “social media enables the virus of antisemitism to spread to an extent that it never could before.”. Only 20 percent of people under 25 support Israel. On Tik Tok ratio of anti-Israel to pro-Israel is 1 to 54. Antisemitic incidents at near historic levels according to ADl-154 percent increase in 1 year.

What I want to focus on is, another year after October 7, what is the impact of this event on our lives today? How do we live our lives in a post October 7 world? For some of us it means that we need to be active, proud Jews. The list of people exploring conversion to Judaism as well as those who wanted to belong to or attend synagogue grew immensely after October 7. People want a place where they feel they are not alone but with other members of the tribe.

Similar feelings can emerge was we prepare to say Yizkor-that we are vulnerable and alone so we come here to synagogue to join with our community. We also have the dedication of memorial plaques, ensuring that our beloveds have permanent remembrances and signs of their presence here on earth.

 I want us to think about our loved ones who experienced antisemitism. How did they show their Jewish pride in the face of adversities? What did they do demonstrate their Judaism? How can we follow in there example as proud, October 8 Jews? It will not change the hatred and those who want to destroy us but it will change us to be mindful of how Judaism impacts our lives. As we remember them, may we concurrently have pride in who we are and may it impact us on a daily basis.

[1] Stephens, Bret (2023-11-07). “For America’s Jews, Every Day Must Be Oct. 8”. New York Times

[2] Stephens, Bret (2024-10-04). “The Year American Jews Woke Up”. New York Times

[3] Dan Senor, “Why Did Hollywood Ghost a Movie on Antisemitism?” Call Me Back, March 12, 2025.

[4] Mandy Patinkin, New York Times interview, July 25, 2025.

The Use of Power

Rabbi Ben Herman , , , , , ,

I’m going to speak about Israel in part of a larger context. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’m going to ask you to please stay in the room. I am going to devote this coming Shabbat morning after services to an opportunity to listen to those who want to respond to my remarks-though there is on Kiddush lunch on that date.

The High Holy Days are the time more than any other when we think about why we are here and what is the value of our life. The words of our daily liturgy, מה אנחנו מה חיינו, “Who are we? What is our life?” take on greater relevance during this time of the year. It is also a time when we reflect on the power and agency that we do have. What do we have control over and what should we let go of?

How we use the power that we do have is a key lesson, both for us as individuals and for us as a people. Throughout so much of our history, Jews have been powerless. Our people were in exile, at the mercy of every despotic ruler that we encountered. Now, thanks to Israel and to its relationship with the United States, Jews have power to an extent that our ancestors couldn’t dream of. As the psalmist says, – את שיבת ציון היינו  כחולמים the redemption of Zion was as if we were dreaming.”[1]

This past spring, we saw the power that Israel has. The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, may his memory be obliterated, tried to evade Israel by going low-tech with pagers. Little did he know that the pagers he bought from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo were manufactured by the Israeli shell company in Hungary BAC Consulting and were laced with the explosive PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate). As we saw, Israel sent a page causing Hezbollah leadership to hold up their pagers which detonated after a few seconds. A few days later, at the funeral of 4 Hezbollah members, Israel detonated Hezbollah’s walkie-talkies. With Hezbollah’s top leadership indisposed, Israel was able to invade Lebanon and launch more attacks, eventually killing Nasrallah.

Let us also not forget Israel bombing Iranian nuclear sites on June 12 in Operation Rising Lion. Israel quickly rendered inoperable many of Iran’s missile launchers and its missiles. Around the same time, there was Operation Red Wedding, which took out Iranian senior commanders. Without commanders, Iran was impotent and did not fire any missiles at Israel for 18 hours.[2] The icing on the cake was when the United States joined 9 days later, dropping MOP (massive ordinance penetrator) bunker busting bombs in Operation Midnight Hammer. How did this happen? Israeli agents in Iran had visited every workshop and factory that were later attacked, enabling Israel to target every aspect of the industry that supported the manufacturing the missiles.[3] The success of such a plan was far from an accident; rather it was the culmination of years of work by the Mossad to target Iran’s nuclear program.[4]

