When reporting the JDL demos on the news, reporters recounted how many policemen and demonstrators had been sent to hospital, and then how many demonstrators had been arrested.
The idea that Jew-hatred was the problem of the Jew-hater and that it was the job of the Jew to "educate" the Jew-hater not to manifest that hatred - expressed in the following Talmudic dictum "he who raises his hand to bless you, bless him first; he who raises his hand to kill you, kill him first" - was truly liberating for me, who had always been taught that "good Jewish boys don't fight".
It wasn't Rav Kahane who brought out the idea in me that being Jewish was more important than anything else. I've always felt that way. But Rav Kahane made clear the issue of immigrating to Israel in terms of blasphemy, Hillul Hashem, as opposed to blessing G-d (and bringing G-d's blessing upon oneself in turn), Kiddush Hashem. To this day, I remember this in a lecture he gave in a Manhattan Beach synagogue. That lecture was over 30 years ago, and its lessons did not come to fruition until I realized in 1998 that a sickened American culture was about to steal my children from me. But the seed had been planted, by seeing Jewish soldiers conquer the part of Israel I live in today, Samaria, in 1967; by seeing Jewish pride in operation in the Jewish Defense League in the late 60's and early 70's; by seeing how the world tuned against the Jewish people in the 1970's; and finally by that lecture in that Manhattan Beach synagogue. And like Elliot Jager, I returned to Israel and made it my home.
Rav Kahane was not the perfect person. I remember him as media hound in America, and apparently there were times in his life when he did not behave as a rabbi ought to. But he eventually developed a scholarly side and wrote some very painful articles on Jewish identity that should be required reading for any person who claims to be a Jew. It was truly a sad day when he was murdered in New York in 1990 by an Arab, and a sadder day when the jury refused to find the Arab who killed him guilty of the crime. But it is my opinion that it will be necessary to go beyond many of the ideas of Rav Kahane in the not too distant future.
As Elliot Jager puts it,
He was a product of his times. Rabbi Meir Kahane - as man and phenomenon...could only have sprung to prominence in the tumultuous time and perilous place that was New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was the perfect storm for Diaspora Jewish militancy. Entire urban Jewish neighborhoods were under siege: synagogues firebombed; cemeteries desecrated; elderly Jews beaten mercilessly....Jews who could flee to the suburbs did so (enabling many to hang onto their liberalism), while those of us trapped in the five boroughs were left to our own devices.
In his review, Jager correctly pointed out that the rich Jews living in these suburbs (or Manhattan enclaves), well-heeled, acculturated leaders of the Jewish establishment, were cut off from the concerns of their poor and mostly Orthodox coreligionists. Prominent Jewish organizations, settlement houses and even so-called Jewish hospitals became devoted to serving the black and Puerto Rican communities. There was no money for Jewish education (Rav Kahane used to excoriate Jewish education in his weekly articles in the Jewish Press); none for the Jewish poor (who were thought not to exist); and nothing - needless to say - for defense in the inner-city jungle. In fact, only after the JDL attacked the offices of the Jewish Federation in Manhattan, where my cousin Hattie, z"l, a typist there, cowered while angry yeshiva youths and radicals stormed the halls and offices of the chief "Jewish" charity in New York, were funds found for programs where Jewish student organizations could be funded, or where volunteers could call old people living in the Bronx to see if they were at least alive.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - JustOneMan
Interesting z"l, hy"d, could have focused a little more on h'w,qy"e and m'we...
JOM
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
And now that we have heard from the idiots from the peanut galley, let's move to the real news.
As I said in the essay, Katyushas, Grads and Qassams fall increasingly on our cities and towns, and the limousine "liberals" of Tel Aviv don't give a damn.
Quoting Arutz Sheva from yesterday, Barry Chamish wrote,
There was no URL for Barry's comments, or I would link you all directly there, rather than copying them out here, but they reflect well what is happening in the country. In the coming days, weeks and months, we will see increasing chaos as the country degenerates into a firestorm of war, with the emphasis on destroying the nexus of wealth built up on the coastal cities from Yaffo all the way up to Atlit and Akko. Ashqelon will, as the Tana"kh predicts, be a heap of rubble. And so will Ashdod. Thus we will see the prophecies of our ancient Prophets come true. Why am I quoting Barry Chamish?
