Why NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Tisha B’Av wishes are so ironic – opinion

Every year on Tisha B'Av, I witness a film titled Conspiracy, a somber HBO drama from two decades ago focusing on the Wannsee Conference. It is chilling to recall the individuals present and their chilling decisions. Their certainty in their own invincibility, coupled with the audacity of their actions, is evident. They believed history was on their side, certain the Jews would fade away.

Yet, within a few years, nearly every one of them met a dismal fate. The empire they constructed to erase us crumbled, while we remain steadfast, praying, building, and remembering.

This year, Tisha B'Av coincided with a resurgence of that same arrogance. Zohran Mamdani, now the mayor of a city housing the largest Jewish population outside Israel, habitually accuses Israel's prime minister of unfounded crimes. His intentions are clear, yet his motives are misguided. More concerning is the message his words send to his supporters: that the Jewish state, and by extension, the Jewish people, are the antagonists.

Then came his Tisha B'Av message to New York's Jewish community. A day set aside for millennia to mourn the destruction of our Temples and our displacement, Mamdani failed to mention Israel even once. Not once. On the day entirely dedicated to Jewish yearning for Jerusalem, our elected leaders could not utter the name. The message is clear and has echoed for two millennia.

Those who maintain their unique laws and prioritize their own interests above the king have faced dire consequences. The architects of Wannsee could not accept a people whose survival contradicted their racial theories. Today, the rhetoric retains the language of justice and liberation, but its underlying instinct remains unchanged: isolate the Jew, cast doubt on his loyalty, deny his history, and hope the crowd complies.

It is crucial to acknowledge the power of such rhetoric. History has shown that these words have preceded violence, and we have already witnessed the streets of New York become volatile. Arrogance is a significant threat, and we must not turn a blind eye. We must stand up, organize, and support those who stand with us. However, Tisha B'Av also imparts another vital lesson.

Every regime, every mob, every mayor or minister who has attempted to erase the Jewish presence from history has failed. Babylon fell, Rome fell, the men at the Wannsee table fell, and they fell swiftly. Our connection to the land of Israel, nurtured for three thousand years and commemorated on this day, has proven resilient against every adversary.

Mamdani may exclude Israel from his tweets. Yet, he cannot disregard Israel from who we are. Our children will continue to turn towards Jerusalem when they pray. Our fast days will still conclude with the hope that has been our tradition.

The message of Tisha B'Av is clear: empires built on the premise of our disappearance are destined to vanish themselves. We are still here, and we will continue to be here. And so, with faith, may Jerusalem be restored.