Dr. Dov Bechhofer is a Jewish doctor and a Rabbi’s son who practices radiology at a New York City hospital. He appeared to be totally normal until the world discovered his secret hobby: frequenting hate websites that promote White Supremacy. 

Signing posts with his real name, he is a self-described ethnic nationalist, who supports “tempered” anti-Semitism (whatever that means), deporting non-white Americans, and banning interracial marriage. 

As if that wasn’t strange and sickening enough, the worst part is that his father is the leader of Orthodox Jews Against Racism and Discrimination, a group that’s dedicated to ending hatred! (The father, for the record, has nothing to do with the son’s behavior.)

Once exposed, Dr. Bechhofer admitted he did it, but denied that those comments reflect his true beliefs, claiming to be confused and expressing remorse. The hospital where he works, Montefiore Medical Center, isn’t buying it—he was placed on leave and may end up being fired. 

I am absolutely horrified that any member of the Jewish community, let alone a Rabbi’s child, could support anti-Semitism or racism and be against basic Human Rights. Bigotry is never okay! All human beings are created by God, in His image, and we are all equal, both in God’s eyes and under the Law. To hate another human being, because of their race or religion, is like insulting God himself—very, very wicked. 

Doctors take an oath to treat every patient, not just the ones with the religion, or skin color, or ideology that they like. If a mixed race person came to him for an X-Ray, would he deny them help? What if it was an emergency, where a bone had popped out from an accident? Clearly, he is not right mentally and shouldn’t be treating anyone, especially not in a city as diverse as New York. 

The Alt-Right and the warped views they hold have no place in a decent society. We must have freedom and justice for all and such backwards behavior must never be condoned. Just revolting!

Supermodel Karlie Kloss is having quite a month—first she converted to Judaism and then she got engaged to longtime boyfriend, Josh Kushner. Judging by her fantastic ring and huge smile, Karlie is incredibly happy and I am very happy for her!

I find it interesting that both Kushner brothers, Josh and Jared, prefer models and both managed to convince said models to convert (Ivanka Trump being the other one). They are a wonderful example that we can—and should—tackle intermarriage by encouraging non-Jewish spouses to convert. 

There is no difference between Jews by birth and Jews by choice. Anyone who wants to be part of the Jewish community and is willing to raise Jewish children should not only be welcomed, they should be celebrated. If we turn them away, it would be a huge mistake—one that I have personally witnessed and spoken out against many times.

For far too long, Judaism has discouraged converts and it has hurt us. We need to be open, we need to be engaging, and we need to be receptive towards couples who may be considering conversion. With 70% of the younger generation marrying outside the faith, we are clearly doing something wrong. Let’s try a different approach if we truly want growth. Let’s invest money into outreach. Let’s have temples that treat everyone equally. Let’s offer the hand of friendship to the extended family members of spouses who convert.

There are a hundred things we can try. Doing nothing and pretending that intermarriage will magically reverse is NOT the answer. Unless we take action to make conversion a real possibility, we can not fix the alarming exodus of young people away from Judaism.

I love our community, but we are not perfect. There are too many folks who refuse to change and acknowledge modern issues. Intermarriage is the biggest crisis of modern Jewry, period. By opening our doors, as the Kushner family has, we can fix it.