Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, principal of SAR Academy, recently explained in a TOI piece why students from SAR, Ramaz and other Jewish schools gathered outside Gracie Mansion for prayer on the Friday before Yom Kippur.

I want to respond to Rabbi Krauss because I am deeply grateful for the education my daughters received at SAR. I was also fortunate to volunteer my time and expertise as an architect to help fulfill Rabbi Krauss’s promise that all students would be back in the classroom in September 2020 despite the COVID pandemic. My response therefore comes from a place of care and a sense of responsibility.

Rabbi Krauss described the gathering as a response to rising antisemitism and to the fear many Jewish students are experiencing. He also acknowledged that the location was intentional: many Jewish New Yorkers, he wrote, have interpreted Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s criticism of Israel as threatening.

Antisemitism is a serious cause of fear for our children, and we must fight it. But this rally was not only about antisemitism; it was also a response to a mayor whose views about Israel, Netanyahu and the Gaza war many in our community find deeply troubling. But is criticism of Israel, even profoundly unsettling criticism, itself a threat to Jewish safety? Can we pose hard questions about the actions of the State of Israel without being seen as antisemitic?

I do not want to discredit the real rise in antisemitism we are witnessing. There is evidence to suggest that antisemitic incidents rise during periods of intense Israeli-Palestinian violence. Other causes for the rise in antisemitism include white nationalism, promotion of the Great Replacement Theory, and the demonization of Jews on the far left.

Time for pride or teshuva?

The gathering took place during the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the Ten Days of Repentance, just before Yom Kippur. These are days devoted to examining our own sins and mistakes. Teshuva asks for introspection, humility and a willingness to question ourselves. It asks us to consider not only where others have wronged us, but where we may have failed others.

Jewish pride, a theme celebrated at the rally, has its place, as do public prayer and protest. But during these particular days, I wish our educational institutions had also asked our students some harder questions: What if some of the mayor’s ideas........

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