By: Fern Sidman

In a searing sermon that has since gone viral and reverberated far beyond his Upper West Side congregation, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch — the influential senior rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and president of the New York Board of Rabbis — delivered a grave warning about the implications of Zohran Mamdani’s recent mayoral victory. Speaking from his pulpit Friday evening, Hirsch said that the new mayor-elect’s record and rhetoric on Israel “represent not mere criticism, but an existential threat to the Jewish people’s safety in New York City.”

As reported on in The New York Post on Sunday, the rabbi’s remarks have ignited intense debate among Jewish leaders, civic figures, and political observers. The sermon, described by many congregants as one of Hirsch’s most impassioned in recent years, painted a stark picture of what the rabbi views as the rise of ideologically driven anti-Zionism within the city’s political establishment — an ideology he warned could have dangerous, real-world consequences for Jewish New Yorkers.

“His opposition to Israel is not political,” Hirsch declared of Mamdani. “It is existential. He believes that Israel has no right to exist at all — as a Jewish state in any territory.” His voice, captured in clips circulated widely on social media, carried both disbelief and alarm. “This is not the position of a critic. This is the position of an enemy.”

According to the information provided in The New York Post report, Rabbi Hirsch recounted in vivid detail a private August meeting between Mamdani and several “prominent and liberal” rabbis — including leaders who had previously been open to dialogue with progressive figures critical of Israeli policies. “We went with open hearts and open minds,” Hirsch said, emphasizing that the group hoped to find common ground with the young Democratic Socialist. But instead, he said, they left the meeting “horrified.”

“Throughout the meeting, our mood steadily darkened,” Hirsch told congregants. “And our fears increased.”

As The New York Post report noted, Mamdani founded a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter during his college years and has repeatedly refused to condemn the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” widely understood as a call to violent resistance against Israel.

Hirsch characterized Mamdani as “a dogmatic opponent to the Zionist ideal,” comparing his ideological stance to the rhetoric of Hamas, Hezbollah, and their patron state, Iran. “He is not simply a critic of Israel,” the rabbi asserted. “He does not believe in coexistence. He does not believe in two states for two peoples. He does not believe in peace as we define it.”

“You can put fifty police officers outside this building,” Hirsch warned. “But if the overall atmosphere is hostile to Jews, it will severely threaten Jewish safety everywhere in the city — every day.”

“Rabbi Hirsch has done what too few have dared to do,” one synagogue board member told The New York Post. “He spoke the truth, plainly and without fear. And in times like these, that’s an act of courage.”