Rising voice Josh Hammer unearths the religious treasure in his own backyard
Just two months before he was felled by an assassin’s bullet in a killing that shocked America, conservative political star Charlie Kirk took to the stage to host a debate on Israel. The event, hosted by Kirk’s organization Turning Point USA, at the Tampa Convention Center, pitted conservative commentator Josh Hammer against Dave Smith, a libertarian provocateur. Twice, while moderating the exchange, Kirk paused to address the crowd himself:
“There’s a rise in some disgusting stuff online…this dark Jew hate out there,” he said, “I hate it. It’s not good. And [to] everyone in this audience, guys, don’t get yourself involved in that. I’m telling you, it rots your brain, and it’s bad for your soul. It’s evil.”
The rise of very dark, anti-Semitic forces on the right was something increasingly on the trailblazing leader’s mind as he approached what in retrospect were his last days. The man he shared those fears with — yarmulke-wearing constitutional attorney and Newsweek senior editor-at-large Josh Hammer — was so concerned about that very topic that he’d written a book about it.
The day before he was killed, Kirk told Hammer that he planned to speak about the latter’s new book, Israel and Civilization, on this tour. The book makes the bold case that Western civilization depends on the moral clarity offered by the Torah, and that Israel stands on the front lines of that civilizational struggle.
Create a free account to keep reading.
