Charlie Kirk's Love for Israel, the Sabbath, and Fighting Marxism-Jihadism Alliance Explored by Isa and Malka Fleischer

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Charlie Kirk's Love for Israel, the Sabbath, and Fighting Marxism-Jihadism Alliance Explored by Isa and Malka Fleischer

Isa and co-host Malka Fleischer examine Charlie Kirk's profound connection to Israel as the Holy Land, his groundbreaking commitment to keeping a Jewish Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night, and his warnings about the dangerous alliance between wokeism and jihadism. Kirk visited Israel twice, calling them the greatest trips of his life, and kept Shabbat weekly to combat digital addiction. His upcoming posthumous book, "Stop in the Name of God," champions the Sabbath as essential for modern life. Kirk's murder represents an attack on faith-based, clear-thinking America, but his legacy inspires thousands to reclaim biblical values and digital detox.

September 16, 2025

Charlie Kirk's Deep Connection to Israel and the Holy Land

Isa and Malka Fleischer open their discussion by addressing the difficult week following Charlie Kirk's murder, emphasizing that while it appeared to be filled with tragedy, they maintain faith that God has a larger vision. They turn their attention to examining Kirk's passionate advocacy for Israel and the causes he championed.

Kirk declared unequivocally that "the greatest trip I ever took was to Israel, and the second greatest trip I ever took was to Israel." He described himself as a huge supporter of the Holy Land, specifically naming Judea and Samaria, and stood firmly against terrorist organizations including Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority. Isa points out that Kirk's use of the term "Holy Land" rather than just "Israel" reveals his deep biblical connection to the land.

Kirk spoke extensively at college campuses across America, from Stanford and Berkeley to Brown, UCLA, University of Texas, and University of Michigan. During these appearances, he confronted young Christians who believed Israel was an oppressive apartheid state. Kirk made it his mission to communicate the geopolitical significance of Israel and why the world is a better place because of the Jewish state.

Israel as the Biblical Homeland, Not Just a Startup Nation

Isa emphasizes that Kirk connected to Israel primarily through its biblical significance. The Israeli government, Isa notes, has been comfortable portraying Israel as the "startup nation," a post-Holocaust state, or a scrappy democratic outpost with innovative military technology. While these aspects are true and admirable, Isa argues the real question is: why are we doing all this here? The answer lies in Israel being the Jewish homeland because God told the children of Israel this is where they should be.

Kirk understood this biblical foundation deeply. He was well-versed in Torah and the Bible, and despite his high intellect, he was not a complicated person. Kirk knew who he was, what he believed, understood right from wrong, and refused to be confused. His mission was to share that clarity with students who had been warped by a modernity that tries to distort everything through smoke and mirrors and rhetoric.

During his visit to Hebron, Kirk observed a road sign with arrows pointing different directions. When he asked his driver what it meant, he learned that turning right into Palestinian Authority-controlled territories meant certain death for Christians, Westerners, or Jews. Meanwhile, Arabs entering Israeli-occupied areas receive benefits and voting rights. This stark contrast illustrated for Kirk the fundamental difference between Israeli democracy and Palestinian Authority oppression.

Kirk's Experience in Hebron and Biblical Sites

Isa recounts having the honor of hosting Kirk in Hebron at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, though he credits his friend Matan Pelle with bringing Kirk to Israel and Judea and Samaria. The photograph of Kirk at the tomb went viral, symbolizing his deep engagement with biblical history.

Kirk had a memorable quote that Isa suggests should be made into a shirt: when you go to the land of Israel, it "demystifies" or "de-mythologizes" the Bible. It makes the Bible real. This was something Kirk felt very strongly about.

Importantly, Kirk did not agree with everything the State of Israel did. He would separate criticism of Israeli policy from support for Israel's existence and biblical mandate. As Isa emphasizes, supporting Israel does not mean being lobotomized or blindly following every policy. Israel is a democracy with different viewpoints, and criticizing Israel is not inherently anti-Israel, though sometimes criticism crosses that line. Kirk maintained his emphatically pro-Israel stance while reserving the right to question specific policies, particularly regarding U.S. involvement in Israeli military actions.

