The Jewish Voice

Listy z naszego sadu

I knew--we all knew--that Mamdani, the symbol of Islam Rising, the symbol of Anti-Zionist Jew hatred, would win. Tides have turned. Our new Mayor now represents the future of Jihad. Despite his outlandish campaign promises for Free Stuff, he "performed" Islamism more than Stalinism.

As my colleague Roger Simon notes, Mamdani may be Bin Laden's truest heir. At the National Review, Philip Klein wonders whether Mamdani's administration will just look the other way when anti-Israel riots take place on campuses and in the streets; when visible Jews (and all other vulnerable civilians) are attacked in our places of worship? One friend wondered whether she would ever again feel safe on a train, given Mayor Mamdani's, DA Bragg's, and the NYS Legislature's position on cashless bail, no jail, and fewer police officers. Will this further empower crazed, violent, and homeless men (some women too) to use the trains as homeless shelters, dangerous to us all?

Last night, long before the NYC mayoral race was called, I shut off the news and livestreamed exceedingly light fare. However, this morning, when I got up, my body was heavy with grief. My mortal frame was sore.

We must never stop telling the truth about Jihad or about Islamic gender and religious apartheid. Not all Muslims are Jihadists but all Jihadists are Muslims. They encircle Israel from every direction and they are in the act of bringing Europe down--and back into the 7th century.

Yes, to "perform" even-handedness, I must also say that the prices in NYC have gone up alarmingly; that most people cannot afford to live decently in my once fair city unless they are very wealthy; that the working poor and the impoverished live in a reality that is difficult to bear without drugs, alcohol, criminal enterprises--and God-centered communities and places of worship. The Working Family Party, the line where Mamdani voted for himself, is a cult, playing a long-game. I know some true believers who once tried to convert me to their side. Perhaps their goals are lofty (they think so), but their means are dangerous and the outcomes even more dangerous (Stalin, Mao, Castro).

How "progressive" can Mamdani be if he's promised to legalize what he calls "sex work"? How pro-woman can he be when it is known that "sex" is not work; it is the gravest violence towards women, and it is profitable only to their pimps. They have short shelf lives and no pension plans. Does Mamdani really mean to fund his free buses on the backs of womankind? Will he recommend that his female relatives enter this soul-destroying line of work? Women are trafficked into prostitution by greedy evildoers but also by poverty. Does Mamdani not include them in the working poor whom he valorized in his victorious acceptance speech?

Look: I am only a student of Torah, not a scholar and yet...I'll be damned if there isn't something always timely, coincidental, that sheds a strong light on one's current reality.

Yesterday I attended a shiur, a class, which discussed Tractate Moed Katan, which focuses on so-called minor holidays. Rabbi Skydell focused on the rules of mourning.

Yes, I am in mourning. Many of us are. Not just for the potential loss of our city but for the loss of standards, meritocracy, decency, and all respect for tradition. For the loss of a classical non-woke education. For the loss of any pretense that evil everywhere, anywhere can be abolished. Real genocide, real persecution continues (Sudan, Nigeria, Ukraine, for only a sample of war-zones I can easily mention)--and amazingly, only Israel is scapegoated for the crimes it has not committed. As to the slaughter of Christians in Nigeria--well, if Israel and Jews cannot be accused of perpetrating it, the world media and the UN do not much care.

But the point that struck me in the Torah class was that even a mourner, deep in grief, still has responsibilities to the community. The greater good of all surpassed even the obligations of the mourner. (I could make much of this in terms of the hostage situation in Israel but for now, my part is silence.)

Thus, understanding that I have responsibilities, I steeled myself to write this--just in case it might make others who are feeling as I do realize that they are not alone. And to remind us all that nothing, no setback, no obstacle, can or should stop the work of truth-tellers, dissidents, real resisters. We must come together and continue the work of exposing lies and going on the offensive.