He is a secular Jew! If he believes in the truth of the Tana"kh, he keeps that fact carefully hidden.
Yet this secular Jew matches the predictions of our ancient prophets concerning the cities on the coast.
It's starting to get interesting, folks. We won't have time here to worry about which idiot will be the American "Monkey-in-chief" next January. The rockets are falling now, and the missiles will follow in not too long.
Oh, I realize that you Americans can only focus on what new truth Obama has revealed today, or how Hillary has shown her experience once again, and how the venerable McCain is not yet senile.
But all I can tell you is Obama Oshmama! The fun stuff will be happening here!
3 - JustOneMan
There's no need to fear the US money, bullets and weapons are here!!!!
JOM "The biggest supporter of Israel...dispite Ruvy!"
4 - World Against War
World Against War
The antiwar movement is strong and organizing fast. There's going to be an antiwar protest held in a few weeks that will be the largest in history of human history. Still have yet to read a single blurb about it, but yet the people know... How did the movement organize this many countries and places?
5 - JustOneMan
How did the movement organize this many countries and places?
Um...er...because they didnt?
The site you linked to is a left wing propaganda site
JOM
6 - Dave Nalle
Ruvy, your glossing over of the virulent racism and active terrorism of the JDL is glaring for anyone actually familiar with the history of the period, the organization and Kahane's attempts to be the next best thing to a theocratic Hitler.
Your article is an excellent reminder that despite the fact that you're often coherent, you subscribe to a philosophy of hate and intolerance as bad as anything to come out of fundamentalist Islam or the Christian Identity movement.
Dave
7 - JustOneMan
Dave..did you mean to say....
"philosophy of hate and intolerance as bad as anything" since Adolph Hitler?
JOM
8 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Ruvy, your glossing over of the virulent racism and active terrorism of the JDL is glaring for anyone actually familiar with the history of the period, the organization....
Dave,
Let's see what I might have glossed over.... Having lived in New York all my life in 1971, having lived the events and the history of the period, and having followed carefully the actions of the only organization I really admired in those days, the Jewish Defense League, let's see if I can jog my aging memory to raise a fire from the embers of my youth....
1. The JDL violently opposed the black power racist thugs in New York and Boston. They were not afraid to call them criminals when the lily-livered liberals in their Manhattan enclaves and suburbs in Westchester, Rockland, and the Island cultivated them because they have/had no guts at all. They actually made the sons of ass-holes behave when the lily-livered liberals in New York couldn't - and wouldn't.
2. The JDL violently opposed the "Young Lord" Puerto Rican racist thugs in New York. They refused to let them take over school district meetings without opposition in New York while the lily-livered liberals said nothing and pissed in their pants, yellowing their underwear.
3. The JDL made the lives of Russian "consular" officials miserable in New York and forced the bastards to stay in their compounds instead of wandering freely while the Soviet government held Jews prisoner in the USSR.
4. The JDL made it dangerous for Jews in America to get rich off doing business with self same assholes in the USSR. Poor Armand Hammer suffered because Jews like us said 'you boycott the enemy instead of making him look good'. My heart bleeds for the bastard.
5. The JDL gave the Russians in New York a taste of the violence they had freely dispensed against my people in Russia for centuries. Vengeance is best served cold - over a stiff at a Russian Consulate.
6. White Christians would tell me of the JDL, "it's about time you Jews fought back!" The willingness to fight for one's own raised respect - even in beer slurping Catholics who heard the priests tell them at Easter how Jews killed Jesus and who were happy to beat up Jewish kids who didn't fight back....
7. When we organized defense patrols in a neighborhood, young black kids would come over, wanting to join; they liked gang violence as much as we did; and where we could, like in Mattappan(sp?), Boston, we actively encouraged them to join. There's real racism for you!
8. MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALL OF THIS, we scared the living shit out the rich Jewish establishment, the assimilated pricks who have been selling out Jews for decades in America and who ran off to Larchmont or Rye or the exurbs to have their children screw goyim at the first noise that "the neighborhood is farshvartzed" (blacks were moving in).
