New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani attended a Satmar Hasidic event in New York on Thursday night, receiving a warm welcome as Hasidic music played in the background.
Mamdani participated in the movement’s annual celebration on the twenty first of Kislev, known as the “day of rescue,” which marks what followers view as the miraculous escape of the late Satmar Rebbe Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum during the Holocaust.
Zohran Mamdani attended a Satmar Hasidic event
The Satmar community in New York is divided between two brothers who lead separate factions. Mamdani visited both gatherings. He first attended a large event in an aircraft hangar in Williamsburg led by Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum, then continued to Crown Heights in Brooklyn for the gathering led by Rabbi Yekutiel Teitelbaum. At both events Mamdani was surrounded by community members who expressed strong support for him.
Satmar, known for its opposition to Zionism and to the State of Israel, endorsed the Muslim candidate after he assured community leaders that he would protect the city’s yeshivas.
The movement also received a greeting from United States President Donald Trump. “By instilling the importance of faith, prayer, and trust in the leaders of tomorrow, you help shape a promising future for generations to come,” Trump wrote. “As president, I remain committed to defending religious freedoms so that every person may live their faith openly and without fear.”
The Satmar community in New York has also become increasingly active regarding events in Israel, particularly efforts to oppose the drafting of Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces. About two months ago, rabbis from the movement participated in a protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan. The rally was notable because both Satmar factions in the United States, which usually operate separately, took part.
At the protest, the two Satmar rebbes were seen sitting apart, each among his own followers. American and Israeli rabbis spoke, delivering sharp messages about the arrests of yeshiva students. Speakers argued that since the founding of Israel, Haredi men had been exempt from military service, yet now students were being detained and imprisoned for studying Torah. Some also claimed that in Israel “yeshiva students are being taken into the army” and that observant Jews “do not feel it is safe to keep religious commandments” in the country.