Ammi Hirsch, senior rabbi at New York City’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, shared a video, posted on Sunday, during a service noting some fraught conversations with Jewish Democrats of late.
“Neither I nor our synagogue engage in partisan politics. So allow me to express a nonpartisan word to all of our friends in elected office from the Democratic Party,” he said. “From one who is finely attuned to American Jewish sentiment, do not take American Jews for granted.”
Hirsch reported that he had spoken with “so many American Jews in the past few months who have surprised me with their anxiety about developments in the Democratic Party and their perception that it is becoming increasingly hostile to Israel, and increasingly tolerant of anti-Zionism and antisemitism in its own ranks.”
At the end of the brief video, the rabbi cautioned: “Be careful. The results of the upcoming election do not only depend on Michigan.”
The Real Clear Politics average of polls from March 8-24 gives former President Donald Trump a 2.8% lead in the state over U.S. President Joe Biden.
Following Iran’s launching of a combination of more than 300 drones, rockets and missiles towards Israel over the weekend (some 99% of which were shot down), Hirsch wrote on X that “Israeli society is just simply remarkable—the level of resilience and inspiration that emanates from the Jewish state—as it faces such hostility—is just a remarkable thing to behold.”
