CUNY’s Baruch College is sharply criticized for attempting to block Rosh Hashanah celebration: “Horrible”

CUNY’s Baruch College attempted to prevent Rosh Hashanah celebrations on its campus for security reasons – and only changed course when it was criticized for bowing to anti-Israel agitators rather than protecting its Jewish students.

Jewish students at the Manhattan public college were told by school administrators not to hold the Jewish New Year celebration on Sept. 26 because Baruch could not guarantee their “safety,” Ilya Brayman, an English professor at Baruch College and Hillel director, told the Post.

“The administration told us that the safety of Jewish students on campus could not be guaranteed because there were other agitators there who wanted to hurt, intimidate or harass them,” Brayman fumed.

“It’s horrific. It’s crazy.”

CUNY officials only “changed their minds” after New York Representative Ritchie Torres joined Baruch trustees and Jewish students and faculty in fighting back.

In a scathing letter sent Tuesday to CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez, Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and Acting NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon, Rep. Torres criticized the “substandard policing” of anti-Semitism on campus.

“Public safety should not be an excuse to deny religious freedom, which is protected by the First Amendment. Religious freedom should be a reason to guarantee public safety,” Torres wrote.

The congressman then called on CUNY and city leaders to act “urgently” to put an end to the anti-Semitism rampant on Empire State University’s campus.

“What would have to happen for New York and CUNY to address anti-Semitism on campus with the urgency it deserves? Would it have to be a violent attack? Or the death of a student?” Torres asked.

“Imagine if the Ku Klux Klan were to harass black students on or near the CUNY campus. Or if the congregants of the Westboro Baptist Church were to harass LGBTQ students. Or if white nationalists acting on the Great Replacement Theory were to harass immigrants?” he continued.

“Does anyone think that the reaction of the political and academic establishment in New York would be anything other than overwhelming outrage?”

Torres accused Jewish students of being “hijacked by the threatening atmosphere of anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation that has taken hold at CUNY,” adding that he was shocked to hear “heartbreaking” stories of rampant anti-Semitism at a meeting with the CUNY Alliance for Inclusion (CAFI) last week.

He specifically mentioned the “violent mob” of pro-Hamas protesters who recently taunted a Jewish freshman student at Baruch University who attended a dinner earlier this month at a kosher restaurant called “Mr. Broadway” sponsored by the group Hillel International.

The hateful tormentors called the students “enablers of genocide.”

“The inadequate police prosecution of anti-Semitic incidents, which have reached an all-time high, has become a form of institutionalised anti-Semitism in its own right,” the MP said.

“Anti-Semitism is rampant because there are no consequences,” Brayman added, saying groups allied with Students for Justice for Palestine are planning rallies on Oct. 7 to mark the anniversary of Hamas’s secret attack on Israel.

Baruch College denied Tuesday that it had tried to prevent the celebration.

“Baruch College has not asked its students or faculty to cancel the Rosh Hashanah celebrations, and any reports suggesting otherwise are completely false,” the college said in a statement.

“The Rosh Hashanah celebration will take place as planned on September 26 in the nearby public square. Baruch College does not tolerate anti-Semitism or other acts of hate and is committed to creating a safe learning environment that promotes respect and inclusion for every member of the community.”

Rep. Torres called on both the state and city, CUNY and the NYPD to work with CAFI to implement a strategy to protect Jewish students who feel threatened by the outbreak of anti-Semitism following October 7.

A spokesman for Acting Police Commissioner Donlon assured that the NYPD remains committed to public safety for students on all campuses in the Big Apple.

“The department takes every report of hate crimes seriously and will conduct thorough investigations with the goal of making arrests and bringing those responsible to justice,” the spokesman said in a statement to the Post.

Rosh Hashanah is celebrated from October 2nd to 4th.