Amid Anguish Over Kirk’s Murder,
There Must Be Accountability
Re: “Conservative and Pro-Israel Commentator Charlie Kirk Assassinated in Utah,” Sept. 10, www.JewishPress.com:
Charlie Kirk was a special person. He had views and convictions that he believed in. He understood that many others did not agree. He didn’t belittle, ignore, or threaten anybody for their opposing views. Instead, he welcomed and in fact sought out those people so he could discuss, debate, learn, and enlighten as many as he could reach. He did it calmly and respectfully. The fringe, however, decided that since they couldn’t refute his facts, they would silence the source. They have shown no willingness to abide by any moral or ethical compass.
Our world is now threatened. This is not a warning; it is a fact. For several years, we have been exposed to rabid and dangerous rhetoric from any number of fringe agendas. We chalked it up to free speech and assumed it would dissipate and normalcy would prevail. The fringe kept pushing the limits, and we kept saying “it’s no big deal.” Society felt awkward demanding that they be civil and protest civilly. We let the behavior fester. Now there are no guardrails. People call for the end of anyone who disagrees and cheer when citizens are killed, taken as hostages, or are attacked just because they look different. Politicians are getting into bed with the dangerous and vocal just for their own success and at the expense of their country’s survival, and that is what we are facing.
We cannot sit idly by. We must make clear that it’s not going to continue. We must do something so it doesn’t. Defending peace requires destroying extremism.
Jeff Gordon
Via E-mail
I write this letter with a heavy heart. Little did I know when my letter about Charlie Kirk and the shidduch crisis was published in The Jewish Press last week that some deranged, evil lunatic would murder him in cold blood several days later in a political assassination at a rally he was holding at a university in Utah.
Charlie Kirk drew thousands of young students of all political persuasions to come hear him speak and ask him questions at the rallies he would hold throughout the country. He loved to dialogue with students. He was a critical thinker and a gifted debater and was always respectful to anyone he spoke with. He started his famous organization, Turning Point USA, back in 2013, and today there are several thousand chapters in high schools and colleges all over America.
Charlie Kirk spent the past twenty years doing “kiruv” on college campuses, bringing hundreds of thousands of young people into the conservative tent and away from the godless, bizarre ideologies of social engineering and moral relativism that we find on so many school campuses today. He was one of the most disciplined people I knew of, and everywhere he went he proudly spoke about his love for G-d, marriage, family, working hard, faith, freedom, and our Constitution. He also loved the Jewish people and Israel.
He didn’t just preach from the pulpit. He actually went into the trenches to spread these important values that, sadly, had been lost to several generations due to the woke ideology that is rampant on campuses today. He was seen as a direct threat by the fifth column in our country, who hate America. The radicalized Democratic party – the party of the KKK and slavery, the party of gender mutilation surgery for minors, the party of poor government-run schools that prepare our youth for absolutely nothing, the party of weakening the family system, the party of keeping people dependent on government handouts, the party of abortion without limits, the party of protecting criminals instead of law-abiding citizens, the party that promotes identity politics – has now become the party of murdering its political opponents.
Charlie was one of the biggest forces in the American Conservative movement, and he was making significant progress registering many young people to become conservative voters. He made a difference and actually helped bring President Trump to the finish line back in November 2024. The Democratic party “deep state” could not have that, and saw him as a direct threat to their ultimate goal of seizing complete power and changing the principles that this nation was founded upon.
However, let me be clear: They have awakened a sleeping giant as they fall deeper and deeper into their web of lies, deceit, violence, and depravity. People are waking up everywhere and want to get back to the principles that Charlie fought so hard for.
I am going to venture one step further and add that I believe at this point it is hard to reconcile being an Orthodox Jew with being a member of the anti-G-d, radicalized Democratic party today. I know that Rabbi Avigdor Miller of blessed memory would agree with me on this, and he also felt strongly against taking their money as well.
Finally, let us take a lesson from this wonderful role model who exemplified Judeo-Christian values everywhere he went and spent his life fighting the dangerous ideologies that have caused a total breakdown of the American family. We are in a spiritual war right now, and with Hashem’s help we will win this war and help the nation heal. That is what Charlie would have wanted and that is how we will carry on his legacy. May his memory be for a blessing and may G-d bring much comfort and strength to his family during this difficult time.
