Mamdani Is Making Overtures to Jewish Leaders. Some Are Listening.
The tension spilled out of the synagogue sanctuary onto the sidewalk.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor of New York City, was walking into what should have been friendly territory: a liberal Reform congregation in Park Slope, a neighborhood in Brooklyn synonymous with progressive politics.
But from the moment he arrived last Sunday afternoon, it was clear that even here, Mr. Mamdani would face skepticism and anxiety about some of his foundational beliefs.
A group of protesters waving Israeli flags stood on the steps of the main sanctuary of the synagogue, Congregation Beth Elohim, chanting “shame.” And inside, at a closed-door meeting, synagogue leaders posed questions to Mr. Mamdani reflecting the fears that have grown among some in the Jewish community in the two years since the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
“Many of us are afraid that your words and your silences — even though I do not believe that you intend this — will be read as permission by people on the left who want to do us harm, and that someone’s going to try to come into this building to kill us,” said Rabbi Rachel Timoner, who leads Congregation Beth Elohim, according to several attendees.
Mr. Mamdani, who would be New York’s first Muslim mayor, tried to reassure attendees of his commitment to protecting and celebrating the Jewish community, and said that views on Israel would not amount to a litmus test to serve in his administration.
“I am not a Zionist, and I’m also not looking to create a City Hall or city in my image,” he told the 380 members who attended the hourlong gathering, some of whom greeted him with cheers and applause. “I do not want any Jewish New Yorker to think that their safety, their belonging, their identity as a New Yorker, is dependent upon what they think about Zionism.”