Based on their attitudes, I would say that they were the racists, not the members of the JDL.
And the assholes are still selling out Jews - only now they concentrate on trying to get us killed, instead of just Jews in New York.
Mind you, Dave, I'm only talking about the Jewish Defense League in Mew York and Boston. I'm not talking about the Ka"ch Party in Israel, about which I'm less familiar.
But we'll give you a tale from them too, since some stupid schmuck at BC (probably a Jew himself) will probably raise the issue. This is one I didn't live to see myself and only heard years after the event. I still lived in America at the time....
One of the former JDL members opened a club in one of the major cities here, a place for his buddies to hang out and drink coffee. One day, a couple of guys come strolling in talking about how they were there to protect the club from violent occurrences that had been happening in the area. Brooklyn boys know all about the mob and their tactics, and the club owner, working the counter at the time, picked up his baseball bat and explained pleasantly that the bat would protect him and his establishment.
The two men laughed and asked how that little stick was going to protect the club from people who might try to destroy it. The counterman just smiled back and told them, al tid'ag, zeh ya'avor - "don't worry, this will do the job. Plus," he added in Hebrew, "I have friends who will help me." The customers stopped sipping at their Turkish coffees and began to pay attention to the exchange at the counter.
At this point, the two men dropped their pretense of friendliness and told the counterman that if they didn't walk out with some money for protection, terrible things would happen to the club.
The customers, all member of the JDL or Ka"ch, pulled out their weapons, various kinds of pistols, rifles, Uzis, etc. and aimed them at the two mobsters. The two mobsters, understood the message and never showed again.
That, Dave, is how you deal with crime and terror.
To repeat the dictum from the Talmud, "he who raises his hand to bless you, bless him first; he who raises his hand to kill you, kill him first". Remember that the next time you are watching to see if anyone will threaten your gated compound....
9 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Jewish Civilian Faces Arrest After Shooting at Lynch Mob by Hillel Fendel
This article by Arutz Sheva details the latest violence in Samaria, the violence referred to by Barry Chamish in comment #1.
Comments by MK Aryeh Eldad on the incident taken from the article at Arutz Sheva:
This attack was not a random incident of violence, it was well planned. I now must worry seriously about sitting guard at the village gate. The war forecast earlier is beginning. The traitors in Jerusalem think they are "opening a faucet of terror" to scare the residents here into leaving. They do not realize that in doing so, they have brought their own blood upon their heads.
It is not with pleasure that I contemplate having to kill my Arab neighbors who may, frenzied up by Hamas or FataH, seek my life. I would much prefer to sit with them over tea and cakes and discuss our common concerns, villager to villager. Most of them are decent people, ill used by panderers of hatred and war. But if killing must be done, it must be done.
I have said on these virtual pages a number of times that I fully believe that there will be reconciliation between Jews and Arabs as predicted in Isaiah 60:7-8. But I have also pointed out that before that reconciliation does take place, a season of much blood-letting will take place, a season I fear is now beginning.
The full Arutz Sheva article may be viewed at the link at the beginning of the comment.
10 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Updating the comment #9:
Neria Resident Released From Police Custody
(an Arutz Sheva newsflash)
The police released the Neria resident because of lack of police findings against him, according to Honenu, an organization that helps folks like me because the Israel Association for Human Rights does not consider Jews living in Judea or Samaria human and will not get involved.
But, just because Benvenisti was released from custody does not mean that he will not be re-arrested on some kind of trumped up charge later. This happened with a kid named Cytryn who was arrested and tried for murdering an Arab and convicted of the crime, even though video evidence from the scene showed he could not have committed it!!
In the meantime, Arutz Sheva asks, is a Arab 'Third Intifada' Underway?
The article, by Nissan Ratzlav, details Arab violence in the Jerusalem area, while two other articles from the Arutz Sheva site, explain how Humanitarian Aid Flows into Gaza, Missiles and Mortars Fly Out, and how a Kassam Destroys Sderot Home, IAF Destroys Kassam Terror Cells.
It is no longer a matter of "war approaching". It's arrived.
