For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

I am writing this column right after getting up from shiv’ah. The people who came to be menachem aveil (consoling the mourner) have left. Those who came to help make sure that we had a minyan for all three daily davenings had left. The items supplied by Misaskim were taken back. For them, life has gone back to the way it was. For me it has not. I was debating whether or not to write about my mother, Etta Hecht. Someone suggested that I wait until shloshim (30 days after burial) to give me more time. I decided to accept the suggestion, but I want to make certain observations relating to shiv’ah and the last few days of my mother’s life.

This past Shabbos, I decided to engage in a “reenactment.” It was my Bar Mitzvah parshah, and I felt that it was a special anniversary.  I did exactly what I did at my Bar Mitzvah: I read Maftir, the Haftorah, and led the davening for Musaf. However, like every reenactment, it is not the same. I am not the same as I was at my Bar Mitzvah.

My position generally is that as an American, I do not believe it is my place to criticize Israel’s government. When it comes to the hostage deal, I will not even attempt to state an opinion except to note that no deal is perfect. It is such a complex issue with competing interests. There is the interest of reducing the number of military casualties and winning the war against the lives of the hostages. If the war stops even for a few days, it will be harder to restart it. On the other hand, it is important to bring home the innocent hostages taken by Hamas and may defuse criticism of Israel’s conduct in fighting the war against Hamas. There will be those who blame the one-sided Gilad Shalit trade for the attack and taking of hostages. On its face, the Shalit trade was a bad deal. However, in a country where many citizens are in the military, it is important to gain the release of the captive soldier no matter what the cost.

This week is the 85^th anniversary of Kristallnacht. We all thought that this was something that occurred in the past. To our shock, it is back. This past week in Austria, almost to the day, the ceremonial hall in the Jewish cemetery in Vienna was torched, as it was 85 years ago. There were Nazi symbols left on the building. As I have said in the past, the far right and the far left might not agree on much, but they do agree on hating Jews.

I want to give an update on three prior columns of mine concerning Fatima Mousa Mohammed, the CUNY Law School 2023 graduation speaker who made anti-Semitic comments (see QJL 6/15, 6/29 and 7/13). The speech is available on YouTube. She also doubled down after being confronted about the speech. I mentioned that if you believe that she should not be admitted to practice as an attorney, you should write to the First and Second Department admission committees. Contact information for the First Department is Veronica Guerrero, Counsel to the Committee on Character and Fitness, Appellate Division, First Department 41 Madison Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, New York 10010; for the Second Department it is Muriel L. Gennosa, Executive Director for Attorney Matters, Committee on Character & Fitness, 335 Adams Street Suite 2404, Brooklyn, NY 11201. I just checked and saw that she has passed the bar examination. Therefore, if you want to do something, now is the time. 

Last week, I wrote about the attack by those on the left against Israel and their engagement in anti-Semitic conduct. This week, I will address those on the right whose beliefs could be dangerous. There are the white nationalists whom we are all aware of. They famously marched in Charlottesville with torches, chanting, “Jews will not replace us.” It reminded me of the Nazi marches in the 1930s. What I am more concerned about is the America First crowd, which are part of MAGA.  There have always been individuals who are against using American funds to support foreign countries. The most notable has been Senator Rand Paul. What has been slowly occurring is that it is spreading. Now a candidate for president, Vivek Ramaswamy, who has taken up this approach. I worry that funding for Israel could be at risk.