For years, askanim and community leaders stood beside politicians at the White House, in Albany, and at City Hall. They built relationships, advocated for resources, and fought for the needs of the community. Most people understood the purpose. Government controls funding, influence, and access, and maintaining those relationships often produced real benefits for Jewish communities.
Critics occasionally mocked the optics or accused communal leaders of becoming too close to power, but most reasonable people understood that representation matters. Strong advocacy has long been an essential part of protecting and advancing communal interests.
But this moment is different.
Antisemitism is no longer hiding in the shadows. Jews are increasingly targeted under the cover of terms like “Zionists,” “anti-Israel,” and “anti-IDF.” The language may be politically sanitized, but the hostility behind it is becoming harder to ignore.
After watching Jewish neighborhoods in Manhattan, Queens, and now Midwood overwhelmed by hostile protests, masked agitators, and aggressive mobs, nobody can honestly pretend anymore that this is simply normal political activism.
What unfolded in Midwood was not peaceful “activism.” It was intimidation, chaos, and fear. Parents frantically searched for their children. Families rushed indoors. Residents felt trapped in their own neighborhood while police appeared either overwhelmed or unwilling to remove mobs marching without permits and in open violation of city law.
And afterward, City Hall said virtually nothing.
That silence was deafening.
Recent legislative battles at City Hall and now in Albany over establishing “protective distances” around shuls and yeshivas raise an obvious question: what difference does 50 feet, 100 feet, or even 1,000 feet make if aggressive mobs are still allowed to illegally march, without permits, through Jewish residential neighborhoods?
Allowing mobs to illegally march without permits and terrorize Jewish residential neighborhoods is outrageous.
Either there is law and order or there is not.
And if anyone still believes this mayor is going to offer meaningful protest or genuine concern, they simply have not been paying attention.
In the aftermath of the Midwood riots, the only notable public message from Mayor Mamdani was an incendiary tweet posted before Shabbos commemorating the “Nakba.”
Which brings us to the upcoming Jewish Heritage event at Gracie Mansion.
Year after year, these events have attracted a who’s who of community leaders, organizational representatives, askanim, and politically connected machers.
But things are different now.
There is something profoundly unsettling about watching Jewish neighborhoods overwhelmed by masked mobs and then, days later, seeing yarmulke-wearing communal representatives participate in carefully staged, feel-good photo opportunities with the same administration many believe enabled, excused, or tolerated the hostility directed at Jewish communities.
Political engagement matters. No serious person disputes that. Meetings should continue. Advocacy should continue. Relationships with government should continue.
But there is a difference between advocacy and exploitation.
Communal representatives should advocate privately and professionally for the needs of the Jewish community. They should continue fighting for security, funding, education, and protection. What they should not do is allow themselves to become political props while Jewish neighborhoods increasingly feel under siege.
At some point, the optics themselves become damaging.
Many ordinary community members no longer view these public displays as productive diplomacy. They view them as tone-deaf, humiliating, and disconnected from the fear and anger many Jewish families are currently experiencing.
And that raises a fair question:
Who exactly are these public appearances serving?
Charles Weiss
Flatbush, Brooklyn
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