The Revolutionary Practice of Taking a Jewish Sabbath

Kirk's commitment to Shabbat represents one of his most significant legacies. In July of the previous year, while traveling extensively across the country, Kirk became stressed and worn down. A pastor friend convicted him that he needed to take a Sabbath. Kirk initially dismissed it, thinking Christians aren't bound by that commandment, but ultimately embraced the practice.

Every Friday night to Saturday night, Kirk took a Jewish Sabbath. He turned off his phone completely, making himself unreachable to the world and receiving nothing from the world. He acknowledged this practice wasn't a requirement for Christians but insisted it would make anyone's life better. Kirk noted there's theological debate about whether Christians are bound to the Sabbath since God rested after creation, predating the law.

When Kirk woke up Saturday night and opened his phone to find 600-900 messages waiting, he recognized those 24-25 hours as the best of his week. He believed that if every young person took a legitimate Sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night, anxiety and depression would decrease dramatically, people would spend time with those they care about, and meaningful conversations would happen. The only exception Kirk allowed was genuine emergencies, noting that if emergencies happen every week, there are other problems to address.

Kirk's Upcoming Posthumous Book on the Sabbath

Kirk's upcoming book, "Stop in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life," will be published posthumously. The title itself, playing on "stop in the name of love," captures Kirk's creative and compelling communication style.

Malka Fleischer expresses amazement at how Kirk, coming from outside the Jewish tradition, opened eyes to the Sabbath in ways that even Jews carrying this information for 2,000 years sometimes struggle to do. She notes that Kirk specifically called it the "Jewish Sabbath," not just "a Sabbath" or Sunday rest. When she first heard Kirk kept Shabbat, she assumed it meant Sunday, but learned he observed Friday night to Saturday night.

Kirk understood he could benefit from the principle of Shabbat without being obligated to all the specific nuances that Jewish law requires. He grasped that Shabbat has sustained the Jewish people personally, communally, and spiritually throughout history, and that he could glean from this practice.

Jews Inspired by Kirk to Keep Shabbat

Following Kirk's murder, Malka observed an extraordinary phenomenon on Twitter. Secular Jews who don't typically keep Shabbat declared they would start keeping Shabbat because of Kirk's dedication to it. This represents an incredible merit for Kirk—that his appreciation for Jewish heritage caused Jewish people to reappreciate what they had been given.

Beyond the thousands of non-Jews who will likely adopt Sabbath practice, Kirk enabled people to understand what it means to do a digital detox: sitting with uninterrupted eye contact with family, reading an actual book with pages, taking walks outside, thinking uninterrupted thoughts. Malka finds it mindblowingly beautiful that Kirk's discovery and adoption of Shabbat created this ripple effect.

She reflects that while Kirk's loss is profound and he had so much more to do, God works mysteriously. God knew Kirk wanted to serve Him and is using him to maximum effect. The world needs digital detox more than ever, and Shabbat addresses this societal need. As one person commented, they "slid into Shabbat this week as though sliding into home base," expressing gratitude for its refuge.

The Twin Threats of Marxism and Jihadism

Kirk warned repeatedly about what he saw as a battle coming to the West, with enemies being wokeism (or Marxism) combining with Islamism to attack the American way of life. Kirk defined the American way of life simply: being able to marry, buy a home, have children who can ride bikes until sundown, send kids to good schools, live in low-crime neighborhoods, and not have children taught "lesbian, gay, transgender garbage" in schools or hear the Muslim call to prayer five times daily.

Kirk attributed the American way of life to Christendom, arguing that Christian sacrifice, toil, and vision—the outgrowth of scripture—gave us Western civilization. He saw this as a rallying cry for everyone regardless of ethnicity: if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, these two threats are combining to come after Christians, and it's time for the church to stand and rise up.

Isa clarifies his position from Israel: while he cannot promote Christianity and believes Torah represents a more authentic way to serve God, he completely agrees about the twin threats. These threats exist throughout the world, endangering any strong identity in Europe, the United States, and Israel. The twin threat is Marxism/wokeism combined with jihadism.

