Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s tweet is a perfect example of what *not* to do as a leader: stereotype, generalize, and target. These are the classic signs of bigotry, and his tweet checked all the boxes.
There is no question that certain members of all ultra-religious communities have disregarded critical rules intended to protect us all, and we can empathize with any frustration relating to this challenge—but leaders find ways to address bad behavior by the few without making an entire vulnerable group even more vulnerable.
In these difficult times, leadership is tested, and words have the potential to do grave harm. We do not believe Mayor de Blasio would be so irresponsible toward any other community—and we’re grateful for that—and it’s unacceptable and dangerous for him to be so cavalier toward Jews of any denomination, let alone the entire “Jewish community”. We pray his words don’t have consequences far worse than the ones he intended to prevent in the first place.