El-Sayed’s Lesbian Rosh Hashanah Plan BACKFIRES Spectacularly

Person in white and blue prayer shawl facing ornate interior — Photo: TaliV / Shutterstock

A Michigan Senate candidate who spent months apologizing for comments Jewish leaders called antisemitic just sat down for Rosh Hashanah dinner with a Jewish family, and the cameras somehow never mentioned any of it.

Story Snapshot

Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed visited a Jewish home for Rosh Hashanah amid ongoing controversy over his Israel comments and antisemitism allegations.
The released video shows no discussion of Israel or his past statements, focusing instead on holiday food.
El-Sayed had already apologized twice to Michigan’s Jewish Democratic Caucus for remarks tied to the March attack on Temple Israel.
Jewish leaders remain split, with some praising his outreach and others petitioning him to commit to firmer positions on Jewish safety and Israel.

A Holiday Visit Wrapped In Controversy

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, visited a Jewish home for Rosh Hashanah last week. The Jerusalem Post reported the visit happened “in the wake of widespread controversy surrounding his stance on Israel and allegations of antisemitism made against him”. That is not a small footnote. It is the entire reason anyone outside Michigan cares about a candidate eating dinner with a family he does not represent yet.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed visited a Jewish home for Rosh Hashanah in the wake of widespread controversy surrounding his stance on Israel and allegations of antisemitism made against him. https://t.co/Celcb9Tddq

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) September 20, 2026

El-Sayed posted about the visit himself, writing that he and the family discussed working together toward a “more just and peaceful future” for local communities, along with a Rosh Hashanah greeting. Warm words. Nobody disputes that they were said. The question critics keep asking is whether warm words at one dinner table settle what months of public apologies could not.

The Video That Talked About Everything But Israel

Here is the detail that turned a nice holiday gesture into a talking point. According to the Jerusalem Post’s review of the released footage, “the video shows no discussion of El-Sayed’s position on Israel or controversial past statements he has made. Instead, the conversation focuses mainly on the food”. For a candidate whose Israel-related remarks are the actual controversy, a video that carefully avoids Israel is going to draw attention, not deflect it.

That pattern matters because it echoes exactly what happened weeks earlier. El-Sayed’s campaign released audio of his private remarks to the Jewish Democratic Caucus, and reporters were not allowed in the room to ask follow-up questions. Controlled footage, controlled audio, controlled narrative. Voters are left watching curated clips rather than open exchanges, which is its own kind of message.

The Apology Tour Behind The Photo Op

The Rosh Hashanah dinner did not happen in a vacuum. In August, El-Sayed apologized to the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus for comments he made after the March terrorist attack on Temple Israel near Detroit, where he had described the shooter’s motive using the phrase “hurt people hurt people”. Critics said that language implied the victims somehow brought the violence on themselves. El-Sayed told the gathering, “I made a mistake,” and asked for “forgiveness and a moment of grace”.

He repeated the apology the very next day at the caucus’s private fundraiser, telling attendees his earlier comments “might have been misconstrued to be justifying something I did not intend to justify”. Two apologies in two days, followed weeks later by a Rosh Hashanah dinner that avoided the subject entirely, looks less like a single misstep and more like an ongoing repair job that keeps needing repairs.

Jewish Leaders Split On Whether It’s Enough

Reaction has been genuinely mixed, not uniformly hostile. Jewish Caucus chair Jessica Alexander called his remarks “sincere” and said they “reflected his dedication to serving all those he seeks to represent”. A Reuters report noted that a liberal Jewish group’s outreach effort came after El-Sayed had been “reaching out to and meeting with Jewish leaders and rabbis, aiming to unite Michigan Democrats”.

But a coalition of Michigan Jewish leaders launched a petition around the same time demanding that El-Sayed make baseline commitments on Jewish safety and Israel, or lose their support entirely. That is not a fringe complaint. It is organized pressure from people he needs to win in November, and it did not go away after dinner.

Why This Fight Outlasts One Dinner Table

Researchers who study political antisemitism note that accusations in this space often split into genuine bigotry, weaponized accusations against opponents, and strategic tolerance of antisemitic rhetoric when it is politically convenient. The diagnostic question experts point to is whether criticism shifts from policy toward collective claims about Jews as a group. El-Sayed’s original comments raised exactly that concern for many Jewish Michiganders, and a holiday dinner that skips the topic does not answer it. Voters deserve a direct explanation, not a carefully edited plate of food.