A Wake-Up Call for American Jews
The gunshot that was fired on Sept. 10, killing conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, did more than claim a single life. It proved that the covenant that has protected American democracy and its Jews for nearly 250 years has been broken. The fact that disagreement has escalated into violence and murder signals the dawn of a new era for American polarization, one to which the Jewish community must adapt.
Kirk’s murder is the most recent case of violence used against political opponents in America. We had already moved from discussion to dehumanization and now, tragically, from disagreement to manslaughter. This represents a culmination of ruthlessness that has been building across the American political spectrum for the last few decades: the mass shooting at the Republican Party’s practice for the Congressional Baseball Game, the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home, the attempt on President Donald Trump’s life, the attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro's house, the murder of two Israeli embassy workers and the countless threats and assaults that elected officials across the spectrum continue to face.
Each incident, when looked at alone, can be dismissed as the actions of a mentally unstable, ideologically extreme figure who does not represent the direction in which the country as a whole is moving. But taken together, these incidents reveal a society that has long since moved past tolerance and that has become increasingly inclined to resolve differences through violence.
This pattern of escalating brutality has been accompanied by an equally troubling shift in public attitudes. The recent celebrations of Luigi Mangione after his assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson reveals how quickly American society can embrace political violence if they disagree with the victim. Social media has erupted with praise for Mangione: people call him a “hero,” shirts with his face are being sold online and he has gained a disturbing cult following. When society begins to justify murder, it has turned from civilization to barbarism.
Kirk himself recognized this danger. He once said, “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence.” Unfortunately, his words became a prophecy for his ultimate end. He was silenced, not through democratic process, but through a most brutal and senseless act of violence.
As members of the American Jewish community, this all too common occurrence should cause alarm and spur us into action. We have historically thrived in this country precisely because of the constitutional protections that are now under attack. Before America’s founding, Jewish communities lived at the mercy of rulers who could change policies on a whim, expel whole populations or worse. We must not forget the Spanish Expulsion, the Eastern European pogroms and the Holocaust, all of which were able to happen because of the power being exerted over the Jewish people. America has historically represented a nation where the rights of Jews — and any persecuted minority — were protected by constitutional law instead of mercurial governments. The First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and religion were lifelines that made flourishing as Jews possible, without fear of the other shoe dropping for the first time in centuries.
The significance of this was recognized from America’s earliest days. In President George Washington’s famous correspondence with the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, he declared that the foundling nation would give “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” This was more than mere tolerance — it was an assurance that religious and intellectual liberty would be an uninfringeable right.
Yet this system is now displaying signs of its fragility. A nation built on respect for diversity requires shared commitment to democratic norms: that political opponents treat each other with dignity and that no political goal is worth abandoning morals or the framework of the government. And as Jews, we rely on these standards because we are particularly vulnerable. Despite comprising less than 2 percent of the population, we’ve achieved remarkable feats, earning disproportionate attention and, unfortunately, generating suspicion. This makes it all the more frightening to think that Kirk’s assassination suggests these norms are breaking down.
His murder should serve as a wake-up call for us as American Jews who have benefitted from the system that is now under attack. The response must not be retreat or assumption that violence will spare the Jewish community. Watching this descent of values and democratic norms, I have wondered on more than one occasion if it was time to give up on America, to simply jump ship. If the protections that our people had confidence in for 250 years are now irreparably broken, should we start looking for safety somewhere else? Or should we stay and contribute to this country, fighting for our values in the way that democracy intended?
If we choose the latter, we face a far more difficult path than simply escaping these problems. If we believe America still has potential to fulfill the principled aims, we must act on this belief. If we still see this goldene medina as worthy of fixing, then we must rise to the occasion. As a community that has faced so much hatred over the past two years, we must actively reject political violence regardless of its source or target and engage with our opponents in a peaceful, respectful manner. We must make a choice between passively watching democracy fall apart — and with it, the sense of security we have long benefitted from — or spiritedly leading the effort to restore those standards. And just as Charlie Kirk devoted his life to the future of a cause that mattered to him, we must also look to the future of American Jewry with hope, resolve and determination.
Photo caption: Charlie Kirk speaking at 2025 Student Action Summit
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons
