\u201cMy initial reaction is it\u2019s classic Mamdani,\u201d he told JNS.\u00a0\u201cHe has no interest in the serious work of rebuilding his relationship with the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
“He wants to feign interest in the Jewish community, but is only ready to meet with Jews whom he picks and chooses as ideologically comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Turns out, even they are fed up with him,\u201d he added, referring to reports that the meeting was a tense affair, with attendees urging the mayor to tone down his anti-Israel rhetoric<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rabbi Etan Tokayer, president of the Rabbinic Council of America, told JNS that he too had not received an invitation.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsent any context, I cannot say whether I would attend had I been invited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Tokayer told JNS that he wrote a letter several months ago to the mayor\u2019s Jewish liaison after it was reported that Mamdani\u2019s wife, Rama Duwaji<\/a>, had liked a\u00a0number of strongly anti-Israel social media posts\u00a0in the past.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a strong but thoughtfully balanced note,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cI received no reply.\u201d<\/p>\n Those who did attend the meeting, though, recounted a robust but respectful conversation.<\/p>\n “There was no tiptoeing around the elephant in the room,\u201d said\u00a0Rabbi Jonathan Leener of Prospect Heights Shul.<\/p>\n “The mayor\u2019s comments have ramifications and he needs to be aware of how in the current climate, that just adds to the temperature and creates an environment that I think a lot of Jews feel vulnerable in.”<\/p>\n