Central Synagogue Rabbi Accuses Trump Admin of 'A Cruel and Pervasive Disregard for Human Life'

But the same pulpit stayed silent when a mayoral candidate accused Israel of genocide.

It is not unusual for a progressive Manhattan synagogue to denounce Donald Trump. Yet at Central Synagogue, one of the nation’s most prominent Reform congregations, what stands out is when its rabbis choose to speak and when they do not.

In August, Rabbi Hilly Haber, Central’s Director of Social Justice Organizing, delivered a sermon titled “All Are Responsible.” She described standing in a federal immigration court as “armed and masked ICE agents quietly began to line the hallways.” One by one, she said, immigrants were “handcuffed and whisked away in seconds.”

Rabbi Haber called the Trump administration’s immigration policies “an assault on the very principles on which our country was founded,” condemning what she described as “a cruel and pervasive disregard for human life.” She urged congregants to support progressive legislation such as the New York for All Act and the Access to Representation Act.

At most Reform synagogues, such remarks would draw little attention. At Central, they reveal a double standard. When Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, now running for mayor, accused Israel of “genocide,” labeled it an “apartheid state,” and refused to condemn the slogan “Globalize the Intifada,” Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl said nothing.

Mamdani also declared that if elected mayor, he would have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested upon entering New York. Yet Buchdahl, one of the most visible Jewish leaders in America, avoided even a word of public criticism.

After mounting backlash, she reminded congregants that Central “does not endorse or oppose political candidates.” It was a rule conveniently applied when the target stood on the political left.

At Central Synagogue, outrage flows freely against conservatives but dries up when progressives cross the line.