11 - Les Slater
Ruvy,
“I would much prefer to sit with them over tea and cakes and discuss our common concerns, villager to villager. Most of them are decent people, ill used by panderers of hatred and war.”
Just before the above you state, “The traitors in Jerusalem think they are ‘opening a faucet of terror’ to scare the residents here into leaving.” Doesn’t this also sound like an ‘ill use’?
It seems to me that you have more in common with your Arab neighbors than Hamas, Fatah, or the Israeli ruling class and its government. As much as I respect your keen observations sometimes, I doubt that you are alone among Jews in recognizing the humanity of the Arab masses, and see them as being used as pawns. You do recognize that Jews are also being used as pawns? I hope so; this is one of the points I’ve been trying to drive home for some time.
You’re not a dummy; I know you know that the Israeli regime is just a puppet of U.S. imperialism. You also know that Israel was established under false pretenses. You know this and more, very well.
It seems that a major stumbling block for you seeing what to do next are the prophases. We communists also make predictions, in a very general sense. We see the objective logic in history unfolding but it is we, primarily the working class, acting, to make what happens, come at the least painful, and most conscious and productive way.
You know too much to just let the schemes of the chess masters unfold without realizing that you would be part of the problem. Stop using the prophases as an excuse and a crutch. For a start you could at least popularize the fact that it is not the Arab masses that are the enemy of the Jews, that you have ultimately a common enemy in imperialism. Resist being a helpless pawn.
Les
12 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Les,
I know you mean well. Your heart is in the right place. We'll give you full marks for that. But your logic isn't, unfortunately.
First of all, you need to get your spelling right. The thing that has you bothered here are prophecies. Truth be told, I do not view them as a crutch. I am not a fatalist. Bad prophecies can be averted by doing acts of kindness, charity and decency. Before the Lebanon War, I was actively making efforts to make sure that there would be no war here. I guess I just didn't do enough.
In dealing with my Arab neighbors, I have several major problems that have nothing to do with prophecies or predictions, and everything to do with who holds what weapons.
Let us say for a moment that I had decided to pursue negotiations with my neighbors down the hill who hold olive groves and the like.
1. Under the conditions we live in now, the law requires that I either have a weapon or be accompanied by someone with a weapon. In addition, prudence also dictates this.
2. It is very likely that attempting to visit one of these Arabs could result in my death. After all, I do not know these people in person, and it is difficult to get to know them. It's not like knocking on the door to borrow a cup of sugar or a few eggs. And unlike some, haven't lived here for over twenty years - before the time when there was a PA or an intifada, or an artificial wall between Jews and Arabs.
3. Words gets round of these things. This means that before I can take a piss, there is someone from the Shaba"k to help me pull down my zipper, somebody from the PLO or Hamas to make sure that my Arab neighbor doesn't do anything to indicate that the "Zionist enemy" is anything other than an enemy - even if the Arab fellow knows I come in friendship. If all that does not work to keep us apart, there is always some prick from Peace Now or the BBC or Oxfam to fuck up the works with their bullshit and propaganda, and his little camera to make a YouTube to make sure no peace ever gets discussed.
Do you get the picture? If I were Arkady Gaydamak with his billions, all the same problems would still apply, but I probably could buy my way of some of them.
The issue is not seeing the obvious - it is getting Arabs who also see the obvious to be willing to disobey the word of a mukhtar who tells him to kill a given Jew. This is not easy. The mukhtar controls much of how that Arab is going to live his life.
The issue is getting out from under the thumb of the Jewish Section of the Shaba"k - meaning that I have to provide my own security and risk the Jewish Section also being an enemy. They have plenty of guns, and goons to go with them.
Finally, there is the issue of the press, which has bought a certain version of reality, and is absolutely determined that its version of reality will prevail, no matter what.
Do you understand? You can afford to talk revolution. But I'm broke. Can you afford to pay me to make one?
13 - Irene Wagner
"Kill them all and let 'God' sort them out" vs. "Who raises his hand to greet you, greet him first; who raises his hand to kill you, kill him first." In a world full of confusion and terror, can anyone really discern the face of a friend from the face of a betrayer? Isn’t the first adage the more practical one? Pre-emptive strikes are practical. Imperialism and Communism are equally practical. Doing unto others what you would not have them do unto you BEFORE they have a chance to do it unto you"-now THAT'S practical.