How Wokeism Prepares the Ground for Jihadism

Isa explains the mechanism of this two-step process. First, wokeism undermines fundamental pillars of identity:

  • It tells people their history is bad, painting them as colonialist and apartheid
  • It undermines family by introducing alternative relationship systems and equating them all
  • It erases security forces, weakening the army and defunding police
  • It undermines religion

 

When religion, family, security, and history—the bulwarks of identity—are all undermined, people become "jello people" with no identity or connection to societal missions. They're detached from everything, left to themselves in selfishness.

Then comes the second step: jihadism clamps down on this weakened, identity-less population. Suddenly people are grateful that jihad gives them purpose and identity. They understand their domestic role, their mission, their conquest. This is why Marxism/wokeism works together with jihadism, even though jihadism opposes LGBT ideology. It's a sequential process: first progressivism weakens everything, then jihadism provides authoritarian structure.

This explains phenomena happening across the United Kingdom, France, Norway, and Ireland. It's not simply immigrants seeking rights and equality—it represents an intentional effort where flags fly everywhere, calls to prayer sound constantly, and original indigenous cultures feel threatened with extinction as their cultural integrity cannot stand up to what appears to be a deliberate onslaught.

Kirk's Solutions: Identity, Strength, and Legal Pushback

Kirk spoke the solution from his American Christian identity, while Isa speaks it from his Israeli Jewish identity. For Isa, the answer is a strong Israel, a strong Jewish country that pushes back on wokeism (which undermines biblical values) and Islamism (a supremacist religion trying to erase Israel, Judaism, and Christianity).

Kirk would agree that each must speak from their own perspective—he as an American, Isa as an Israeli. But they agree on both diagnosis and prognosis. The diagnosis: these forces want to destroy their respective nations. The prognosis: they must fight this disease by strengthening identity and recognizing what these movements are doing.

This fight includes legal measures—making certain things illegal, such as not allowing mosques and muezzins to blare calls to prayer at 5:00 AM in New York City or Israel, which represents a form of cultural takeover.

Kirk as Representing Faith-Based, Clear-Thinking America

Malka reflects that Kirk represented a strong, levelheaded, proud, faith-based America. The attack on him was an attack on that kind of America. She hopes it serves as a wake-up call.

As a proud Israeli who believes in her country, Malka notes that those who read the Bible know how Israel's story ends, despite ups and downs. But America's ending is unknown, making it crucial for Americans to be vigilant in shaping their country. Kirk was an America First person who understood his country's special nature and knew that keeping it special required dedicating himself to the moral and intellectual clarity of young people, which he did with incredible passion.

While his loss is a pity, Malka hopes more people will rise up to help America remain strong and clear, going in the right direction. She believes this is good for the world and extends condolences to the Kirk family and all of America on this horrible loss.

Kirk's Legacy and the Call to Action

The hosts note that Kirk's murder has sparked a big awakening to the Sabbath, with many people committing to keep it for the first time in his memory. They hope other great values Kirk championed will also come to the forefront of public discussion.

Isa encourages viewers to listen to Kirk's advice: start keeping Sabbath, take a break, take a digital detox, and turn life toward God on the Sabbath. He even gives permission to take a break from his own show on Sabbath. His three pieces of advice for getting closer to Israel, Jerusalem, and holiness are:

  1. Face Jerusalem
  2. Drink wine from the land of Israel or eat something else from Israel
  3. Start keeping the Sabbath

 

If the nations are taking upon themselves the Sabbath, Isa challenges Jews to make their Sabbath even holier and more meaningful. He encourages staying connected, noting they're broadcasting from the good land, the land of Israel, and that defeating bad guys includes holy laughter, because the bad guys hate when people laugh.

Kirk's life reminds us that one person dedicated to moral clarity, biblical values, and refusing confusion can impact thousands. His visits to Israel, his Sabbath practice, and his warnings about ideological threats created ripples that continue expanding. As his book releases and his message spreads, Kirk's legacy of faith, clarity, and conviction will inspire new generations to reclaim what matters most.

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