What exactly have 1,000+ rabbis in the US been doing for the past two years?

Hint 1: They never condemned or even questioned Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians. 

Hint 2: They condemned anyone – especially fellow Jews — who criticized Israel.  

For starters, the rabbis have just signed an open letter to urge Jewish New Yorkers to vote against Zohran Mamdani for Mayor, because his victory could be “bad for the Jews”. 

“The gloves have to come off now.   If people have a problem with me saying that, they do not belong in the same space as me.”

Rabbi Felipe Goodman, Boca Raton Synagogue, Florida

One of the letter-signers is Rabbi Efrem Goldberg of Boca Raton Synagogue in Florida.  He warned that Jewish actors and media personalities who endorsed Mamdani are “putting their liberalism and progressivism ahead of their Jewish identity and loyalty to Israel.”

Another signer is Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of the Conservative Upper East Side Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City.  He said,

“To be clear, unequivocal and on the record: I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the New York Jewish community.” 

In an interview on The National News Desk on 13 Oct. with Steven Burg, an American rabbi and CEO of Aish World Center in Jerusalem revealed what Burg said about Trump’s peace plan, 

“President Trump, he delivered. Peace is all we’ve ever wanted.  The US is the greatest country in the world. And everyone should know that.  Only the US could have stepped in and done what has been done …  We’re thankful to God for sending us President Trump… .  We want to live in peace.  Therefore everyone has to step up and the education of young people has to be that peace is something to seek out – not the killing of the Jews.”  

What? Clearly Burg believes only Jews have suffered– He never mentioned the word Palestinians.

Jews as Enablers of Israel

Since October 2023, there has been no letter of sorrow or apology for what Jews, yes Jews—and their supporters —  (as enablers of Israel) have done in killing more than 69,000 Gazans in cold blood.  Israel claims it is acting on behalf of all Jews and these rabbis have heartily agreed.

The killings include at least 20,000 Palestinian children, 2600 Gazans shot while trying to get food aid and more than 459 starved to death, 

How can I say Jews did it? 

Well, the Israeli Defence Forces are overwhelmingly composed of Jewish Israelis.   You see, there is no path to a fully-fledged combat role in the military without being Jewish.  Of 170,000 Israeli active army personnel, about 450 or 0.2% are  non-Jews—they are either Israeli Christians, or Muslim Bedouins. When we add in the 465,000 reserve soldiers and the 35,000 paramilitary personnel who have been instrumental in the now 2 year old genocide – the percentage of non-Jews in the Israeli military shrinks to less than 1/10^th of 1% or 0.067%.  This is why we can safely say Jewish soldiers did the killing. The IDF committed terrible war crimes. 

When pushed by an interviewer to say how Jews feel about the release of 2,000 Palestinians jailed as a part of the ceasefire agreement, Rabbi Burg noted, 

“It’s painful beyond belief … for Jews and Israelis to have murderers go free… it’s as if you’re letting serial killers out.  These are terrorists.  Now they’re going to try to bring Israel to the Criminal Court! … [But] there’s nothing stronger than the broken heart of a Jew, but our hearts are much stronger and we’re going to try to pursue peace.” 

From a ceasefire to ongoing war…

From “peace” to ongoing war. Since the ceasefire was in effect from 10 Oct. Israel has killed more than 236 Palestinians and wounded at least 600

What peace are the Jews who love Israel and their supporters – the leaders of France, Germany, the UK and the US  –going to bring about? As we know, the Palestinians were not consulted on any of this, as usual. 

The Jewish mainstream and their organizations claim it is the Jews who are victims, as Rabbi Felipe Goodman said at the pulpit in his Las Vegas synagogue.  He referred to  the Jews who supported Hitler before World War II to save themselves and  insisted that Jews in America are under “grave threat.”  Goodman said,

“We have been very intimidated over speaking about politics [supporting Israel] for the longest time. . . . The gloves have to come off now.   If people have a problem with me saying that, they do not belong in the same space as me.”

So Jews who oppose the genocide and criticize Israel are his enemies.   Anti-zionist Jews, even non-Zionist Jews, even questioning Jews, have heard that before.  But we are also hearing the shrieks of the mainstream Canadian Zionist organizations that are demanding that anyone with any authority or sway who speaks against the genocide be silenced.  Just today, Tafsik, an ultra-right wing Zionist outfit based in Toronto, demanded Toronto’s mayor Olivia Chow be excluded from “Jewish community spaces” because she dared to make “the false and inflammatory claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza”.  Tafsik says it has launched a complaint against Chow –due to her “reckless, defamatory and harmful betrayal of Jewish residents” of Toronto — at the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Well pro-Israel Jews in Canada (and the US) will not give up. But their voices have become more shrill, less powerful and have forced other Jews to fight and organize to let Palestinians live.

Photo at the top: Zohran Mamdani campaigning in April. He has promised to protect Jewish institutions amid rising antisemitic attacks in the city. (Credit: Andres Kudacki for The New York Times)