A Monument for Rabbi Kahane

by Shifra Hoffman

Contrary to the well-known proverb that "time heals all wounds," there are some wounds that never truly heal.

In the  sixteen years since the late and revered Rabbi Meir Kahane was taken from us, his loss grows acutely more painful, as his prophetic warnings concerning the danger to the survival of Israel posed by Arab nationalism becomes a daily reality.

Great men are sometimes decreed to  suffer in this world. Ironically, their tremendous accomplishments often benefit others, while they themselves are destined to bear "slings and arrows" for their unflinching commitment to a higher calling.  Indeed, Jewish history is replete with the self-sacrifice of such noble Jews, whose deeds, with G-d's help, have assured the survival of the Jewish people throughout the ages.

As I sit in the holy city of Jerusalem, composing this memorial tribute to Rabbi Kahane, z.tz.l., I gaze at a photograph (one of many accumulated during more than 22 years of our association) depicting him at a demonstration in talit (prayer shawl) and tefillin (phylacteries). Although this great Jewish leader represented many things to many people, to my mind he was first and foremost the quintessential rabbi - in the fullest sense of the word.

Images float across my mind from the annals of my memory. I visualize my visits to the prisons and half-way houses to which he had been sentenced for vital activities on behalf of Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish people. Although confined and surrounded by some of the dredges of humanity, his seforim (Jewish religious texts) were always with him, shining out as a beacon of light in the darkness. Circumstances could never dim his burning love for Torah.

Whether in Israeli jails - where he was incarcerated for speaking Jewish truth - or in American penal institutions - where he fought for and, with G-d's help, secured the rights of Jewish prisoners s to have kosher food and a Torah scroll (which he utilized to teach classes) - Rabbi Kahane, of blessed memory, wore the mantle of Judaism passed down by generations of legendary rabbis, with great pride and dignity. His greatest joy was planting the seeds of Torah knowledge in the minds of young Jews who had been denied their true Jewish identity.

Among these countless memories, one particular incident stands out vividly in my recollection.

While in the US, Rabbi Kahane was once sent to prison for activities on behalf of Soviet Jewry. Although he was permitted to leave the so-called half-way house for a few hours each day to eat and pray (since at that juncture the authorities were not willing to provide him with kosher food), Rabbi Kahane generally used the brief time to speak. Having made plans to visit him, I received a call from relatives who were awed at the prospect of meeting the man whose books they so eagerly read. They asked to accompany me to hear him address students at a Brooklyn Yeshiva.

Upon our arrival, we found that the powers-that-be of the synagogue hosting the yeshiva had locked the doors, forbidding the rabbi to speak to the multitude of students. Never daunted, he proceeded to deliver his talk to the few students outside, who sat on the steps waiting for him. He expounded upon the obligation to rush to the aid of a fellow Jew, regardless of who or where that person might be.

The humility of this Torah true-believer never allowed him to place his own personal prestige before his devotion to HaShem, Eretz Yisrael and the Jewish people - for whom he sacrificed his life.

And today, the State of Israel and the Jewish people sit on the precipice of the dangers of which Rabbi Kahane constantly warned.

In his last request of me, before departing on his ill-fated trip to the United States, Rabbi Kahane asked me to head an Emergency Aliyah Organization to warn American Jews of the rabid, accelerating Jew hatred that is spreading throughout the United States. "Go home. Go home to Israel before the black clouds we saw in our lifetime in Europe once again descend upon you," he implored at his last lecture, before being cut down by a brutal Arab assassin.

Shamefully, there is no official monument in the State of Israel to honor and memorialize this great Jewish visionary. Therefore, it is you, amcha - the beloved Jews for whom he shed his blood - who must provide the only true and fitting memorial for our fallen leader.

Despite the misleading, blind and obtuse Israeli government, know that the G-d of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. He, blessed be His holy name, has promised to destroy all Jewish enemies. So, with true faith, leave the exile now and immigrate to the Jewish homeland, Eretz Yisrael.

This, and this alone, is the only monument that Rabbi Meir Kahane, would have wanted.

CZOA: Rabbi Kahne was a great Jewish warrior and religious leader who gave his life for Israel and the Jewish people. What greater sacrifice can a man make? What greater tribute can be made to him than to spread his movement?

Posted:November 02, 2006