RABBINICAL CALL TO ACTION: PROTECT THE JEWISH FUTURE BY REJECTING MAMDANI

The People's Campaign To Save New York City

October 2025

The Jewish Majority, a group of over 1100 Jewish spiritual leaders representing every major denomination in Judaism - and the vast majority of Jews in the United States - issued clarion call in the Form of A Rabbinical Call To Action: Defending The Jewish Future.

The signatories include many prominent Rabbis from each of the five boroughs of New York City.

The rabbis warned that it is critical to reject Mamdami's words and actions which "delegitimize the Jewish Community and encourage and exacerbate hostility toward Judaism and Jews."

The rabbis specifically mentioned Mamdani's denial of Israel's legitimacy; refusal to condemn the chanting of incendiary slogans such as "globalize the intifada"; and dangerous and inciteful propagation of the blood libel of genocide.

The full text can be found below:

A Rabbinic Call to Action: Defending the Jewish Future 

As rabbis from across the United States committed to the security and prosperity of the Jewish people, we are writing in our personal capacities to declare that we cannot remain silent in the face of rising anti-Zionism and its political normalization throughout our nation. When public figures like New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani refuse to condemn violent slogans, deny Israel’s legitimacy, and accuse the Jewish state of genocide, they, in the words of New York Board of Rabbis president Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, “Delegitimize the Jewish community and encourage and exacerbate hostility toward Judaism and Jews.”

As prominent New York City Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove stated in a recent sermon, “Zionism, Israel, Jewish self-determination—these are not political preferences or partisan talking points. They are constituent building blocks and inseparable strands of my Jewish identity. To accept me as a Jew but to ask me to check my concern for the people and state of Israel at the door is a nonsensical proposition and an offensive one, no different than asking me to reject God, Torah, mitzvot, or any other pillar of my faith.”

We will not accept a culture that treats Jewish self-determination as a negotiable ideal or Jewish inclusion as something to be “granted.” The safety and dignity of Jews in every city depend on rejecting that false choice.

Therefore, we call on all Americans who value peace and equality to participate fully in the democratic process in order to stand up for candidates who reject antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric, and who affirm Israel’s right to exist in peace and security.

We also call on our interfaith and communal partners to stand with the Jewish community in rejecting this dangerous rhetoric and to affirm the rights of Jews to live securely and with dignity.

Now is the time for everyone to unite across political and moral divides, and to reject the language that seeks to delegitimize our Jewish identity and our community."