The removal of the means of self-defense of an individual or of a nation is, in and of itself, an act of aggression, and so, I’m in no way advocating that Israel be forced to lay down its arms. It's worth remembering, though, that there are--wimps and fools, I guess some might call them---who take the risk of crossing, with unarmed hands raised in greeting, into the territory of those who know they come from the enemy camp. They have as much courage as any soldier, and when the peaceful message they bring takes hold, they can be even more effective.
PS Even the ADL says Bill White is a liar. It’s disheartening how many put stock in that white supremacist’s claim that he and Ron Paul were good buddies.
But there you go, it’s a confusing world full of terror and lies. It’s one step forward and two steps back on the road to a peaceful world, and it will remain that way ‘til Shiloh comes. Keep looking up.
14 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Irene,
I have faith in the G-d of Israel. He who trusts in the L-rd shall have the L-rd as his security. That is my faith, Irene.
So, I'm a nationalist who believes in the Tana"ch, and that there will be ultimate reconciliation between the Children of Kedar and Nevayot on the one side, and the Children of Israel on the other. I realize there probably be war first, but I keep the lines of communication open to Arabs.
This is practical. In a world of fear, distrust and confusion, someone has to stand up and say, "this is the way", pointing to the Divine Map of the Tana"kh. Someone has to stand up and be without fear, and filled with faith, looking for the best in people. That is the role of Israel in the world, the role of bringing light to a world full of darkness. But Israel is not yet ready for that role. In order to be ready, we will need the Redemption.
But, Irene, there is more. The issue of seeing to it that we Jews are holy enough to remain in the Land, that we understand the concepts of the Law well enough to keep ourselves holy enough to actually merit remaining in the Land. These issues, not raised in this article, are between Jew and Jew.
And then, having accomplished this, there is the issue of being knowledgeable enough to guide non-Jews who will seek spiritual guidance from us, as they finally understand the Message of G-d for them clearly. Here, we must move beyond the martyred Rav Kahane.
Finally, there is the issue of the Ten Lost Tribes. To recognize them, we will need the messiah, because that will be one of his roles as a ruler.
15 - Irene Wagner
Ruvy, just so you know that I haven't been left speechless by your answer...I'm frustrated because there is so much in it to talk about, and not enough free time to get into it all today--but it's probably a discussion best saved for different threads, different days, anyway.
Les Slater's post advocates cooperation between Arab and Jew against the imperialistic forces of evil. I would never attempt to shame you or anyone else into becoming a defenseless mediator--not that I think Les was trying to shame you into that role, but it might have sounded, after his comment, that I was doing that. I was only pointing out that there already are people courageously filling that role, around the world and in your own country, and being called traitors, wimps and fools for their trouble.
Yes, truly, there is no nation on earth, not the US, not Israel, not the UN's mish-mash of the best and worst of them all, having the moral authority to be the Light of the World. There are however individuals who are called to be, not THE Light of the World, but the reflection of His grace and love. They help keep God, who transcends Chaos, foremost in my mind. They, some of them with a different theology from mine! inspire me, in a world full of confusion, hatred, and other provocations of God's wrath--to keep trusting in the goodness of the Creator.
16 - MAOZ
Rav Kahane -- "...may G-d redeem his blood."
"redeem his blood"?!
Where'd that expression come from? Ruvy, are you going soft?!
Rav Meir Kahane, may G^d avenge his blood.
17 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
MAOZ,
Like usual, you are right. Are you sure you aren't King Friday XIII?
18 - Dr Dreadful
Why would God need to avenge anything?
19 - Les Slater
Ruvy,
I know all the practical problems that you speak of. I wasn't suggesting any of those that you pointed too. I just suggested “For a start you could at least popularize the fact that it is not the Arab masses that are the enemy of the Jews, that you have ultimately a common enemy in imperialism.” That is, clarify your position and let it be known. You’re all over the place. I never said anything about wandering over into their back yard to plead with them.
