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Good Wednesday morning!

In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we reflect on Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral victory in New York City and what lessons the local Jewish community can draw from similar circumstances elsewhere. We speak with relatives and colleagues of Stanley Chesley, a controversial litigator and longtime Jewish communal leader, who died on Sunday. We also report on the National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism’s potential split from the Heritage Foundation. We feature an opinion piece by Steven Windmueller on Mamdani’s win; Marina Rosenberg marks the 80th anniversary of the pogrom that set the disappearance of Libya’s Jewish community in motion; and Archie Gottesman makes the case for choosing progress over perfection when it comes to finding allies in the fight against antisemitism. Also in this issue: Joseph J. Feit, Staff Sgt. Itay Chen and Ben Horowitz.

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The city with the largest Jewish population in the world elected Democrat Zohran Mamdani as its mayor last night, following an election that deeply divided the Jewish community and is poised to continue to influence Jewish communal politics and priorities into the future.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist, was staunchly opposed throughout his campaign by the mainstream Jewish communal world over his support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel and his refusal to disavow calls to “globalize the intifada,” among other things. This included leading rabbis breaking from historical norms to endorse his main opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, from the pulpit. And now, that same mainstream Jewish communal world will have to learn to work with and against Mamdani, who received less than a third of the Jewish vote, compared to 60% that went to Cuomo, according to exit polls. 

“As we have done for over a century, we will continue to work across every level of government to ensure that our city remains a place where our Jewish community, and all communities, feel safe and respected,” the UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the New York/New Jersey branch of the Anti-Defamation League, the New York office of the American Jewish Committee and and the New York Board of Rabbis, wrote in a joint statement. 

This was echoed by many national and local Jewish organizations, who reiterated their concerns but also called for Mamdani to come through on his campaign promises of ensuring the dignity and safety of all New Yorkers, including Jewish ones. Others took a more combative posture, such as the Anti-Defamation League, which launched a “Mamdani Monitor” this morning to track the incoming mayor’s policies and personnel appointments. Read Jewish Insider’s coverage of the initiative here.

Going forward, the Jewish community will face a far more complicated relationship with New York City leadership than it is used to. Suffice it to say that the new mayor will likely not be attending the “Israel on Fifth” parade next spring as his predecessors typically did. Yet Jewish leaders will nevertheless have to cooperate with the incoming administration in order to ensure the community is secured and receives access to municipal resources, while also pushing back against Mamdani’s more troubling proposals and initiatives, particularly those related to Israel.

This will be a delicate line to balance. There are precedents for this, however, which the New York Jewish community — and American Jewish community writ large — can turn to for a roadmap, particularly in Europe, where anti-Zionist sentiments have been far more common for years. 

Arieh Kovler, a London-born political consultant, noted the similarities between Mamdani and former London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who came from the progressive wing of the Labour Party and who held anti-Israel views and was repeatedly (and credibly) accused of antisemitism. Ultimately, while this period was complicated and challenging, the London Jewish community made it through. “Ken Livingstone was not a friend of the Jews,” Kovler said. “But Jewish life did not end. Organizations still got funding. Israel events still happened. And we came out the end of it. The Jews did not flee London.”

Read the rest of ‘What You Should Know’ here.

COURTESY/ROBERT CUMINS

Stanley Chesley went from being a relatively unknown personal injury lawyer to a nationally renowned litigator after representing the victims of the 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club fire that killed 165 people, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher. A celebrated philanthropist throughout Cincinnati and the Jewish world, his career ended in controversy after he was disbarred in 2013, accused of overcharging fees. Chesley died on Sunday at a long-term care facility in Cincinnati after a long battle with dementia, his family said. He was 89. 

More in the good: Today, Chesley, who served as president of the Cincinnati Jewish federation, is remembered by peers as a man who lived large and brought everyone along for the ride, treating Jewish professionals and acquaintances with respect and always seeking ways to bring others up from similar humble beginnings as the ones he was born into. “When Stanley was up there in the olam haba [world to come], and they looked at the ledger sheets,” said Elliot Karp, the Cincinnati federation’s chief development officer from 1989 to 2004, “I think there's far more credit on the side of the balance sheet for all the good he did than any of the issues.”

Read the full obituary here.

