Charlie Kirk’s Shabbos

By: Larry Gordon

Here’s a rundown and some of the backgrounds of people who have died in targeted killings in recent days.

The most well-known, of course, is Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk was senselessly gunned down last week by a trans activist who somehow acquired proficiency in the use of a high-powered semi-automatic assault rifle with a telescopic lens, allowing him to kill Kirk from a distance of 142 yards.

Kirk was just 31 years old and had accomplished so much in his life to reach the youth of this country over the last 13 years, going back to when he was just 18 years old and founded TPUSA.

President Trump ordered the flags lowered to half-staff, and there will be a public, televised funeral for Kirk on Sunday, September 21, which will be held in Arizona, where he lived with his wife and two young children. Trump will also posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Here are the names of some of the other victims of senseless murders, much the same way that Charlie Kirk lost his life, but in an even more mundane setting: as they boarded a bus in Israel near the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem, which brings to mind what Hannah Arendt termed, the “banality of evil,” how average people could commit atrocious acts with no thought to the moral consequences of their actions. These Israeli victims also leave behind families who are crushed and devastated by this senseless loss of life, and the families will be completing the shivah over the next few days.

Yaakov Pinto was 25 and made aliyah just a few months ago from Spain. He was a student at the Derech Emuna Yeshiva in Lod. He married a few months ago, but his family could not make it to Israel for the wedding because of the war with Iran.

Dr. Mordechai Steinsteg, 79, was a cardiologist who opened a chain of health-oriented bakeries motivated by what he believed was unhealthy eating in Israel. He was known as Dr. Mark, and that was the name of the bake shops he owned, including one in Beit Shemesh.

Yosef David was a 43-year-old Torah scholar who had recently taken a job at a Hareidi Yeshiva. He died clutching his seforim on the way to the yeshiva where he learned daily from morning to night. He was killed while standing outside awaiting the arrival of that fateful bus.

Israel Mentzer, 28, was the father of three children. He was born in Bnei Brak where he attended yeshiva before going on to an even higher level of Torah study at the venerated Hebron Yeshiva. He is survived by his wife, three children, and his parents.

Sarah Mendelson also died that day. She was 60 and worked at the national headquarters at the Bnei Akiva, the famed religious Zionist group. The movement’s Deputy Secretary, Netanel Alec, said, “She was kind of the mother of Bnei Akiva and was always smiling to everyone.”

Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Pash was 57 years old and was on his way to Yeshiva Kol Torah where he worked. He had hitched a ride in a car when another person stopped them to ask if he can have a ride to Shaare Zedek Hospital, where he was late for a doctor’s appointment. The driver told the man that his car was full, but Mr. Pash volunteered to give up his seat, saying that it was okay and he can take the bus. When he left the car, he was shot and killed by the terrorists at Ramot Junction. Pash is survived by his wife, six children, and his father.

Chayalim killed on September 8

Credit IDF Spokesperson Unit

Also last week, four IDF soldiers were killed in a tank by a terrorist who managed to throw a bomb or a grenade into it. The four were Staff-Sergeant Uri Lamed, age 20, from Tel Mond; Sgt. Gadi Cotal, age 20, of Kibbutz Afikim; Sgt. Amit Arye Regev, 19, from Modiin-Maccabim-Reut; and Lt. Matan Abramovitz, age 21, from Ganei Tikva.

So far, in these wars with Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, over 900 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives. That is in addition to the 1,200 men, women, and children who were murdered on October 7, 2023. Moreover, more than 25,000 men and women of the IDF have been injured. Most injuries include loss of limbs, with some having lost both arms and legs. Most of the injuries are accompanied by severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which will be a terrible ongoing struggle for the victims and their families.

Here in the U.S. over the last several weeks, we have seen the video of how a repeat offender in North Carolina stabbed a 23-year-old woman to death on a train as she sat there on her way home from work reading text messages while minding her own business. The young woman, a Ukrainian refugee, had escaped war in her land to resettle in the United States with the hope of starting a new life.

She was shockingly and brutally murdered in an event that has been viewed by millions of people around the world. On the enhanced video and audio, as the killer, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, walks through the train, he can be heard saying, “I killed a white woman.”

Charlie Kirk was a unique and special figure, as well as a man of deep and abiding faith. He was an inspiration to so many young people with a combination of his religious faith and his conservative political positions.

Charlie Kirk loved Israel and travelled there several times over the last few years. In addition to his support for Israel, he was intrigued by the Jewish scriptures and the brilliance of Jewish law, which he had recently discovered.

A recent illustration of that attachment was his announcement that on some level, he wished to observe the Jewish Sabbath. Despite the great demands on his time, he recently told an interviewer that he had given up using his cell phone or any messaging device for 25 hours from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

Kirk said he found the detachment from electronic media soothing, with a special additional chance to spend quality time with his family without any phone calls or text messages.

Charlie Kirk had a unique and open style that allowed him to connect with young people around the country. He was the one great hope of the Republican Party as he talked sense, reaching people’s hearts and minds with simple, logical presentations about the way the political left was taking a new generation down the wrong path. The loss of Charlie Kirk was not just about losing the great momentum of his movement to bring young people back to traditional values, but also about all the potential good he could have accomplished with his young life.

We are not just mourning the senseless murder of Charlie Kirk and the impact this will have on the Kirk family and the conservative right in America. We also mourn the tragic killings in Israel, and the impact this senseless act of terrorism will have on all the families mentioned above. And that’s just during the last week.

Somehow, these wanton murders must be stopped. It is like the moral conscience of our country has become inured and desensitized. We have to ask ourselves how. How can we allow the senseless loss of life to become incorporated into our national psyche and just a few days later, move on?

It’s true of Charlie Kirk’s murder as well as the countless families whose lives have been forever altered by these endless wars and attacks.

Charlie lost his life, and his family, friends, and thousands of followers have been deeply wounded. But now we have to do our best to recover from the shock that hit us out of nowhere. With the New Year beginning next week, let’s pray for good and better days ahead, and strength to comfort the mourners.

Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.