Sixty members and leaders of New York’s Jewish community begged Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul to fight against plans by the Trump Administration to deport mass numbers of immigrants in an open letter. A rally at City Hall was organized by several Jewish progressive organizations

---

NEW YORK – Dozens of rabbis, Jewish leaders and activists gathered on the steps of City Hall Tuesday morning to present an open letter to Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, urging them to protect immigrants in New York and resist the Trump Administration’s mass deportation plans.

“We are taught to love the stranger, the immigrant [and] the refugee in our core texts of the Torah,” said Rabbi Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, at a press conference organized at the venue.

“And it is from this place that we address you, Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul, because we remember how our ancestors were treated when we were the strangers.”

Rabbi Ellen Lippmann of Kolot Chayeinu in Brooklyn greeted the crowd, saying: “Thank you for coming on this cold day, but none of us are colder than those seeking shelter right now.”

The letter was signed by 60 Jewish clergy including prominent progressive rabbis like Sharon Kleinbaum, the former longstanding spiritual leader of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the largest LGBTQ synagogue in the world; Amichai Lau-Lavie, the founder of LabShul, a popular alternation congregation in New York; and Jill Jacobs, the executive director of T’ruah, an association of rabbis dedicated to human rights. Also present at the event was former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, a prominent progressive activist.

Once a staunch supporter of the city’s sanctuary policies, Adams has changed his position. After a recent meeting with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, the New York City mayor, who is facing federal corruption charges, agreed to reopen an ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) office at Rikers Island jail and allow federal agents to collaborate on criminal investigations involving violent offenders and gangs.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams during a press conference at City Hall, New York, earlier this month. Credit: Yuki Iwamura / AP

Questions have been raised about a possible quid pro quo, since the Department of Justice, under the Trump administration, has moved to dismiss charges against Adams.

“After five days of protests and multiple high-level resignations from the Adams administration, it is clear that New Yorkers understand exactly what Mayor Adams is doing – selling out our city and our immigrant neighbors, in exchange for his own personal gain,” charged Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg of Malkhut, a congregation in Queens, at the press conference.

“Despite the mayor’s troubling order allowing ICE officers into places of worship and public schools, New York is a sanctuary city,” she added.

Jewish community leaders hold rally calling on New York City Mayor and New York Governor to protect immigrants, at City Hall, New York City, on Tuesday. Credit: Etan Nechin

The press conference was organized by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, New York Jewish Agenda, and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS).

“As we often say at HIAS, we used to fight for refugees and immigrants because they were Jewish,” said Isabel Burton, a senior executive at the century-and-a-half-old Jewish organization. “Now, we do so because we are Jewish.”

She added: “We reject the severe economic impact these decisions will have and condemn ICE raids on schools and places of worship. We also oppose cutting federal funds that support refugees already in the United States.”

Jewish community leaders hold rally calling on New York City Mayor and New York Governor to protect immigrants, at City Hall, New York City, on Tuesday. Credit: Etan Nechin

Last week, HIAS sued the Trump Administration over his executive order freezing refugee admissions and blocking resettlement funds.

Rabbi Joel Mosbacher of Temple Shaaray Tefila on the Upper East Side of Manhattan recalled that when Adams ran for office, he would compare himself to the biblical Queen Esther, who was challenged by her brother Mordechai to save the Jewish people with these words: “'For just such a moment, you were called.”

“Today, Mr. Mayor, we, the leaders of the Jewish community of New York, are the ones doing the calling,” said Mosbacher.

He then offered the following prayer: “Give mayor Adams to do what is right and just, speak truth to power, to remember that he works for the people of the city of New York – not the man in the Oval Office.”