The New York Jewish Week

07/05/2025

Last Friday, a group of around six Orthodox rabbis called New York City Assembly member Micah Lasher for a conversation about the then-presumptive Democratic nominee in the city’s mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani.

The 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.

Micah Lasher said he understood NYC Jews’ fears when he endorsed the fierce Israel critic two days after meeting with local rabbis.

07/03/2025

The acting president of Columbia University apologized to members of the school community Wednesday after leaked text messages showed she had suggested the removal of a Jewish trustee.

“The things I said in a moment of frustration and stress were wrong. They do not reflect how I feel,” Shipman said.

07/03/2025

Early in the humid afternoon on Wednesday, New York State Assembly member Harvey Epstein stood at a table on the corner of East 7th Street and Avenue B, handing out free vegan hot dogs.

A day earlier, he was confirmed the winner of the primary election to represent Manhattan’s District 2 in City Council,

State Assembly member Harvey Epstein celebrated his City Council primary victory by giving away free vegan hot dogs in the East Village.

07/02/2025

The 33-year-old Assembly member and surprise victor in the Democratic mayoral primary, Zohran Mamdani, has a long history of speaking out about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Here is a round-up of what Mamdani has said on a range of Israel and Jewish-related topics in a variety of interviews that have made headlines.

The 33-year-old Assembly member and surprise victor in the Democratic mayoral primary has a long history of speaking out about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

07/01/2025

The custodian of a synagogue in Glen Rock, New Jersey was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sparking calls for his release from the mayor of the northern New Jersey suburb.

Jorge Tomas Dagar Aquino, who had been working for the Glen Rock Jewish Center since 2014 and became the center’s full time maintenance supervisor in 2020, was detained by ICE during an asylum interview on June 16.

The custodian's arrest comes as the Trump administration has ordered mass ICE raids across the country.

06/30/2025

It’s a good thing Chuck Schumer loves pickles — because he’s in a real big one following Zohran Mamdani’s apparent victory in New York’s Democratic mayoral primary last week.

Schumer has been gentle with a rising Democratic political star who has said things about Israel that the Jewish senator has long denounced.

06/27/2025

Yiddish music lovers, this one’s for you: A free outdoor Yiddish music concert and singalong is once again happening in New York City this summer.

“New York Sings Yiddish,” presented by Capital One, City Parks Foundation and the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, makes a triumphant return to Central Park SummerStage on Monday, June 30.

“This is the exact moment that Jews and their allies should be coming together," said organizer Zalmen Mlotek.

06/26/2025

In the span of a few minutes on Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets single-handedly doubled the Jewish population in the NBA from two to four.

The Nets selected Israeli Ben Saraf and Israeli-American Danny Wolf back to back with the 26th and 27th overall picks in Wednesday’s NBA Draft.

Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf will be teammates after being drafted back-to-back on Wednesday night.

06/25/2025

In a stunning upset, New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani, who has been dogged by accusations of antisemitism over his criticism of Israel, defeated Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary.

06/23/2025

A former minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregational Society in Brooklyn and now a rabbinical student, Ana Levy-Lyons wants to help people escape the "oppressiveness of secular modernity."