By: Andrew Carlson

The Jewish community of New York City, alarmed by the rising political influence of socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani and his overtly anti-Israel rhetoric, is mobilizing in unprecedented fashion ahead of the November elections. Across boroughs, in synagogues, yeshivot, schools, and community centers, a coordinated campaign is underway to ensure that Jewish voters are not only registered but fully engaged in the electoral process. This drive is not being presented merely as a civic duty but as a religious and communal obligation, with rabbinic authorities issuing strong declarations equating voter participation to halachic commandments.

The campaign comes amid reports that Mamdani’s team has been registering as many as a thousand new voters each day—an alarming figure for community leaders who see his victory as a direct threat to Jewish life in New York. In response, the Sephardic-Syrian rabbinic leadership of New York and New Jersey has circulated a letter entitled “Declaration of the Rabbis of the Sephardic-Syrian Community of NY and NJ regarding voter registration.” The letter, widely disseminated throughout Jewish neighborhoods, represents one of the most organized rabbinic calls to civic action in decades.

The declaration, signed by dozens of leading rabbis including Chief Rabbi Shaul J. Kassin, Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi David Ozeri, Rabbi Joey Haber, Rabbi Shlomo Farhi, Rabbi Raymond Beyda, and Rabbi Haim Benoliel, stresses the urgency of the moment.

“We, the undersigned rabbinic leaders of the Syrian Jewish community write to you with a message of responsibility, urgency and obligation. At this critical juncture in our city’s history, we declare without hesitation: every eligible member of our community must vote,” the letter reads.

The tone is stark and uncompromising. It emphasizes that this is “not about politics” but about safeguarding the yeshivot, synagogues, schools, neighborhoods, and freedoms that constitute the bedrock of Jewish communal life in the city. The rabbis describe voting not as a privilege but as a halachic imperative, likening it to mitzvot such as prayer (tefillah), charity (tzedakah), and education.

Quoting Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, the declaration recalls his admonition over forty years ago that participation in American democracy was not optional for Jews, but a vital duty in gratitude for the freedoms the Constitution and Bill of Rights provide. “The most fundamental responsibility incumbent on each individual,” Rabbi Feinstein had written, “is to register and to vote.”

The rabbis thus insist: “We cannot afford silence. We cannot afford apathy. We dare not be passive when our way of life is on the line.”

The campaign’s striking feature is the elevation of civic engagement to the level of spiritual responsibility. Voting is explicitly described as a mitzvah, binding upon every member of the community. This reframing is intended not only to encourage participation but also to eliminate any sense of neutrality or passivity in the face of political threats.

In some schools, administrators have reportedly taken the extraordinary step of requiring parents to show proof of voter registration in order for their children to attend classes this fall. Such measures reflect both the gravity with which the leadership views the situation and their determination to transform voter participation into a communal mobilization effort of historic proportions.

At the center of this mobilization lies the candidacy of Zohran Mamdani, a socialist politician whose platform has been characterized by many Jewish leaders as anti-Israel and, at times, overtly antisemitic. His statements, critics argue, go beyond policy disagreements into outright hostility toward Jewish self-determination and communal security.

For Jewish New Yorkers—many of whom trace their families’ survival to America’s safe harbor from persecution—the prospect of a candidate espousing such views attaining higher office is deeply unsettling. As Mamdani’s campaign reportedly registers a thousand new voters daily, Jewish leaders warn of an imminent electoral threat to their “way of life.”

The fear is not merely symbolic. Mamdani’s rise is seen as part of a broader trend of far-left political movements gaining ground in New York politics, often using anti-Zionism as a cloak for antisemitic tropes. The rabbinic declaration implicitly acknowledges this, warning that indifference at the ballot box could lead to a future where Jewish institutions and freedoms are imperiled.

The scale of the voter registration campaign is vast and multi-layered. According to reports, every synagogue sermon during the High Holidays will include reminders to register and to vote. Flyers, posters, and WhatsApp messages circulate widely, urging community members to treat the ballot box as a sacred obligation.

Community centers are organizing registration drives, while yeshivot are conducting informational sessions for parents, stressing the link between political engagement and the survival of religious schools. Rabbis have even instructed congregants to bring relatives and neighbors to polling stations, framing the act of mobilizing others as an extension of one’s own mitzvah.

This orchestrated push aims not only at ensuring turnout but also at countering Mamdani’s registration momentum. Where his campaign adds thousands of new names daily, the Jewish leadership is determined to ensure that every eligible Jewish voter is counted and committed.

The language of the rabbinic declaration makes clear that this campaign transcends the realm of ordinary politics. By defining voting as a mitzvah, the leadership signals that the issue at hand is existential: the preservation of Jewish continuity, security, and dignity in New York.

The rabbis’ appeal ties the act of voting directly to the preservation of religious institutions, education systems, and communal freedoms. They warn that by abstaining from the democratic process, Jews risk undermining the very foundations their ancestors fought to establish in America.

This approach resonates deeply with the Sephardic-Syrian community, whose historical memory includes persecution and displacement. The implicit message is that vigilance is not a choice but a responsibility, and that civic engagement is the modern form of self-defense.

The invocation of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s, zt’l, words serves as a bridge between past and present, reminding the community that Jewish leaders have long recognized the American democratic system as unique in safeguarding religious freedom.

In the 20th century, Jewish communities that failed to assert themselves politically often found their institutions vulnerable. The rabbis’ declaration thus warns against repeating such passivity at a moment when hostility toward Jewish life—often masked as political critique of Israel—appears ascendant.

In equating silence with weakness, the community is reminded that political disengagement invites marginalization, while active participation secures protection and influence.

As New York approaches its November elections, the Jewish community finds itself at a crossroads. Faced with the rise of a candidate whose platform threatens both Israel and Jewish communal life, rabbis and lay leaders are rallying their constituents in an unprecedented mobilization effort.

The Declaration of the Rabbis of the Sephardic-Syrian Community of NY and NJ elevates the act of voting to the status of a mitzvah, binding upon all. It is a call to arms—peaceful, democratic, but no less urgent. In synagogues and schools, in homes and community centers, the message reverberates: register, vote, bring others to vote, and safeguard the future.

This campaign, already shaping the discourse of the city’s Jewish neighborhoods, is not simply about preventing one man from attaining office. It is about asserting the community’s right to self-preservation within the democratic system, about ensuring that Jewish voices are neither silenced nor sidelined in a political climate that grows increasingly hostile.

In the words of the rabbis: “This is not optional. It is a mitzvah.”