The Navi Micha [6-5] exhorts us: עַמִּי זְכָר נָא מַה יָּעַץ בָּלָק מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב וּמֶה עָנָה אֹתוֹ בִּלְעָם בֶּן בְּעוֹר מִן הַשִּׁטִּים עַד הַגִּלְגָּל לְמַעַן דַּעַת צִדְקוֹת יְהוָה. Remember how Balak and Bilam tried to destroy you in order to remember the righteousness of Hashem.
He is a story of a Jew named Micha who has not heeded that call.
Late last month, a group of around six NYC based Orthodox rabbis called New York City Assembly member Micah/Micha Lasher for a conversation about the then-presumptive Democratic nominee in the city’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani.
The June 27 call centered on concerns the rabbis and their communities had with a candidate who had refused to condemn the pro-Palestinian slogan “globalize the intifada” and also supported the boycott Israel movement.
According to one of the rabbis on the call, Shaul Robinson of Lincoln Square Synagogue, the callers felt they had been heard.
“On Friday, I, together with many Orthodox Rabbis from the neighborhood, were invited to a conference call with one of our local (Jewish) New York Assemblymen to ‘strategize’ about what to do about the Mamdani candidacy,” Robinson wrote in a Facebook post. “The politician pledged his support for our community, offered to be a sounding board and source of strength in this incredibly threatening time.”
But days after meeting with Lasher, Robinson and other rabbis on the call were taken aback to see Lasher endorse Mamdani, his fellow Assembly member, in a post on X, leading Robinson to write on Facebook that he was appalled.
“And today, this self-same politician endorsed Mamdani’s candidacy. That both appalls me and motivates me to leave no stone unturned. We aren’t going to let New York City become a year-round Glastonbury-style Hate-fest against the Jewish community,” Robinson wrote on June 29, not naming Lasher and referencing a British music festival where a punk rap duo led anti-Israel chants calling for “Death to the IDF” last weekend.
Robinson’s Facebook post about the call and Lasher’s endorsement reflect the anxiety surrounding Mamdani’s candidacy, which to many pro-Israel Jews and their allies represents a mainstreaming of the kind of rhetoric around Israelis and Palestinians that puts Jews in danger, or at the very least flouts years of pro-Israel consensus on the part of many city politicians. By posting about the call and his disappointment in Lasher’s endorsement, Robinson sparked a heated conversation about what a Jewish politician like Lasher owes to the worried Jews in his district, which includes the Upper West Side.
In his endorsement, Lasher wrote that “Zohran has the talent to breathe much-needed new life into City government and the personal gifts to bring New Yorkers together around a positive vision for the future.”
I am in the unusual position of having gotten to know @ZohranKMamdani as a colleague in the State Assembly. We share a belief in the power of government to solve big problems, and have built an unexpected friendship in spite of deeply felt disagreements. I know Zohran to be a…
— Micah Lasher (@MicahLasher) June 29, 2025
Lasher also acknowledged the concerns of his Jewish constituents, adding that he would “continue to be among those urging Zohran to speak with clarity when it comes to rhetoric — including the invocation or celebration of intifada — that makes Jewish New Yorkers, or any community in our city, feel threatened.”
In other words, what Micha is saying is - Mamdani wants all Jews dead, and frankly, that can feel threatening to my fellow Jews. I told him to cut out that rhetoric but he just won't listen! But still - please vote Mamdani. He is a liberal-communist-Jihadist and that is EXACTLY want NYC needs to move forward positively. That and more barber shops, pet food stores and clothing outlets for all of the countless dogs here on the UWS. Some people LITERALLY treat them like dogs and that is a shame. They deserve more dignity than that. Dogs are people, too!!!
Ahhhh - מהרסיך ומחריביך ממך יצאו.
But of course we will outlast Mamdani and all of those on his bandwagon and misguided Jews like Micha Lasher will return to the faith of their fathers.
AMEN!!
