Rosh HaShanah shopping brings crowds to Judaica stores, and in turn, elected officials use this opportunity to connect with the Jewish community. If it appears self-serving, it certainly is when that politician built his career on demonizing Israel. Last week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani stopped in Borough Park to sample the apple cider at Eichler’s, accompanied by askanim eager to establish a personal connection.
As he smiled for the cameras, one local woman loudly confronted him regarding antisemitism. “Hey, it’s me, Stephanie Benshimol. You remember me? Remember last year when Trump freed the hostages? It’s all because of you we have so much antisemitism.”
The mayor did not recognize Benshimol, and as she continued to call out the mayor, some of the men surrounding him jostled her out of Eichler’s Judaica shop. “You have such chutzpah coming here! Shame on you!”
A native of Brooklyn, she knows the block well, as her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor, owned a sheitel shop across the street. “I go to Borough Park before the chagim. My friend told me that Mamdani was going to be here. I thought that he would be going to the pizza store.”
In defense of his appearance among shoppers, Eichler’s of Borough Park issued a statement that the shop is open to anyone. Responding to anger from shoppers opposed to the mayor, Eichler’s of Flatbush noted that it is a business separate from the Borough Park store. Benshimol understood that the mayor could walk into any public establishment; she was more upset by the welcome that he was given.
“Not one person in the store stepped up. They were taking selfies with him,” she said. Many of the supportive comments that Benshimol received on social media also asked why others did not speak up. She added that for a community that adheres strictly to shomer negiah, the men surrounding the mayor should not have physically pushed her out of the store.
The confrontation was filmed by her friend Christopher Johnson and was then shared on social media. For the same reason, Benshimol confronted former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams last month at a Democratic club meeting in Mill Basin. “I just have a question. Don’t tell me to go home,” she said as the crowd tried to drown out her voice. Adams was at the event in her role as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s running mate in this year’s election, campaigning alongside Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Attorney General Letitia James.
Perhaps moderate in comparison to Mamdani’s view of Israel as a genocidal apartheid state, these incumbents nevertheless endorsed him in last year’s mayoral primary even as they spoke of support for Israel on separate occasions. This is one reason why many Jewish New Yorkers are supporting Hochul’s Republican opponent, Bruce Blakeman, who trails closely behind her in the most recent polls.
“She spoke about the Haitian community, migrants, antisemitism. The event was open to the public,” Benshimol said. “I was thrown out of there. Nobody wanted to answer this question. What’s to be done to make the Jews safer? The Democrats don’t want to answer it.”
This past Sunday, she attended a 9/11 memorial in Brighton Beach, noting that her son was a one-year-old at the time of the attack. “He’s the last generation that lived it,” she said, expressing fear that younger Americans are ignorant of the terrorists and their motivations.
In the aftermath of that attack and subsequent terrorist acts against Israel, the retired special-needs yeshiva teacher became an activist. “I volunteer a lot. I felt the need to be outspoken. My friend’s son Ori Danino was among the hostages killed. I felt the need to use my voice. I hung hostage posters. People were tearing them down.”
Her home also features posters in support of President Trump, Blakeman, and Saritha Komatireddy, who is running for state attorney general. “I’ve always been a Republican, lucky me. My area is mostly registered as Democrat but we vote the same,” she said of her southern Brooklyn block. She does not have an ambition to run for public office, understanding it as very time-consuming while recognizing the role of elected officials in responding to complaints about services and policies. She also understands the power of social media to amplify a topic that is not being prioritized by the mainstream media: the rise of antisemitism from the political left.
“Ask questions, turn on your phone. Don’t be afraid. Make a video,” she said. “It shouldn’t be uncomfortable. We have people who support us. We have so many friends.”
Radio host Sid Rosenberg welcomed Benshimol as a guest on his show, praising her for confronting Mamdani. “Only a million people sent me that video yesterday. My issue is our people. Why would any decent Jewish person roll out the red carpet to this creep? They treated him as royalty.”
By Sergey Kadinsky