Irene,
Israel is already a death trap for Jews. Just read Barry Chamish from Ruvy’s #2. “Either way, finally, as Israel burns to cinders or doesn't, we will have our own sweet victory over the worst curse ever to have plagued us, Labor Zionism.” Ruvy seems to concur. These people are willing to kill everybody, including themselves for their ‘sweet victory’.
I never suggest anyone be defenseless; the Bolsheviks never suggested that Russian soldiers facing the German front during WWI not defend themselves.
Les
20 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Why would God need to avenge anything?
I was waiting for that question, DD. If you go and read the story of how Cain kills Abel, one of G-d's reproofs of Cain is that "Abel's blood cries to me for vengeance!" or something very similar.
From this comes the idea that when someone is killed, you say of him, hashem y'nakem damo (hy"d) "May G-d avenge his blood." The z"l in the title comes from the Hebrew zikhrono l'brakha of blessed memory.
21 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Now as to why, DD?
Murder is wrong. If a man cannot avenge the murder, we call upon the Almighty to do it for us....
22 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Les,
How many times have you seen me write that the Arabs are a hammer in the hands of another? And who is that "other"? The oil and banking establishment! Every time I write about this subject, I'm careful to separate out the Wahhabi from the Moslem for this precise reason. Islam is not davka a religion of peace. But it need not be a religion of war, either.
How many times have you see me call the United States government the worst enemy of this country? And why do you think this is so?
I do what you ask already, Les.
Now Barry and I have our differences, but we understand each other. An Arab missile bombardment is as far as Barry wants to go in contemplating what would happen here. I have to go further in my contemplations, as I live here and have no intentions of leaving.
Once the missiles have fallen, the largely secular traditional Israelis on the coast, finally realizing that they had been played for suckers by the Israeli "power-holders" as their homes burned behind them, will overthrow that leadership and march east with whatever armaments they can gather, murdering and killing as they go. And who will they murder and kill? The Arabs in Qalqilia, Jenin, Sh'khem, Hevron, BetleHem - the ones who survive will flee for the Jordan. Thus Judea and Samaria will be emptied of Arabs. Similar groups of Israelis will march southwest to massacre and drive out the Arabs there, seeking vengeance on Gaza.
That is what we are facing in the near future, Les.
23 - Dr Dreadful
Ruvy - don't make me sic Spinoza on you!
24 - David Ben-Ariel
"Is Israel really a Jewish State? Or a Gentilized state of Jews? There is a difference! Are we left to our own devices, our personal preferences, the "Church or synagogue of your choice" mentality? Or does God have something to say to us also?
Meir Kahane, former Israeli Parliament member, rabbi and author of Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, was to the Jewish establishment what Herbert W. Armstrong was to traditional Christianity: an irritating "prophet" who spoke the plain truth!
If Israel had only listened to Meir Kahane they wouldn't be staring death in the face today (Dan. 9:11). I was living at Kibbutz Shoval in Israel’s Negev desert, beautifying the grounds, when I heard that he had been murdered in New York by another Arab terrorist. When his funeral took place in Jerusalem, I was honored to attend with tens of thousands of others to show solidarity with what he boldly taught" and as a blond, stood out in the Black Sea of Haredim on TV."
--excerpt from Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall - Chapter 3 - TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
Israel's Betrayal of the Jews
Israel's Only Way Out: Follow Kahane!
25 - Dave Nalle
Let me provide a somewhat synopsized version of Ruvy's comment on the JDL:
1. ...violently opposed...
2. ...violently opposed...
3. ...made the lives...miserable...
4. ...made it dangerous...
5. ...gave...a taste of the violence...
7. ...they liked gang violence as much as we did...
8. ...scared the living shit out...
And let me just add that the FBI rated the JDL a higher terrorist threat than any single Islamic group prior to 9/11. 15 terrorist attacks in the US credited to the JDL in a 5 year period at their height in the 1980s. Bombings, burnings, assassinations. Why, they're HEROES I tell you! HEROES!
If you oppose terrorism with any honesty, how can you accept a double standard which excuses it based on which insane religiously motivated group it comes from? Eric Rudolph, Meir Kahane and Osama bin Laden are peas in a pod.
Dave