Witness the Sentencing of Vicious Antisemitic Attacker of Joey Borgen
Dear Editor:
In May 2021, kippah-wearing Joey Borgen was viciously attacked by a mob of Muslim men in front of dozens of witnesses as he walked on West 49th Street to a Times Square rally for Israel. This high-profile case presaged many other antisemitic attacks since.
Five of his six attackers have been sentenced to up to seven years. Now the last defendant, Salem Seleiman—who kicked Joey in the face—will be sentenced on Monday, September 29. Send a clear message to Judge Melissa Lewis, District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Seleiman himself by joining our Jewish community judicial watch group in New York State Supreme Criminal Court, 100 Centre Street, TAP A, Room 1100, Manhattan, 9:30 a.m.
Sincerely,
Glenn Richter
Charlie Kirk, Faith,
and a Moral Reckoning
Dear Editor:
Charlie Kirk was a patriot who loved this country. He was extremely articulate and knowledgeable about American history. Every rabbi that I know spoke about the assassination of Charlie Kirk this past Shabbos. The reason is quite a simple one. Charlie was extremely religious and a man of deep faith. He was unwavering in those beliefs. He shut his phone off every Friday night until Saturday evening because, like us Orthodox Jews, he knew that one day a week was a time for family, and all the other narishkeit could wait. He was murdered because of his religious convictions.
Seeing all the giddiness and happiness for Charlie’s murder underscores the moral rot the left has spread throughout the country. From the Democratic Party to the teachers’ unions to our colleges and universities, there is a war on religion. There is no belief in G-d in Marxist ideology, which is what the left believes—only belief in government. “Whoever sheds human blood, by human [hands] shall that one’s blood be shed; for in the image of G-d was humankind made” (Genesis 9:6). Those who believe in G-d cherish life. The left has stoked violence in this country because they don’t consider life to be precious.
Power is the ultimate goal for the Democratic Party, and it will use any means necessary to achieve that goal. The rhetoric on the left knows no bounds. It is why the left keeps calling President Trump “Hitler,” “fascist,” and a “threat to democracy.” It’s why they unleashed lawfare against him. It led to two assassination attempts on President Trump’s life.
A woman minding her own business late at night on a train after work is stabbed to death. Race should not be a factor. There should be total condemnation for murder. The left is silent. Murder, for the left, is acceptable—whether for a life in the womb or out of the womb. The left wants criminals to roam free. The left wants men in girls’ bathrooms. The left wants our borders open to let everyone into the country. The left wants no guns and no free speech. The left doesn’t believe in our founding and the Declaration of Independence. They cannot win the debate any longer. Once that happens, violence is the only other means to fight. Charlie’s murder has unleashed a sleeping giant. The right will galvanize and work harder to win the debate of ideas.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, may we come together and pray for the well-being of all of klal Yisroel. Wishing everyone a ksivah v’chasimah tovah.
Shalom Markowitz
In Memory of Charlie Kirk and the Values He Championed
Dear Editor:
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 Queens Jewish Link 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 these rallies that 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 has 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 social-engineering and moral-relativism ideologies that we find on so many school campuses today. He was one of the most disciplined people I knew, 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.
Charlie Kirk didn’t just preach from the pulpit. He actually went into the trenches to spread these important values that sadly have been lost to several generations due to woke ideology that is rampant on campuses today. He was seen as a direct threat by the fifth column in our country that hates America. The radicalized Democratic Party—the party of the KKK and slavery, the party of gender-mutilation surgery on 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. The Democratic 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 awoken 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 while 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 and help this 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
Proper Preparations
Dear Editor:
I’m in the midst of an important job. I’m cleaning my house. “What!” you might exclaim. You may think I’m the only ba’alas habayis (my ninth-grade dikduk lessons are coming into play) in the world who has no cleaning person. In fact, I have one, but I don’t want him to think I’m messy or dirty, so I clean the house before he comes. You might think I’m crazy, but how many of you wash your hair before you go to the hairdresser because—in addition to her spending 20 minutes complaining about your thin hair (blame it on the genes)—you don’t want her to think you keep your hair oily or dirty.
All of this leads to my thesis—the importance of preparation. For those of a certain age (40 and up), you are familiar with the ordeal of prepping for a colonoscopy. The better you prepare, the easier the procedure. However, I’m not writing this as a warning about colonoscopies. Instead, I’m writing about the importance of preparation—Chodesh Elul preparation.
