by Oped by Yosef Shidler
Why does Charlie Kirk’s assassination feel so different? Why does it sting more deeply than even the horrific terror attacks we’ve seen in Israel, where six Jews were gunned down just days ago? Why is the whole nation, left and right alike, shaken to the core?
When Jews are murdered in Israel, it is a piercing tragedy. It breaks us, because they are our brothers and sisters. But as Jews in America, we’ve been forced to live with a certain framework: that terror in Israel, as horrific as it is, has become a constant wound. It hurts every time — but it no longer shocks.
But America stands apart. America is the Rome of today — the greatest power in the world, the empire whose direction determines the course of global history. In the past fifteen years, we have watched America pulled into waves of political craziness, corruption, and bitter division, leaving people unsure whether this empire will hold to righteousness or collapse under moral confusion. And here, one man’s voice had become a rallying cry for truth, for justice, for morality. Charlie Kirk wasn’t just a commentator. He was a force — a voice that cut through the chaos, energized a movement of young conservatives and faith-driven Americans who were searching for moral clarity, and gave courage to people who felt silenced.
In Judaism, we speak about the Sheva Mitzvos B’nei Noach — the Seven Noahide Laws, the universal code given by God to all humankind. They are the foundation of civilization: justice, morality, the sanctity of life, rejection of theft and violence, acknowledgment of the Creator. For non-Jews, they represent the baseline of a moral and just society.
Whether he realized it or not, Charlie Kirk was their champion, leading the way in bringing those ideas into the heart of America today.