DOMINIC GWINN/MIDDLE EAST IMAGES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Less than a day after an antisemitism task force aligned with the Heritage Foundation pledged to stand by the embattled conservative organization, the group’s co-chairs are now demanding concrete reforms from Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts — and warning that they may cut off ties with Heritage if their requests are not met. In a Tuesday afternoon email to members of the conservative National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, which was viewed by Gabby Deutch from eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider, the task force co-chairs shared the text of an email they sent to Roberts earlier in the day. 

What they said: They asked Roberts to remove the controversial video he posted to X last week defending firebrand commentator Tucker Carlson, in which Roberts alleged that Carlson’s critics are part of a “venomous coalition” and that “their attempt to cancel him will fail.” The co-chairs wrote, “Many of us on the NTFCA are among those who believed you called us part of a ‘venomous coalition’ and implicitly questioned our loyalty to the United States. It makes collaboration with Heritage difficult for our members.” Roberts’ video came after Carlson faced criticism for hosting neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes on his podcast.

Read the full story here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.

ADAM GRAY/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

“The election of Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor will result in a fundamental shift in political options for American Jewry, as this contest’s outcome, it would appear, will have implications well beyond the Empire State,” writes Steven Windmueller, professor emeritus of Jewish communal studies at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. 

Unknown territory: “As America’s political stage becomes more radicalized, whether in connection with authoritarian tendencies on the right and socialist impulses on the left, where does that leave mainstream voters, including a significant base of the Jewish electorate? The battle over the future of the Democratic Party is now on full display, and just as we saw divisions among Jews in connection with this contest, Jewish voters will increasingly be in search of political options that provide them with a lane distinctive from the extremist politics that now define so much of both sides of the playing field.”

Read the full piece here.

COURTESY

“On Nov. 5, 1945, mobs swept through the streets of Tripoli and other Libyan cities armed with clubs, knives and torches. By the time order was restored three days later, more than 140 Jews were dead, including children. Hundreds were injured. Synagogues, homes and shops lay in ashes; centuries-old neighborhoods had been destroyed in hours, and thousands of Jews were left homeless,” writes Marina Rosenberg, senior vice president of international affairs for the Anti-Defamation League, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “This pogrom was the beginning of the end for one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.”

More than a footnote: “The erasure of Jews from the Arab world was not inevitable — it resulted from hate, incitement and deliberate state policy. And the silence that followed has been just as deliberate. Remembering Libya’s pogroms restores to history a people erased from it. It reminds us that the Middle East’s Jewish story is not solely an Israeli one; it spans millennia across the region, deeply intertwined with the lands from which Jews were expelled. To forget them is to accept their erasure. To remember them is our duty — one that has become controversial, but one we must uphold.”

Read the full piece here.

COURTESY/JEWBELONG

“For too long, the Jewish community has written off potential allies because of political differences. But antisemitism doesn’t ask your political party for permission before it strikes. It doesn’t care who you voted for, or where you stand on social issues. And fighting it requires courage and numbers, not purity tests,” writes Archie Gottesman, co-founder of JewBelong, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. 

Hands are reaching out: “Jews are only 2% of the U.S. population. We can’t fight antisemitism alone, which is why JewBelong is actively partnering with the Christian community, including the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and Larry Huch Ministries. … Christian voices reach places Jewish voices don’t, and their solidarity makes it clear that this fight isn’t just a Jewish issue: it’s an American one. It’s understandable that some Jews may feel wary when outsiders speak up for us. We’ve been conditioned to assume there’s a catch. But what if there isn’t? What if we’ve been so used to going it alone that we don’t see the hands already reaching out?” 

Read the full piece here.

Missing the Point: In The Times of Israel, Joseph J. Feit expresses concern about Israeli politicians approaching aliyah primarily as a tool for economic growth rather than a sacred imperative. “What makes this transformation especially painful is that it is being advanced by the Religious Zionism Party, the very movement that once saw aliyah as a mitzvah and the redemption of the Jewish people as a collective calling. … A movement that once defined itself by faith and sacrifice now risks defining itself by spreadsheets. If aliyah becomes a business plan instead of a covenant, if Jews must present résumés instead of lineage, if a halakhic movement refuses even to look, can it still call itself religious or Zionist? The Religious Zionist public deserves an answer. So do the 14,000 Jews still waiting in Ethiopia.” [TOI]

