Jewish Legal Community is Marginalized in New York City

If someone tries to insult or abuse me, it’s entirely possible I won’t even notice, for many reasons: the insult went right over my head, the source of the insult wasn’t worth noting, or life is simply too short to care. But these days, I’ve become sensitized to the insults of others, particularly against Jews. The usual tropes—we’re all rich, we’re all smart, we’re all greedy, or worse yet, we use the blood of children to make our matzahs. It doesn’t matter to me how absurd the accusation is. The intention to be cruel and insulting can still be wounding.

But Mayor Mamdani, with all his subtle and obvious attacks on Jews and Israel, just keeps on keepin’ on. Most recently, he named 18 members to his Advisory Committee on the Judiciary on July 22, and not a single Jew was appointed.

In the past, this kind of slight might have escaped me (hat tip to @ctlaw), but I’m tired of seeing Mamdani seem to take every opportunity to attack or exclude the Jews of New York City. I don’t think that Jews have to be included in every selection of every committee, but to show why this decision is worth concern, it might help to give a little background.

First, Mamdani made these decisions amid backlash to his accusations against Bibi Netanyahu, labeling him a war criminal. Some of us Jews tend to personalize attacks on high-profile Jewish leaders. The Jewish community was also feeling vulnerable about the stabbing of a Jew on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Jewish attorneys in the US represent about 15% of the lawyer population, despite Jews making up only 2.4% of the overall population. This disproportionate representation is linked to cultural values emphasizing education and community service.

Since New York has the largest Jewish population in the country, it’s no wonder that the city has a high percentage of lawyers.

Also, note that Eric Adams appointed Jews to this committee:

There were Jewish lawyers appointed to the committee during the Eric Adams administration, but they are no longer serving on Mamdani’s panel. That includes George J. Silver, who chaired the committee and previously served as the deputy chief administrative judge for New York City courts. Adams also named Ronald Richter, who previously served as a family court judge in Queens and as commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services. Other Jewish former members included Judy Harris Kluger, who ran the nonprofit Sanctuary for Families after serving 25 years as a judge, and Rebecca Roiphe, a legal ethics expert, New York Law School professor and former prosecutor. John Leventhal, a Jewish retired associate justice of New York’s Appellate Division, also served on the committee under Adams, but was passed over by the Mamdani administration after being nominated by Chief Judge Wilson.

If you think I’m saying that Jews should be included in everything that Mamdani’s administration does, you would be mistaken. Instead, my concern is that the selection of judges and legal types and the rule of law are foundational to the Republic. The people who influence those areas are essential to the successful management and oversight of our judicial system, and excluding a population with a proven track record is conspicuous. My sensitivity comes from the history of the Jews that shows the abuses in the past against them, administered through that very legal system. My hope is that those kinds of actions can’t happen in this country. But having Jews appointed to these types of organizations might help ensure that fairness and the law will be respected.