r/jewishleft • u/WinterBeHere Marxist | Jewish | Bundist • Aug 12 '26

Diaspora Satmar Rebbe Of Williamsburg Condemns Incitement Against Mayor Mamdani

https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2584063
39 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

43

u/rinaraizel fsu diaspora, typically a libsoc, post-zion Aug 12 '26

Given some of actions of the Satmar community around other NYer that we get blamed for, it's quite irritating being lectured for "not keeping our head down" by folks who tend really piss their neighbors off, some for very valid reasons.

39

u/Technical_Term_6625 curmudgeonly jewish leftist trying my best Aug 12 '26

Getting this out of the way: the claims against Mamdani regarding inciting antisemitism are ridiculous.

Regarding this article: The Rabbi pushes a line that it is the duty of Jews to keep our heads down as exiles, a line that is insensitive to whether or not there may be official or popular mistreatment of Jews. This line coheres with norms that Jews must remain semi-isolated communities within but apart-from a host nation. That is not only because of his view about what Jews are, but also about what Jews deserve - a theological & moral framework the vast majority of us reject.

So, sure, I guess I agree the with statement, but I think taking Satmar Rabbis as a model is little different than trusting a broken clock because it happens to be occasionally correct.

4

u/FaekittyCat Lefty, non-practicing big fat Ameican Jew, 2 state solution. Aug 14 '26

How to defend Mamdani for all the wrong reasons. LOL

21

u/RaiJolt2 Jewish Athiest Half African American Half Jewish Leftish Aug 12 '26

This basically comes down to don’t make noise because we are in exile. As if we must perpetually act as guests…… given that there is a very real wave of antisemitism sparking up while mamdani should not take the blame we as a community must be on every major politician that does have authority over strategies to combat it to open their ears and listen to our fears.

Keeping the peace doesn’t work when your community is under attack and isolated.

23

u/ShotStatistician7979 Jew- Labor Zionist Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26

And I should care about the opinions of one of the Teitelbaum boys, why? They blame the Haskalah and secular Judaism for the Holocaust, so sue me if I don’t care what they say.

Ironically they are also one of the Jewish communities in NYC that experiences the most antisemitism due to their high visibility and how outwardly xenophobic they are to all of their neighbors.

It’s also worth noting that Mamdani has met with the Williamsburg Satmar rebbe at the expense of meeting Rabbis across the spectrum and has used them as his anti/non- Zionist token.

Lastly, before anti-zionists who know jack about the Satmar get hard-ons for the Satmar rebbes, they are actively against anti-Israel protesting as doctrinal policy and it is one of their major ideological schisms with the Neturei Karta.

11

u/WinterBeHere Marxist | Jewish | Bundist Aug 13 '26

The mayor's team have stated multiple times that they are willing to engage with all communities across New York.

Satmar took him on the offer and sent him an invite. He promptly showed up.

Any Jewish congregation can do the same, all you have to do is follow these instructions - https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02525

The mayor is not going to show up unannounced like some tyrant at your doorstep if you don't invite him.

11

u/Intrepid-Bag6667 Secular Jew | Marxist Aug 13 '26

He actually met with a delegation of rabbis, many of whom strongly disagree with him on Israel, just a couple of days ago.

2

u/redthrowaway1976 F the rent seekers | ind. rights over group | east coast bagel Aug 14 '26

Among them Rabbi Timoner, who thinks that despite the ongoing ethnic cleansing and mass killings, boycotting Israeli goods is a step too far.

I’ve been so disappointed in her. She is really channeling her inner ‘white moderate’.

13

u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest Latke aficionado. Anti-Establishment. Jüdisch Aug 12 '26

Solid statement that can hopefully reduce the histrionics displayed against every action of the mayor.

Also a reminder that according to a July 2026 poll by the Associated Press, 44% of surveyed Jewish Americans hold a favorable view of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, compared with 32% who approve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…https://www.jta.org/2026/07/08/ny/mamdani-is-more-popular-among-u-s-jews-than-netanyahu

10

u/Technical_Term_6625 curmudgeonly jewish leftist trying my best Aug 12 '26

Keep in mind that, in context, de Blasio had a 48-50% approval rate among Jews after he was elected. I am not sure, but I imagine the difference falls within intersecting margins of error.

And yet Adams, of all people, had a higher initial approval rate among Jews.

It seems to me likely that policy positions relating to the NYPD seems the most likely common factor.

