Confessed killer Levi Aron.

There are no words to describe the horror of the murder of Leiby Kletzky, the 9-year old who was killed in Brooklyn on Tuesday. As a father, and as a human being, it is simply sickening, tearful and just horrendous. As a Jew it is infuriating to hear how the murderer was identified.

Discussing this matter with others in the Jewish community, and hearing rabbis and media comment on the murderer Levi Aron, it angers me to hear Aron referred to as a “religious Jew.”

What Makes a Jew or any person religious? One cannot be a religious Jew when he lures, murderers and dismembers a nine-year-old child – any child. Aron is being charged with felony manslaughter and deserves the most painful form of punishment, any decent person must stand up and demand the same.

In this world, evil exists in many places and in many forms, including to the shock of many, in Borough Park. I have spent time in the insular, close-knit community of Borough Park and I wonder if anyone knew anything about Aron before this tragedy. I wonder if anyone would have said anything, and I suppose we may discover soon enough if in fact Aron brought the young boy to a wedding as he said he did, and no one raised any concerns.

For me, as a father, as a Jew, as a human being; at the age of 36, being religious means being a good person, not hurting anyone, being honest, being decent, and caring about my family and my community. Those who see horrors of young children being molested in schools and don’t say anything – are not religious, nor are those who pray three times a day and then steal. Levi Aron is not a religious man.

I pray for the day that being a religious Jew means being a good, honest, decent ethical person, and not simply someone who dons a certain garb or attends synagogue.