Rebecca Chesner
Via E-mail
The horrific murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has brought into sharp focus the all-but-inevitable progression of character assassination leading to physical assassination. And the Leftists who created the climate of hate (and then blamed it on their opponents) reacted in typical fashion.
As quoted by Jarrett Stepman at The Daily Signal, MSNBC/MSNOW host Katy Tur described him as “divisive” and “polarizing” – as if her network isn’t. She then brought on as a guest political consultant Matthew Dowd, who summarized the shooting in the most disgraceful way imaginable, saying first that “we don’t know if this was a supporter shooting their guns off in celebration” and then going on to say about Kirk, “He’s been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this who has [been] constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups. You can’t stop with these awful thoughts you have, and these awful words, and then not expect awful actions to take place.”
Not to be outdone, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a defender of illegal immigrants, blamed President Trump for fomenting political violence, citing the January 6 riot, when the President called on his supporters to march peacefully and patriotically to the Capitol. And Democrats in the U.S. House shouted down the Speaker’s call for a moment of silence. Naturally, there were the usual politicized calls for gun control.
I believe it’s time to place the blame where it really lies by setting an example. Not long ago, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a once-respected civil rights organization that has become a far-left mouthpiece, placed the organization Charlie Kirk founded, Turning Point USA, on its “hate list” together with the Ku Klux Klan, as it has done with numerous mainstream conservative and Christian pro-life organizations. Now, it issues a statement condemning the shooting. What more fitting memorial to Mr. Kirk than for all the organizations and individuals that the SPLC has libeled, slandered, and/or defamed to band together and sue the “merchants of venom”?
Richard Kronenfeld
Phoenix, Ariz.
Infighting Among Jews
A Threat to Israel
The Perspective column “Israel’s Discourteous Protest Culture” by Rabbi Uri Pilichowski (Sept. 5) discusses the problem of civil disobedience in Israel today. However, I think this points to a greater problem than just this single issue, one which may be a fatal defect inherent in the Jewish DNA.
From the earliest days of their existence, Jews have been a contentious lot. Even in the Torah, we read about conflicts between Cain and Abel, Yaacov and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Moshe and Korach, David and Saul, and so on. In modern times in Israel, elections and parliamentary infighting are legendary events. Now, in the midst of the longest war in Israel’s history, there is not a unified nation, just bitter infighting among different factions about war strategy and aims.
This is a tragedy and can only give aid, comfort, and hope to Israel’s enemies. Israel has always been able to win its wars, but can’t find a way to secure a permanent peace with its neighbors. As the expression goes, “The Arabs can afford to lose ten wars, but Israel cannot afford to lose one.” The disunity within Israel itself only contributes to its enemies’ resolve to keep trying to conquer it. Bitter infighting is a greater threat to Israel’s existence than Arab armies are.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park, N.J.
It’s The Parents
Driving the OTD Drift
I’d like to add my two cents to Michael Feldstein’s outstanding letter on the subject of Modern Orthodox OTDs (those who go “off the derech”) (Aug 22).
Let’s assume that Mr. Feldstein’s figure of approximately 25% is accurate. The reader might assume that 25 out of 100 kids from fine Modern Orthodox (MO) homes decide, after graduation, to leave the fold. That’s an oversimplification and it’s inaccurate.
I know some people who would be classified as MO. When they get together, you hear the following, “So did your kids get into Ivy League schools?” They then compare notes. And this is their only concern. Yes, they’re Shomer Shabbos, strictly kosher, etc., but what they value is seeing their kids make it. And kids aren’t stupid – they understand what’s important to their parents, and so this is their focus, and it’s a slippery slope.
One particular law professor can be used as an example. He left Orthodoxy because he felt that religion would stunt his children’s potential. He got what he wanted: One child was valedictorian at Harvard Medical School and another at Harvard Law School. However, his son married out of the faith. It’s not enough for parents to raise their kids in a kosher home. They have to demonstrate that Judaism is the central aspect of their lives.
Dr. Yaakov Stern
Brooklyn, N.Y.