An influential NYC rabbi said the American Jewish “Golden Age” has ended. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan, declared that “the Golden Age of American Jewry” is over during his Shabbat sermon Friday at the prominent Reform congregation. Hirsch’s speech focused on the midterm election results, in which Democrats seized control of the U.S. House and Senate with the help of some candidates, like Michigan’s Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed, who oppose the U.S.-Israel alliance. The “heady days” when “Israel had bipartisan support” have ended, said Hirsch. “Anti-Zionism is a hateful ideology of destruction as illiberal and immoral as anything in public life today,” he added.
Pro-Israel Rep. Hakeem Jeffries will face criticism from progressives. The pro-Israel Democrat from Brooklyn is likely to lead the House of Representatives when the next Congress convenes in January. Jeffries, who would be the first Black House speaker, grew up in Crown Heights, a neighborhood known for the close proximity of Black and Orthodox Jewish residents. But he will need to tread lightly, as his support for Israel and ties to AIPAC have angered progressives who want to see the party leadership apply greater pressure on the Israeli government. Progressives have expressed similar misgivings about New York Jewish Sen. Chuck Schumer, the current Senate minority leader who hopes to become majority leader.
Jews were targeted in 57.8% of hate crimes last month, according to the NYPD. The NYPD announced today that Jews were the victims of 26 confirmed hate crimes in October, the same number as the previous month, even as overall major crime declined in all five boroughs. Jews make up 10% of the city’s population.
Israel’s ambassador to the United States accused The New York Times of inciting “the next genocide” against Jews. Yechiel Leiter said at a Chabad conference in New Jersey on Sunday that he met with a group of Times editors in November 2025, concluding that “they were the jury, they were the judge [and] they were the firing squad,” Haaretz reported. Accusing the newspaper of “blood libel” through coverage that was biased against Israel, Leiter said, “The reason why they are accusing us of genocide is to prepare the next genocide. Against us.”
The New York Young Republican Club has announced Enes Kanter Freedom as a speaker at its annual gala. The former NBA player, known for his off-court advocacy for Israel and Holocaust education, among other causes, will speak at the event in December. Last year’s gala hosted by the NYYRC was criticized for including guests who have shared antisemitic and white supremacist content.
NYC commemorated Kristallnacht. New Yorkers on Sunday listened to music from a choir songbook that survived the burning of Mannheim’s Klaus Synagogue on Kristallnacht, a wave of Nazi pogroms against Jews in 1938 that presaged the Holocaust. More than a dozen Holocaust survivors attended the event called “Spread the Light,” hosted by Yad Vashem USA Foundation on the Upper West Side to mark the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht.