Here I am, enjoying the extraordinary, beautiful climate of a Canadian summer. My garden is peaceful and fragrant, the pears in my pear tree are turning red, I pick a handful of raspberries every morning, and the resident bunny family sends its young ones scampering across my lawn every evening. For a breathable moment in time, it seems like the summers of childhood, when everything is okay and there are no worries.
And then I read the news. In the musical soundtrack of my life, it’s as if a record player needle scratches across the spinning disc with a jarring EERCKKKKK, stopping the pleasant tune midway.
Reality is sobering. Actually, no. Reality is infuriating.
Two days ago, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani put out a video that is overflowing with hatred towards Israel and jam-packed with lies. A modern-day blood libel.
Do you know what the original blood libel was? In the Middle Ages, European Jews were accused of using the blood of Christian children to bake Passover matzah. The zroah (shank bone) on the seder plate only further endorsed this belief to those who chose to accept it as truth. This disgusting accusation spread across Europe and encouraged antisemitic attacks which caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Jews. A lie which took centuries to dispel.
Today, if you don’t know any better, Mamdani’s message is quite compelling, delivered in a straightforward, no-nonsense, authoritative tone. Heck, if I didn’t know the truth, I would absolutely hate Israel after hearing him. He sounds so sympathetic and reasonable. IF you don’t know the truth. Genocide, war criminals, targeting children. Finally, after he has stated lie upon lie to incite hatred towards Israel and all who support Israel (the latter being the Jews in New York City, by the way; just sayin’), Mamdani emphasizes the importance of using “every tool we have” to defend humanity. Aw, he’s so good, right? Shouldn’t everyone follow his leadership? Hmmm. . . .what tools do I have. . . ?
Well, guess what, Mr. Mayor? People listened. They listened and interpreted your words as they understood, possibly as you meant for them to be understood. Raul Morales heard you make it abundantly clear that the leader of the Jewish State is a war criminal, leading his Jewish military of villains with criminal, sadistic strategies. So Raul Morales took his “tool” of choice – a screwdriver – and, while calling out Allahu Akbar, stabbed a Jewish man. Yes, the Jewish guy was wearing a kippah. He was on his way home from yesterday’s Tisha B’Av service at his Upper West Side synagogue at Central Park West and West 84th Street.
[We now pause for a moment of ironies:
1. Although streets in New York are numbered, some have been given names after important New Yorkers who have left their mark in the world. The corner of West 84th Street and Central Park West carries the name “Elie Weisel Way” after the great Jewish writer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who survived Auschwitz and became a tireless human rights advocate.
2. Tisha B’Av is the holiday when we fast and mourn the destruction of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. The first Temple was built, used, and destroyed over 1,000 years before Mohammed was born, the second was hundreds of years before Mohammed. The existence of both is disputed today by our enemies who claim that, before 1948, there were no Jews in the land of Israel and that we have no right to be there.
Now back to the News.]
Mamdani issued two statements yesterday. One wished us a peaceful Tisha B’Av while conspicuously omitting any mention of Israel or the destruction of the Temples. The second message condemned the Upper West Side attack without a word about antisemitism. THIS is the New York that Mamdani is creating. THIS is the society that puts Jewish people in danger. (And I hate to say it, but Toronto is eerily and horrifically similar.) It is upon each of us to speak out, set the record straight, dispel the lies before they spread further, and make sure we elect leaders who understand the responsibility of their platform and the potentially perilous, deadly consequences of their words.
Wishing you a peaceful, Canadian summer Shabbat!
Am Yisrael Chai!