Yes, for some of us it’s mandatory to buy new outfits and shoes for Yom Tov. However, that’s not the prep I’m talking about. You’d never consider taking the Regents, SATs, or LSATs without proper preparation. Therefore, why would you ever consider approaching Hashem without properly preparing yourself? Have you asked mechilah from friends and foes alike? Have you increased your kavanah while davening? Have you stopped your jabbering in shul? If you’ve achieved even 50% of your Elul goals, you will feel so much better. Also remember: If you grant mechilah to those who have wronged you, chances are Hashem will forgive you, too.
Have a kesivah v’chasimah tovah. Please forgive me for anything that I wrote that offended you. I don’t have a potato chip bag filled with money to give you, but I hope you forgive me anyway.
Debbie Horowitz
Full-Time Learning and Family Priorities
Dear Editor:
Rebecca Chesner asks in her letter two weeks ago: What’s more important—healthy family systems or maximizing the number of male students to fill the Beis Medrash?
The question implies a binary choice, as if the two can never be concurrently achieved. But more disturbing is her apparent lack of understanding of the importance and benefits of full-time learning and what can be accomplished when one immerses himself in Torah full time. Mrs. Chesner tips her hand on her true feelings by stating that full-time learning is merely done to “fill the Beis Medrash.”
If you are old enough to get married, then you are old enough to make the decision with your spouse that the wife will work and support her husband while he learns full time for whatever the duration is. I don’t understand why this would bother someone like Mrs. Chesner, who is seemingly not affected by this arrangement.
My beef with full-time learning is the way it is retailed to our impressionable girls during their year in seminary. Our girls spend a year in seminary where they are told that the ideal for EVERYONE is to marry someone in full-time learning. They are brainwashed into believing that they are “less than” if they marry someone with a job who does not learn full time. If you think I’m an alarmist or exaggerating this in any way, I would refer you to Mishpacha Magazine Issue 1011, where Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald, owner of Me’ohr Bais Yaakov Seminary, stated: “A boy who finishes high school and a year later is in college and then the workplace — I will state this with conviction, from personal experience — he will invariably not be a yerei Shamayim or ben Torah.” I quoted Rabbi Greenwald because he was the only one I could find articulating this line of thinking in print, but this is clearly mainstream ideology within those who run the seminaries in Israel and the yeshivah community writ large.
If this were merely a difference of opinion over who is a ben Torah and who is not, I would chalk it up to hashkafic differences and just move on—you do you, I’ll take care of myself, and shalom al Yisrael. But the problem runs deeper here, because the overwhelming majority of newlyweds with a husband in full-time learning are reliant on extensive parental financial support. This is a given. Again, if you think I’m exaggerating, try getting your daughter a date with someone in learning while offering no support. It’s not happening. The problem with teaching girls a blanket rule that if they don’t marry a full-time learner they are “less than” is that it also applies to families that cannot afford to support a newly married couple in addition to their single children, tuition, food, utilities, cars, insurance, etc., etc. If the girl coming back from seminary has absorbed what she was taught, the tension between her and her “less than” parents is inevitable. If she cannot convince her father to take a second mortgage or her mother to take a third part-time job, she will be forced to marry someone not considered a ben Torah by her mentors. This is occurring in many households, is extremely unfair, and the irony of ironies is that we are all lining up and paying $35,000 so that our daughters can be taught that the ideal way to serve Hashem when she comes back is to get married to a learning guy while squeezing hundreds of thousands of dollars more out of her already financially stretched parents.
Doniel Behar
Concert Review: Akiva Live
Dear Editor:
There are truly no words to capture the magic of tonight’s Akiva concert. The positive, high energy filled the hall as audiences sang and danced both in the aisles and in their seats. Every attendee was emotionally invested, creating an atmosphere of joy and unity.
It was inspiring to witness people from every background and sect of Jewish life come together as one through music and dance. The blend of Middle Eastern and Western styles, combined with religious themes and everyday emotions, resonated deeply with everyone present.
The performers didn’t just sing on stage—they became part of the crowd, dancing and singing alongside the audience and making each person feel truly special. The love and pride for Israel radiated throughout the night, enhanced by Israeli flags and glowing light sticks waving across the venue.
A heartfelt thank you to Yeshiva University for organizing this extraordinary evening, and to The Jewish Link for the tickets. Without your support, tonight’s unforgettable experience would not have been possible.
Pnina Aschendorf
