Zohran Mamdani’s win shows how Jewish groups failed Jews by dismissing antisemitism on the left

For New York’s Jews, these are the worst of times and the best of times.

The worst part is obvious: it’s not just that 1 million of our neighbors sauntered to the ballot box and cast their votes for an anti-Semite who missed no opportunity to stand with terrorist sympathizers and Jew-haters; it’s also that our very own communal organizations, groups founded specifically to prevent a movement like Mamdani’s from rising, failed miserably.

The city with the largest Jewish population anywhere outside of Israel should’ve seen Mamdani coming. And its Jewish leaders should’ve done much better to stop him.

Instead, with few exceptions, these leaders equivocated. The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, for example, embraced a string of virulently anti-Israel Democrats, including Mamdani’s pal, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; President Trump wasn’t so lucky, receiving the group’s sharp criticism for his efforts to deport illegal migrants and keep our borders safe.

The Anti-Defamation League did even worse. The group, previously one of the most revered Jewish organizations nationwide, spent the last few years turning itself into a full-blown arm of the Democrat Party, releasing reports, for example, that argue that anti-Semitism is a problem exclusively on the right and not, say, on radically progressive college campuses.

And as one researcher reported in Tablet Magazine last week, even the group’s attempts to educate Americans about anti-Semitism are a disaster: people who completed the ADL’s anti-anti-Semitism curriculum were 15 times more, not less, likely to express anti-Jewish sentiments.

None of this is hard to understand. For years, America’s organized Jewish community sang the tunes of the left, focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion even as their so-called allies informed them in no uncertain terms that Jews no longer have a place in the gorgeous mosaic of aggrieved minorities orchestrated by the Democrats.

For Mamdani’s victory to have any meaning, then, these organizations and the individuals that lead them must face a very serious reckoning.

In the days after the October 7, 2023 massacre, Israelis spoke of the Konseptsiya, or the thwarted, idealistic worldview that led so many of them to fail to see Hamas’s preparations for the attack.

New York’s Jews now have a Konseptsiya of their own to grapple with, a wrestling that should lead them to hold their leaders accountable. If done right, this process could lead to new and better organizations skeptical of partisan affiliations and dedicated to finding new and faithful partners outside of the traditional political coalitions convened long ago by the left.

So much for the worst of times.

But look at the organizational energy that swept so many in the Jewish community these past few months, and you’ll understand why the best of times are upon us as well.

More than 850 rabbis signed a letter condemning Mamdani, and Jews across the Five Boroughs mobilized to make the case that this election matters a great deal. They did so because the American Jewish community has changed dramatically these past two years.

Most of us spent the years since October 7 focused on forging stronger Jewish identities, more resilient Jewish communities, and lives rooted in Jewish joy and pride rather than fear and loathing.

That’s why you’re seeing so many of your Jewish friends and neighbors sporting dinner-plate sized Star of David necklaces these days. And a Mamdani victory isn’t going to curb that.

On the contrary: Even as our organizations crumble, expect to see more New York Jews walking around with their head up high, holding a mayor that has missed no opportunity to denigrate us accountable.

We’ve had much more formidable foes than a failed rapper who rode waves of guilt and envy into an office for which he is tragically unprepared. And this latest challenge comes after a very long period of reminding ourselves what it means to live full and uncompromising Jewish lives.

To borrow a phrase from our new foe in City Hall, our time is now.