Could our ancestors in exile imagine a Jewish country with this type of power?! Could they even conceive that a Jewish country would be a regional superpower, stealthily using its incredible intelligence to make a plan over years which did not leak?! I doubt Yehudah Halevi, who lived during the Golden Age of Spain under both Muslim and Christian rule; Don Isaac Abravanel, who was a courtier to Ferdinand and Isabella and eventually exiled from Spain and Portugal; or even a Maimonides, who before becoming physician to the Egyptian sultan most certainly had to flee Spain from the Almohads, could have fathomed this.  Yet you do not need me to preach about Israel’s power. What we need to consider is what does Israel do with the power that it has and concurrently what do we do with the power that we have.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol famously referred to Israel as “Shimshon der nebecher,” Samson the weakling. Israel is so strong like Samson, the superpower of the Middle East. Yet Israel also can feel like a nebecher, completely powerless to the task at hand. Israel has endured trauma, especially in the aftermath of October 7th. One merely needs to look at footage from October 7th or the video of a gaunt Evyatar David digging his own grave. While Israel has had much success assassinating Hamas’ top leadership and destroying much of the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, there remain feelings of ineptitude, failure and lack of moral clarity, with hostages not returned and so much destruction. My question, which only Israelis can answer, is what should Israel do with the power it has?

Israel can use its power as it did in March through May to not allow any food into Gaza and to attempt to take control of the food distribution away from Hamas, who steals food from the aid trucks. Many of us believed when Israel refused food into Gaza that this might be worth it if it led to the end of the war and the return of hostages. Looking back, some of us continue to hold those opinions of the Israeli government. Others are re-thinking after seeing hunger among Gazans and hearing of people walking miles to the food distribution sites, some of whom were shot upon approaching. Every hungry child, no matter where he or she lives, is a human tragedy. As Proverbs teaches us, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if she is thirsty, give her water to drink.”[5] This is not to dismiss the PR war going on. We saw the New York Times fell into Hamas’ trap by featuring a starving child who was actually dying from cystic fibrosis. Yet there remain weekly protests in Israel to get a deal to return the hostages and end the war.

I want to take this lesson and apply it not only to Israel but to our lives here in the United States. Many of us are traumatized, having seen pictures and videos of dead Israelis and gaunt hostages or having relatives going up for the 5th time to serve in the IDF, some of whom are not sure why they’re going. Many of us are scared by the rise of antisemitism on college campuses, as the film October 8 demonstrated, which I will speak about on Shemini Atzeret. There is much to be afraid of. What we need to remember is that we are vulnerable, we are human but we are not powerless. We have agency over our actions. As Victor Frankl z”l taught, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies the freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”[6]

 In terms of how Judaism teaches us how to use our power, we don’t need to look far in our tradition. The Ethics of the Fathers, in Hebrew Pirkei Avot, teaches איזהו גבור הכובש את יצרו “Who is mighty? One who conquers his or her inclination.”[7] In his commentary on Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Dr. Joshua Kulp writes, “This one statement may sum up 2000 years of Jewish experience. The Jewish ideal of strength and might is not the same as the Greek ideal, which is that of the mighty warrior and champion athlete. A person of great physical strength who performs amazing deeds is not necessarily mighty. The most difficult thing to conquer is not others or even great armies, but our own inclination to do wrong things. One who has control over this inclination is truly mighty. This is why for thousands of years Jews did not look to soldiers as their heroes, but to rabbis and other thinkers. Strength in Judaism is one of character and not one of might. After all the strongest person in the world is no stronger than a weak gorilla or bear. It is only through our ability to curb our appetites and control our instincts that human beings can differ themselves from animals.”[8]

A story: when Adam was encountering and naming the animals on the first day of creation he was trying to figure out which was the strongest. The lion said, “I’m the strongest. I’m the king of the jungle!” The tiger said, “I’m the strongest. I’m the king of the forest!” The whale said, “I’m the strongest. I’m the king of the ocean!” The chimpanzee said, “I’m the strongest.” All of the other animals paused and looked at the chimp. Then they started laughing. The chimp said again, “I’m the strongest.” Finally a worm asked the chimp, “What makes you so strong?” The chimp replied, “All of you act on your instincts. I think before I act.” Suddenly all the animals agreed that the chimpanzee was the strongest. So it is with us all the more so.

