Rabbi asks Mamdani to seek Jewish forgiveness ahead of Yom Kippur

Mamdani must stop describing the Gaza war as genocide and acknowledge that many Jewish New Yorkers view the characterization as a distortion of the Holocaust.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Rabbi Marc Schneier called on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to apologize to Jewish New Yorkers and change his rhetoric on Israel and Zionism ahead of Yom Kippur, arguing that assurances about protecting the community are insufficient without acknowledging the harm Schneier says the mayor has caused.

In an op-ed in the New York Daily News timed to the Jewish Day of Atonement, which begins Monday, Schneier framed his appeal around the Jewish concepts of introspection and repentance.

He wrote that genuine repentance requires contrition, confession and a change in behavior.

Schneier argued that Mamdani’s repeated description of Israel’s war in Gaza as genocide, his statements about arresting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his positions on Zionism have left many Jewish New Yorkers questioning whether the mayor’s pledge to represent all residents includes them.

Rather than simply demanding an apology, Schneier drafted the apology he believes Mamdani should make.

“I apologize to Jewish New Yorkers for the pain I have caused. I have said I am the mayor of all New Yorkers, but my conduct has made you question that promise. I have neglected the fears and voices of Jewish and Israeli New Yorkers,” the hypothetical apology begins.

Schneier said Mamdani should stop describing the Gaza war as genocide and acknowledge that many Jewish New Yorkers view the characterization as false and a distortion of the Holocaust.

He also argued that Mamdani should recognize Jewish self-determination and cease using the mayoralty to single out Israel.

Mamdani previously pledged to order Netanyahu’s arrest. In July, he said he remained in an “active conversation” with city lawyers about the issue despite having been told he lacked the authority, Schneier wrote.

Schneier also invoked Mamdani’s Muslim faith, noting that both Judaism and Islam emphasize repentance and repair.

Jewish tradition holds that Yom Kippur cannot atone for wrongs committed against another person until forgiveness is sought, while Islam calls for sincere repentance, or tawbah.

“Jewish tradition never closes the gate on sincere repentance,” Schneier wrote.

Schneier is president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, an organization focused on Muslim-Jewish relations, and founding senior rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue.

He said he has devoted his life to Muslim-Jewish reconciliation and argued that reconciliation requires confronting difficult disagreements directly.

“Repentance begins when this political theater ends,” he wrote.