Muslims can call for sharia law, condemn the United States as “The Great Satan,” call for the destruction of Israel, and shout down speakers at college forums — but heaven forbid that anyone should speak ill of the “Religion of Peace.”

Muslims raised a ruckus because Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, an intelligence officer who has been critical of Islam, was scheduled to speak at a West Point prayer breakfast. He has withdrawn from the event. Muslims have protested pro-Israel speakers on college campuses and other venues, and have sent their minions in to scream and shout until the speakers give up and leave.

Freedom of speech, it seems, is only permissible when it conforms to the Muslim way of thinking. Now they are able to control who speaks at our nation’s military academies. Sharia law is on the horizon.

Not revealed in last week’s editorial “Primary Concerns” is that Saul Alinsky authored the book “Rules for Radicals.” He taught that radicals do not flaunt their radicalism, but infiltrate the system from within. In 1985, Barack Obama began serving as a community organizer in Chicago working for the Developing Communities Project, which was an Alinskyite group. Alinsky believed that the ends justify the means. How can The Jewish Standard defend this person and his ideas?

In an article in the Jan. 27 issue about the closing of the Gittelman Day School, the word “mensches” appeared as part of a quote. There is no such word in German or in Yiddish.

In the Feb. 4, issue the error was repeated on page 3, but by the time we got to page 8, the error was corrected. Well almost, but not quite. While you printed the correct plural form, there is no “t” in Mensch or in Menschen. While some might consider this nitpicking, I feel strongly that a publication has an obligation to use proper spelling and grammar at all times.

I am writing this letter with respect to a complaint filed against me by Rich Siegel and returnable before the Teaneck Municipal Court. The purpose of this letter is to publicly apologize to Mr. Siegel for my conduct. I have asked Mr. Siegel to drop all criminal charges against me, as well as the right to file a civil complaint against me, and he has graciously agreed to recommend to the prosecutor that all charges be dropped.

In spring 2011, while walking my dog, I noticed pro-Palestine bumper stickers on a car parked at a private home. These bumper stickers upset me. On one occasion, I came in contact with Rich Siegel, owner of the car and home. I accused him of being an anti-Semite.

Early on Saturday morning, Nov. 5, 2011, I stopped in front of Mr. Siegel’s home and shouted an obscenity. I was later advised that not only was Mr. Siegel at home but that his wife and daughter were, too, and that my behavior caused them alarm and distress. When Mr. Siegel called the police and sent them after me, I told them that shouting this obscenity was my right as free speech, and compared it to Mr. Siegel’s right to place bumper stickers on his car.

My behavior was wrong on many levels. Obviously it is wrong for a rabbi, or for anyone, to shout obscenities at a private home for any reason. It was wrong to assert that this activity qualifies as free speech. And it was wrong for me to call Mr. Siegel an anti-Semite.

While I am a dedicated Zionist, I recognize that during the entire history of Zionism there have been many Jews opposed to Zionism. Zionism and Judaism are not the same thing. Opposing Zionism or supporting the Palestinian people does not necessarily make a person an anti-Semite.

It has come to my attention that this incident is just the most recent that Mr. Siegel has been made to suffer, including harassment by others and vandalism to his car. I feel this is very wrong. I appeal to the local Jewish community to realize what I have come to understand: that although Mr. Siegel’s views are very different from most of ours, he has the right to them, and the right to express them, while living in our community unmolested and without fear of harm to his family.

The Jewish community is sick. We, all of us, have been attacked on the basis of one thing — our religion. They, the attackers, the anti-Semites, do not distinguish between charedim, chassidim, datim, Satmar, Orthodox, traditional, conservadox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform, Renewal, or even secular Jews. To them, we are all one.

But here we are, with modern schools of Shammai and Hillel pitted against one another, growling like dogs over who gets the rotten piece left over by the scavengers. Of course, today, Jews follow the traditions of our blessed sage Hillel, who elucidated the Golden Rule, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.” This rule emanates from Parashah Kedoshim, which states, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). What would Hillel tell us today? Would that we could all follow his rule today. It has served us well for 2,000 years. Perhaps we need another lesson to re-learn it.

To my Orthodox brethren, I commiserate with you over desecrations perpetuated in Paramus, Highland Park, and now Rutherford. I invite you to demonstrate solidarity with all branches of Judaism. We are Klal Yisrael. We cannot afford to be divided.

While reading last week’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah Supplement, I was sadly struck by the “checklist for advance preparation,” which began with the following: “Three Years in Advance: Join a congregation/book the date for the sanctuary; put your child on the learning and mitzvah track.”

Actually, a Jewish child should be “put on the learning and mitzvah track” from the moment he or she is born. A couple that wants to create a Jewish home should join a congregation at the very beginning of their marriage. The beauty of our Jewish heritage should be a part of our daily life always, and not just because we need to book a room and get a child interested in the Jewish part of his life.

If we are truly invested in a viable future for our people, we would be foolish to miss the opportunity of teaching our children the beauty of our traditions during those impressionable young years of their lives.

On Jan. 12, there was a major meeting in Bergen County regarding the recent swastikas and the attempted murder of a rabbi and his family. While I applaud these efforts, I wonder why in the past, when my synagogue had swastikas, when a yeshivah student in Edison was assaulted, when the Edison Lexus dealership and other sites were vandalized with swastikas, that we did not have a similar outcry in our Middlesex County community.

Unless and until the judicial system hands out harsh punishment, including real jail time to these perpetrators, including teenagers, nothing will change. Writing an essay on the Holocaust, or doing community service means nothing to those blinded by bigotry and hatred.

Thank you for setting the record straight on President Obama’s record on Israel. Unfortunately, it seems that whenever he has chosen not to march lockstep with Prime Minister Netanyahu, he has found himself and his administration subject to specious claims of hostility towards Israel. I have heard pulpit rabbis digress from the parashah of the week and, instead, twist the president’s speeches and quote phrases out of context in order to make it appear, incorrectly, as if he advocates a return to pre-1967 borders without negotiated adjustments. As you point out, this administrations’ record, notably in the areas of arms sales and intelligence, has been friendlier to Israel than any of its predecessors.