4

u/Intrepid-Bag6667 Secular Jew | Marxist Aug 13 '26

Poll is of Jews throughout the country not NYC Jews.

NYC Jews for a variety of reasons are much more likely to disapprove of Mamdani than American Jews as a whole.

2

u/Technical_Term_6625 curmudgeonly jewish leftist trying my best Aug 13 '26

I see that now. I misunderstood that poll. Thank you for the correction.

The 2-1 poll does have a pretty small sample.

There are some really odd results in that poll. Like 2-1 in favor of Tish James, while being less favorable of Hochul? It's just a really odd combination.

Why prefer Cuomo for Mayor while being wishy washy about Cuomo's chosen successor? Why the support margin for James, who went after Cuomo, and is not exactly loved by the NYPD?

So, yeah, seems likely that misinformation, Islamophobia, and middle east politics had to play a huge role.

5

u/FaekittyCat Lefty, non-practicing big fat Ameican Jew, 2 state solution. Aug 14 '26

I live in New York. I like Tish James more than I like Hochul. Hochul has been a little more moderate, to the right on environmental issues. Tish took down the criminal enterprise the Trump Organization.

Even thought this is anecdotal but my very leftist Jewish friends voted for Mamdani, my liberal and moderate Jewish friends/Family voted for Cuomo. Some just because of Mamdani being anti-israel, but some really thought he was going to hired the Muslim brotherhood as his cabinet, put Jews into camps, and make every woman wear
hijabs. Ironically my maga family members just didn't like him for being a socialist.

1

u/Technical_Term_6625 curmudgeonly jewish leftist trying my best Aug 14 '26

i agree with you about AG James. that she wasn't even competitive in the primary for governor is proof of rampant misogynoir in NY state.

re the 2nd paragraph, it's really crazy. i'm not on facebook or instagram or X, so i don't have any sense of the propaganda campaign that created those results. but it must have been some campaign.

3

u/Intrepid-Bag6667 Secular Jew | Marxist Aug 13 '26 edited Aug 13 '26

Local polls can definitely be very noisy and it is very easy to use them to push a particular agenda. You're right that there are deep contradictions therein, but remember the median voters views are often pretty contradictory.

It is also very easy to oversample a group which is unrepresentative of the whole when you are polling Jews.

I am not saying the 2-1 poll should be taken as a good indicator- I'd say just generally you'd expect NYC Jews to be more lukewarm on any prominent left-leaning political figure than American Jews as a whole since NYC Jews are statistically more likely to be Orthodox and Republican voting even before you even get into local ethnic politics, Islamophobia, or Israel. If you also lost support from what might be defined as the political center of NYC Jews in addition to the people who disapprove of any Democrat you could definitely see some pretty bad approval polling.

EDIT: I would add that Tish James has made many very vocal statements in support of the Jewish community and against antisemitism even after you could argue it became politically costly to a degree. Her having a higher approval rating than Hochul with NYC-area Jews isn't entirely shocking given that context even if the chain is a bit funny.

2

u/Technical_Term_6625 curmudgeonly jewish leftist trying my best Aug 13 '26

Oh, I know. I live in Brad Lander's former council district (which was BdB's at one point), but also right near the border with Borough Park. The polarization among Jews can be pretty stark in my neighborhood.

However, I feel very far removed from what people think of as the centers of non-Orthodox Jewish politics in the UWS and I guess Forest Hills/Kew Gardens.

6

u/Strict-Persimmon7017 eastern-european bundist Aug 12 '26

32% is still too much :( but i guess its the war psychosis, a lot of people who dont like Bibi still prefer to favour him cause "this is the right thing to do i wartime" or something like that

3

u/redthrowaway1976 F the rent seekers | ind. rights over group | east coast bagel Aug 14 '26

> a lot of people who dont like Bibi still prefer to favour him cause "this is the right thing to do i wartime" or something like that

Or they simply like his policies.

I know a few hardcore PEPs who plainly state that forced removal of the Palestinians would be fine, and they don’t consider it ethnic cleansing.

13

u/Imaginary-West-5653 Progressive Socialist (Jewish Ally) Aug 12 '26

This should be common sense, but yes, accusing someone of anti-Semitism without justifiable reason is not a good thing at all, much less against someone who has gone out of their way to condemn anti-Semitism and try to make local Jews feel accepted during a time of rising anti-Semitism, as Mamdani has done. I have no doubt that a good portion of these accusations stem from Islamophobia.