As we enter the week of repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I’d like each of us to think about what we have power over in our lives and how we intend to use that power. How are we going to channel and control it? Similarly, how are we going to let go of those things over which we have no power? As stated eloquently in a video by Rabbi Judith Plaskow:

Rosh Hashanah asks us to negotiate an enormous and productive tension between our smallness and our power, surrender and agency; between what we can control and what we can’t. During the whole High Holiday period, we’re called on to examine our lives and think about who we have been and who we want to be, to do teshuvah, to turn toward our best selves. And, at the same time, the images of God the King and Judge are telling us that ultimately, we’re not in charge. We can’t decide who shall live and who shall die. All we can do—and it’s not nothing—is to alter the evilness of the decree…

Rosh Hashanah asks us to accept what we can’t change and have the courage to change what we can.[9] The Great Aleinu (in Musaf) is for me the supreme moment of one side of this tension. It is the moment when I try to give up my white upper middle-class illusion of control and align myself with, and surrender to, what is….[10]

In 5786, may each of us utilize our power to the best of our ability to effect meaningful changes yet may we recognize the limits of our power and not try to do too much. The same thing is true with Israel. Many things are in Israel’s control, others are not. The power to continue to attack Hamas remains; the power to rescue the hostages without a deal appears to remain beyond Israel’s reach. May Israel, like us, succeed in using its power wisely, and may the hostages be speedily returned home.

[1] Psalms 126:1

[2] https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-was-facing-destruction-at-the-hands-of-iran-this-is-how-close-it-came-and-how-it-saved-itself.

[3] https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjckad6eeg

[4] How extensive are Israel’s intelligence operations inside Iran?

[5] Proverbs 25:21

[6] Attributed to Victor Frankl

[7] Pirkei Avot 5:1

[8] Joshua Kulp Pirkei Avot 4:1 with English Explanation of Mishnah

[9] The Serenity Prayer

[10] Judith Plaskow, “Submitting to The Great Aleinu,” https://youtu.be/6jw228chClE?si=1TkAgkrvDYvDlREO

Why I Could Not Accept Mayor Steinberg’s Compromise Resolution

Rabbi Ben Herman , , , , , ,

I have gotten to know Mayor Darrell Steinberg this past year, especially regarding his proposal for the community to come together around a resolution regarding the conflict between Israel and Hamas. I had read the Mayor’s piece in January that “interfaith leaders are not talking to one another” and continued to contact interfaith leaders as I have been doing since October 7, with 8 coming to speak on our Bimah at Shabbat services. At first I believed there was a chance to bring the community together-a pro-Israel group and pro-Palestinian group were supposed to meet to revise the language on one of the early drafts. However, when the pro-Palestinian community refused to meet, the Mayor proceeded with talking to a small group of his allies, including members of CAIR, which nationally was involved in funding money to Hamas (FBI Document Depicting Relationship Between CAIR and Terror Group Hamas Published | Police Magazine). While the Mayor argued that it is supported by the Jewish leaders, it is telling to me that not a single congregational rabbi from any denomination supported the resolution.

 I did see the Mayor work on changes and especially appreciate his getting the immediate return of the hostages added to the resolution and the removal of the terminology of Israel’s disproportionate use of force. However, without the surrender of Hamas, the opportunity for Hamas to regroup and October 7 to occur again remains on the table, as Hamas’ leaders have threatened multiple times. We cannot let Hamas remain in power, especially after they violated the last ceasefire that existed through October 6.

 What is saddest to me is I am already seeing that this resolution will not bring our community together as the Mayor said it would. Last night Jewish leaders were uninvited to events in both the Interfaith and Muslim community.  At City Council meetings I watched antisemitism be thrown out and eaten up like candy and Jewish attendees having to leave under a police escort with fear for their safety. I saw a Neo-Nazi being told by the Mayor to leave, and when he refused nothing was done about it. That individual was able to speak again last night uninterrupted. In contrast, I watched 2 people wearing Israeli flags be shut down angrily by the Mayor. I cannot condone this hypocrisy.

 In my last conversation with Mayor he asked me to stand in his shoes. I have tried to do so. I have observed the vitriol and verbal abuse that he has taken week after week at City Council, the weekly protests at and vandalism of his home, as well as the terrorizing of City Council member Lisa Kaplan and the targeting of her car at the City Hall garage. At the same time, I read in today’s Sacramento Bee that the 12 people arrested for refusing to leave the city council meeting have vowed to disrupt it again.” (Protesters arrested at Sacramento council meeting speak out: ‘We are going to do it again’ (yahoo.com) The resolution which in Mayor Steinberg’s words was designed to bring the community together is actually tearing us further apart.  We are witnessing the truth of Council Member Kaplan words, “It’s going to fracture people.” I have seen the worst in people for two months. Now on my way back to Sacramento from the East Coast, I will continue to do my part to meet with other interfaith leaders, especially those who disagree with me, to build bridges and try to put this ugly hatred I have heard week after week to bed.