There are reasons for pessimism about the future of Jewish life in the United States. But American exceptionalism is real, and can and must be preserved.
The victory of a virulent Israel-hater in New York City’s Democratic Party mayoral primary this past week was the last straw for some people.
The prospect of Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani becoming the next mayor of the most Jewish city in the United States is not merely appalling. That a man with a record of support for the antisemitic BDS movement—and who even under the pressure of an election campaign cannot bring himself to condemn the genocidal “Globalize the intifada” chants of pro-Hamas mobs—is now the darling of liberal elites is enough to cause some Jews to question whether they can or should leave the Big Apple.
As Americans make preparations to celebrate the 249th anniversary of their independence, this isn’t the time to abandon ship or give up on the United States. The promise of American exceptionalism of a nation built on the devotion of its citizens to the idea of personal liberty and equal opportunity unmatched elsewhere and untainted by the prejudices and hatreds of Europe may be under siege right now, but it is not dead.