With the Democratic primary less than two weeks away, Micah Lasher is making a final push to court Jewish voters in the country’s most heavily Jewish congressional district.
At the core of that effort is a mailer, written by Lasher’s longtime rabbi, that’s being distributed to Jewish households — about 15,000 of them — across the 12th district that includes the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan, as well as parts of Midtown.
“For over 35 years, I have been Micah Lasher’s rabbi,” reads the letter penned by Rabbi Robert N. Levine, who led the Reform synagogue Congregation Rodeph Sholom. “I officiated at his bar mitzvah and wedding, and the brissim and baby naming of his beautiful, precious children.” A photograph on the mailer depicts Lasher and his wife Elizabeth under the chuppah in 2009, being married by Levine.
Levine’s letter continues, “I can tell you with absolute certainty that Micah truly lives his Judaism — both in how he and his wonderful wife Elizabeth raise their children, and in how he has addressed core issues in his distinguished political career.”
The mailer’s distribution, paid for by Lasher’s campaign, comes just days before early voting begins on June 13, and a couple of weeks before the June 23 primary to nominate Rep. Jerry Nadler’s successor. The latest poll, conducted by Emerson College in mid-May, found Lasher had the support of 22% of votes with Alex Bores trailing by two percentage points, with a margin of error of 4.8%. They were followed by Jack Schlossberg at 11% and George Conway at 10%. About a third of voters were undecided.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen rabbis and Jewish community leaders have signed another letter expressing their support for Lasher, emphasizing that he is “someone who deeply supports the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Signatories on that letter include Levine; Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz of Orthodox congregation Kehilath Jeshurun; Rabbi Allen Schwartz of the Modern Orthodox Ohab Zedek; Binyamin Krauss, principal of the Orthodox day school SAR Academy; and former Wall Street executive Elisha Wiesel, whose father was the Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. (Signatories’ endorsements were given as individuals, not on the behalf of the organizations they lead.)
Both that letter, and the mailer penned by Levine, mention antisemitism-related legislation that Lasher proposed in the State Assembly, including to create “buffer zones” meant to protect houses of worship and bills to protect Jewish students on college campuses.
Questions about Israel have been a dominant topic at candidates’ forums throughout the race. On Monday, Lasher said he was “exhausted by the obsession on a plot of land the size of New Jersey.”
The candidates largely agree on Israel issues, with each of the leading contenders expressing criticism of the current government but support for Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. None has described Israel’s conduct in Gaza as a genocide, increasingly a litmus test for some progressives.
Still, Levine’s letter makes a clear appeal to Jewish voters based on Lasher’s approach to the issue.
“Let me state this categorically: Micah loves Israel and is dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of Israel as a Jewish state and a lasting peace in the region,” the mailer reads.
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