On March 12, the American Jewish community awoke to a familiar horror. A man drove a pickup loaded with fireworks and gasoline into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Whenever something like this happens, every rabbi has the same thought: This could have been us.

That Friday evening, my congregation, the Astoria Center of Israel (ACI) in New York City, was scheduled to hold our largest Shabbat dinner of the year. Like Jewish institutions across the country, we had already invested heavily in security. But after the attack in Michigan, we worried that people would stay home – and that our request for additional police protection was not being taken seriously.

So I did what any responsible leader should do: I asked for help.

I texted our city council member, our state assembly member and our state senator. Within minutes, all three offices were pressing law enforcement on our behalf. Additional police presence was arranged, our dinner proceeded safely and our congregation gathered without incident.

But here’s the twist: Every one of the elected officials I contacted is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America's New York City chapter.

Our synagogue is represented by some of the most prominent democratic socialists in the United States. Before becoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani represented our district in the New York State Assembly. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, represents us in Congress. The Washington Post recently chronicled Astoria's emergence as a........

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