“I would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.”

With those words, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reignited a painful reality for many Jews around the world. At a time when Israel is still confronting the security challenges unleashed by October 7, even after the hostages have finally returned home, and when antisemitism continues to rise globally, America’s largest city has become another arena where Israel’s leaders, policies, and very legitimacy are intensely debated.

But this moment extends beyond one politician or one city.

This week, more than one hundred Democratic members of Congress voted in favor of an amendment that would have removed U.S. military assistance for Israel. The measure did not pass, but the vote reflected a growing debate in American politics over the nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship and demonstrated that support for Israel’s security, once viewed as a broadly shared bipartisan principle, faces new challenges.

For many Jews, this feels painfully familiar.

The accusations change.

The countries change.

But the pressure never seems to end.

How do we respond when the attacks keep coming, when old assumptions no longer hold, when allies become uncertain, and when even our strongest efforts seem unable to silence hatred?

That question has been on my mind recently.

I had a dream where I repeatedly tried to make an urgent phone call, but nothing went through. Again and again, I pressed the buttons. Nothing.

In another dream, I defended myself against an attacker. I blocked the blows, fought back with everything I had, and landed a solid punch. Yet it was as though my strength had........

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