At Your (National) Service: In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Eden Stiffman reports on efforts by Service Year Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes national service work, to shift national service programs away from depending on federal funding. “When federal AmeriCorps funding was abruptly slashed this spring, programs that send hundreds of thousands of young adults to provide on-the-ground assistance in schools, health clinics, and disaster-recovery sites suddenly faced the prospect of shutting down. Though most of that funding has since been restored, the turmoil laid bare how dependent the system is on Washington and how quickly federal decisions can upend community-based programs nationwide. That fragility has spurred a rethink of how national service is financed.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]

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Jewish Insider examines yesterday’s elections across the country — from the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia to the California redistricting measure — and what they mean for the American Jewish community…

Somerville, Mass., passed a ballot initiative yesterday calling for the Boston suburb to divest from Israel, though the mayor-elect is not expected to enact it… 

Israel received the remains of Staff Sgt. Itay Chen, the last remaining American hostage, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, while stationed along the Gaza border…

President Donald Trump renominated Jared Isaacman to be NASA director, six months after pulling the Elon Musk ally’s initial nomination amid a spat with Musk…

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington allocated $150,000 to support local community members affected by the ongoing government shutdown…

Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Hall canceled an annual Hanukkah concert because it was due to include a performance by the IDF Chief Cantor Shai Abramson…

The New York Times interviews Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov about the torture and solitary confinement she endured over the two and a half years she was a hostage of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq…

The Knesset is moving forward with legislation that would increase government oversight of the country’s media outlets…

The Times of Israel spotlights a new legal tactic by the National Jewish Advocacy Center to address antisemitism on college campuses by applying workplace discrimination laws to educational contracts…

Millennium Management CEO Israel “Izzy” Englander sold roughly 15% — valued at $2 billion — of his stake in the company the 77-year-old founded in 1989…

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who died earlier this week, was remembered by former officials and pro-Israel leaders as a supporter of the Jewish state and a strong voice on U.S. national security issues throughout his time in public service, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports…

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation awarded a $4.35 million grant to the Foundation for Jewish Camps to provide engagement and job training opportunities for campers with disabilities…

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Ben Horowitz donated 10 Tesla Cybertrucks to the Las Vegas Police Department at a cost of $2.7 million…

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated more than $300 million in recent days to several Historically Black Colleges and Universities in her latest round of grants; this brings Scott’s total contributions to HBCUs past $900 million…

COURTESY/JOSH ARONSON

British Jewish activist and journalist Josh Aronson lays a wreath at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland yesterday in memory of people with disabilities who were murdered in the Holocaust. The ceremony, which was attended by politicians from across Europe, was organized by the European Jewish Association ahead of the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

“As someone on the autism spectrum and the grandchild of an Auschwitz survivor, this moment was deeply personal and emotional — a circle closing,” Aronson wrote to eJewishPhilanthropy today. “Disability is not weakness — it is strength. We are the voice for those whose voices were silenced.”

L. BUSACCA/GETTY IMAGES FOR CLIVE DAVIS

Singer, poet and actor, best known as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, Art Garfunkel turns 84… 

Co-founder and chairman of Rexford Industrial Realty, Richard Ziman turns 83… Television and film critic, Jeffrey Lyons turns 81… French public intellectual, media personality and author, Bernard-Henri Lévy turns 77… Economist and former director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he remains a university professor, Jeffrey Sachs turns 71… Israeli ceramic artist and sculptor, Daniela Yaniv-Richter turns 69… Psychologist and wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu turns 67… Director at The Gottesman Fund, Diane Bennett Eidman… Music producer and entertainment attorney, Kevon Glickman… Former Prime Minister of Israel, now leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid turns 62… Former regional director of AJC New York, now CEO at Healthcare Foundation of NJ, Michael Schmidt… Research division director for JewishGen USA, Ellen Shindelman Kowitt turns 58… Senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, Benjamin Wittes turns 56… Host, anchor and correspondent for CBS News and CBS Sports, Dana Jacobson turns 54… General counsel of The Jewish Theological Seminary, Keath Blatt… Jerusalem-born pianist, she has performed with major orchestras world-wide, Orli Shaham turns 50… Director at the Domestic Policy Council in the first six months of the Trump 47 administration, now director of federal education policy at America First Policy Institute, Max Eden turns 37… CEO and organizer of Los Angeles-based Aesthetics and Edits, Tara Khoshbin… Legal correspondent at Business Insider, Jacob Shamsian… Israeli singer and survivor of the Nova Music Festival, she won second place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, Yuval Raphael turns 25… Legislative assistant for Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA), Talia Katz…