Missing Kahane
By: Larry Gordon
Perhaps you’ve seen the old video of Rabbi Meir talking about how he made aliyah with his family and volunteered for reserve duty with the IDF. He was too old at the time to serve as a regular enlisted soldier, so like all Israeli citizens, he joined the unit they felt best suited him.
Back in New York, Rabbi Kahane had founded a group called the Jewish Defense League, also known as the JDL. The JDL came into existence with the idea of protecting Jews from antisemitism and urban crime by “whatever means necessary.” This was in the late 60s, when Jewish neighborhoods in particular were being targeted for crime. At the time, the civil rights movement was in full swing after President Lyndon B. Johnson, or LBJ, signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. This was after the tragic murder of President John F. Kennedy, when a nationwide movement for equal rights sought to end segregation and discrimination.
Perhaps the two events are unrelated, but at the same time, crime rose dramatically. For some reason, the increase in crime had a major impact on many Jewish neighborhoods. There were muggings, robberies, even an occasional murder. So, in a sense, it was LBJ vs. JDL.
Meir Kahane, born and bred in Queens, thought that in the aftermath of the Holocaust, Jews had had enough being targeted by violent criminals and being the victims of violence.
One of the simplest solutions was for Jews to just pick up and move to safer neighborhoods. Due to the daily assaults and muggings, areas like East New York and Brownsville in Brooklyn quickly emptied out as the people packed up and left. Our people had had enough. But one man—Meir Kahane—had a different idea. That is, to fight back.
At first, he organized street patrols to protect Jews from street crime at home. Later, he took on the plight of Soviet Jewry. Millions of Jews lived in the Soviet Union and wanted to emigrate to Israel so they could reconnect with their Jewish faith. But for decades, the Soviet rulers denied them that basic human right.
But Rabbi Kahane and others would not rest. Organizations were formed with the goal of helping to free Soviet Jews from oppression, often with the biblically influenced slogan of “Let My People Go.” They held protest demonstrations at the UN as well as at the offices of the Russian Ambassador to the UN and so on.
Fast forward to this past week, when a violent anti-Israel mob clashed with Jews at a real estate expo outside a synagogue on Ocean Avenue near Ave. L in Brooklyn. A few days prior, a flag featuring a Star of David, two swastikas, and the letters “NYU” was raised above a building overlooking Washington Square Park during a graduation exercise.
Where have you gone Meir Kahane?
Lately, there has been talk about the need to organize groups similar to the JDL. But no sooner is that mentioned than the discussion jumps similar to how Anthony Fauci’s Covid virus jumped from person to person, and the conversation quickly becomes: Are Jews advocating for violence?
When Donald Trump was nearly shot by a would-be assassin in Butler, Pennsylvania, he managed to pull himself to his feet, bloodied and shaken, and pump his fist in the air, declaring: “Fight, Fight, Fight.”
This week, Bibi Netanyahu pretty much said the same thing with regard to Israel’s continued struggles with Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran. He said Israel was going to fight, fight, fight and win, win, win.
When Kahane arrived in Israel, he brought his reputation as a fighter and a winner with him. The rabbi told the story of how the Arabs were once rioting and his unit was called up to quell the violence. Word got out among the Arabs in Ramallah that “Kahane is here.” And as if on cue, the rioting stopped and the rioters ran home.
Why don’t we have something like that today? How is it possible that violent terrorist supporters can physically assault Jewish citizens while waving Hamas and Hezbollah flags in the heart of Flatbush? And they did the same thing a couple of times in front of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, openly supporting terrorism and global intifada while attempting to block Jews from attending an event at the shul.
And all New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani can do is to advocate for the free speech rights of the terrorist supporters—people like him, I suppose.
The New York City Council passed legislation a few weeks ago making it illegal for protesters to hold demonstrations within 25 to 100 feet of religious institutions. The pro-terror mayor vetoed the bill. It is unfathomable how low New York City has sunk in basic governance. If Mamdani is not legally and properly removed from office, then I guess the people will have to pick themselves up and go. And slowly but surely, that is what is happening.
It would have been great if the pro-Hamas protesters whispered amongst themselves and scattered as they told each other: “Kahane is here.”
In about two weeks, the Israel Day Parade will be held on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The NYPD has always done a great job of keeping the aggressive, violence-prone Jew-haters far enough away from the parade marchers and spectators. It’s been reported so far that Mayor Mamdani has ordered the NYPD not to provide strict protection for those planning to march and celebrate Israel.
It has been a longstanding tradition that the New York mayor marches alongside other dignitaries in the parade. Mamdani will not be marching and celebrating Israel. It cannot be stated any clearer: Mamdani hates Israel. Governor Hochul will probably be there because, after all, she’s up for re-election and has to deceive New York’s Jews into supporting her.
Senator Chuck Schumer will probably be marching though we’d all be better off if he stayed home. As President Trump stated in the past, he considers Schumer to be a Palestinian. So, while he really does not belong in the march, there will be Palestinians on the sidelines so he might be more comfortable there.
Can the JDL be revived or reconstituted? Where are today’s youth with what Kahane used to call, “A Jewish head with a Jewish fist?” Our communities are bursting with young men and some women who can organize under the moniker of “the new JDL.”
As a young journalist, I interviewed Kahane several times on the radio and for magazine articles. I had an FM radio show back in the early 80s that ran from 7–9 a.m. On the days that Kahane was supposed to be on at 8 a.m., he would show up at 8:55 and I would have to go into the station manager’s office to beg for an extra hour until 10 so I could speak with Kahane live on the air.
Kahane caused some problems for me with station management when the so-called neo-Nazis were planning a march in the Jewish neighborhood of Skokie, Illinois. I asked Kahane on the radio what to do about it and he plainly said: “Nazis who march in Skokie have to be killed.” As soon as he said that I knew I’d be in trouble and while he was still on the air, I received a call in the studio telling me to cut the interview immediately.
If only he had said that young Jews need to stand up to neo-Nazis or even fight them, but no, he was Meir Kahane and he had had enough of the Nazis having their way with Jews. As time went on, that on-air brouhaha impacted greatly on my relationship with the station. The managers told me I couldn’t say those things, and I told them I didn’t say it—Kahane did. But no, it was my responsibility that he said that.
When the empty-headed Jew-haters in Brooklyn or on our college campuses call for the murder of Jews in Israel or anywhere in the world by “globalizing the Intifada,” there’s no accountability or responsibility. The media and our elected officials tell us that it’s only “words” and constitute free speech.
If a Jew or any Jewish group intimates something similar, they are immediately reported to be genocidal maniacs. Trump said: Fight, Fight, Fight. He meant that we do so politically and that we fight to win at the polls. In his day, Meir Kahane might have seen things differently.
Read more of Larry Gordon’s articles at 5TJT.com. Follow 5 Towns Jewish Times on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates and live videos. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at 5TJT.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
