As NYC mayoral race heats up, a Jewish school is now requiring parents to show proof of voter registration
The unprecedented policy comes amid anxiety in Magen David Yeshivah School’s neighborhood about Zohran Mamdani
Yeshivah Magen David in Gravesend, Brooklyn, is requiring all parents to be registered to vote as of August 2025. Screenshot of Google Maps
(JTA) — A large Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn is requiring parents to prove they are registered to vote before the new school year begins — in an unprecedented policy that comes as a democratic socialist and critic of Israel leads New York City’s mayoral race.
In a brief letter to families this week, Magen David Yeshivah, a flagship institution of the city’s Syrian Jewish community, framed the requirement as a way to strengthen civic engagement and safeguard communal interests.
“We trust that our parent body understands that this policy stems from and reflects our school’s commitment to ensuring that our community plays an active role in shaping the policies that affect us all every day,” the letter said. “Registering to vote is a small but critical step toward protecting the future of our yeshivot and our broader community.”
School officials did not respond to questions from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about how the policy will be enforced or why it was introduced now.
But the move appears to be a response to the prospect of an election victory by frontrunner Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist with pro-Palestinian views, who is feared and opposed by right-wing and Orthodox Jews in the city.
Magen David Yeshivah is located in the Gravesend section of South Brooklyn, a hub of New York City’s Sephardic Jewish community. The area largely voted for Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election; among those registered as Democrats who voted in June’s mayoral primary, the vast majority cast ballots for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is mounting a bid as an independent but lagging behind Mamdani. (The incumbent, Eric Adams, did not run in the primary but is running in November, as is a Republican, Curtis Sliwa.)
One of the figures behind the school’s new policy is local politician Joey Cohen-Saban. Cohen-Saban, who has been exhorting New Yorkers to oppose Mamdani, is a Democratic party official in Brooklyn and chief of staff to State Sen. Sam Sutton who narrowly lost a recent bid for Assembly in a district that includes Gravesend. He didn’t follow through after offering to give an interview.
The principal of the elementary school at Magen David Yeshivah, Ezra Cohen-Saban, is among 50 rabbis in the Syrian Jewish community who recently signed a declaration attaching existential stakes to the mayoral election.
“This appears to be part of an organizing effort to ensure that the Jewish community votes in large numbers this November, especially in light of the perceived threats of having Zohran Mamdani as mayor,” said Jeffrey M. Wice, a professor at New York Law School who specializes in election law.
Wice said that acting through private schools is a “smart move” for Orthodox voter turnout efforts, calling it “a new and unique concept.”
Federal and state laws bar anyone from coercing others to vote, and public schools likely cannot condition enrollment on voter registration, but private schools have the freedom to set such a requirement, according to legal experts.
“This may or may not be a good idea, but there is no legal issue here,” said Samuel Issacharoff, a professor of constitutional law at New York University. “The state could not coerce them in this way but private organizations such as private schools can do what they wish.”
Magen David Yeshivah’s freedom to enact its policy is not absolute. It cannot condition enrollment on parents’ choice of political party, steer their votes toward particular candidates or penalize them for refusing to vote.
“They have to be careful but if it is done in an entirely objective, fair, non-discriminatory manner, I think the school can withstand any kind of a legal challenge should one occur,” Wice said.
The New York State Board of Elections said it could not weigh in.
“New York State Election Law does not speak directly to this specific issue,” spokesperson Kathleen McGrath said in an email. “We have not heard of this situation or policy, so we would not comment further. An interested party could certainly seek a formal/advisory opinion from Board Counsel if more guidance is desired.”
The stakes in the mayoral race are unusually high for New York’s Jewish community. City Hall exerts enormous influence over issues central to Jewish life, from yeshiva regulation and funding for private school security to the city’s approach to policing hate crimes and navigating tensions over Israel and Gaza that play out on local streets.
For Orthodox Jews in particular, whose schools and institutions often depend on city partnerships, the outcome could shape daily life in tangible ways. At the same time, many non-Orthodox Jews see the election as a chance to advance progressive priorities on housing, immigration and policing.
The sharpest fault line, however, runs through Mamdani’s outspoken criticism of Israel and embrace of the boycott movement, which have led many Jewish leaders and activists to accuse him of antisemitism — a charge he rejects.
Magen David Yeshivah’s policy lands amid a flurry of Jewish get-out-the-vote efforts in New York, including the Jewish Voters Action Network’s peer-to-peer registration push, Jewish Voters Unite’s canvassing across Jewish neighborhoods, the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition voter-information and reminders, and the progressive Jews for Racial & Economic Justice’s “The Jewish Vote” pledge and voter guide.
UJA-Federation of New York, the city’s Jewish federation, says it has observed renewed interest in local activism and is supporting dozens of groups in get-out-the-vote initiatives in the city. Its voter registration and mobilization work has an “emphasis on hard-to-reach communities such as Russian, young adults, Haredi and Sephardic,” a spokeswoman told JTA this week.
Maury Litwack, the CEO of Jewish Voters Unite, said in a statement that Magen David Yeshivah’s approach reflected the moment’s pressing needs. Though officially nonpartisan, Litwack’s group is widely seen as part of the effort to curb Mamdani’s rise.
“The Jewish community across the country is waking up to the importance of voting, and we’re going to see more creative approaches to registration and turnout until we reach 100% participation,” Litwack said. “Elected officials who have taken the Jewish vote for granted can no longer afford to do so.”
Reactions on the Jewish right were mixed: Shabbos Kestenbaum, an activist who sued Harvard University over antisemitism, urged other institutions to adopt the policy, while Elliot Resnick, a former Jewish Press editor pardoned by Trump for his role at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, argued that schools should not “play parent to parents.” Stephanie Neta Benshimol, a Trump supporter and pro-Israel advocate, said she was against “using children as pawns,” though she emphasized that in her home, all who could vote would.
Leaders of the Sephardic-Syrian Jewish community are presenting voting not as a civic choice but as a religious imperative. In a sweeping new declaration, signed by more than 50 rabbis from New York and New Jersey including Ezra Cohen-Saban and two teachers at Magen David Yeshivah, they describe registering to vote as a Jewish legal and moral responsibility on par with prayer, charity and Jewish education.
“This is not optional. It is a mitzvah,” the statement says, warning that the upcoming elections will shape Jewish identity, safety, and institutions for years to come.
Like Magen David Yeshivah’s new enrollment policy, the rabbis’ letter does not mention any candidate by name. Instead, it frames the upcoming election in broad terms — a “turning point” for the community.
Other leaders, however, are speaking more directly. In a fiery sermon posted to Instagram, Rabbi Shlomo Farhi urged congregants to abandon what he characterized as a culture of apathy around voting, dismissing excuses such as the fear that voter registration would lead to jury duty or the increased likelihood of tax audits.
“We should be embarrassed of the fact that there is an antisemite who hates Israel,” Farhi said. “You have the chance to stop it, and if you did nothing because of some selfish reason, I don’t care what it is, shame on you.”
Jackie Hajdenberg and Joseph Strauss contributed reporting.
