It was the late ’60s, with the world slowly forgetting the enormity of the
crime perpetrated against the Jewish people, when the attacks on Jews
began to increase (again).
Readers of the Jewish Press (the main Jewish newspaper in Brooklyn) were
writing to complain about yet another Jew attacked on his way to the
synagogue. Others called the paper to report similar incidents. The editor,
Rabbi Meir Kahane, began to document these complaints. The attacks on
his fellow Jews bothered him deeply, like a hard blow to the belly. No one
was doing anything about such incidents, so shortly thereafter, he started a
self-defense group to fill the vacuum. He called the group the “Jewish
Defense League” or the JDL for short.
In 1968 Kahane reached out to me to join this group. I was a Black Belt in
Karate, recently graduating from one of the toughest “dojos” in the
Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. I was the only white kid training
among prison guards, firemen and other tough denizens of the community.
Kahane’s call to action and his request that I teach Jewish kids karate for
self-defense, resonated with me. Also, the JDL’s slogan of “Never Again”
especially reverberated with me, a child of Holocaust survivors.
The 15 or so activists that I joined in my first meeting with Kahane
blossomed into hundreds and then into thousands. Apparently, the JDL
resonated with others, as well. My karate trained squad was getting better
and ready for action. We mobilized to answer physical attacks while at
other times, we organized demonstrations in front of City Hall or a police
station demanding increased protection for Jewish neighborhoods. Our
activities garnered press coverage giving us much needed publicity. Jews
standing up for themselves defied the age-old stereotype. For the press, we
were the “man bites dog story”. Each story in the papers or on TV,
amounted to hundreds of new members and support.
Rabbi Kahane devoted most of his time to the JDL. He led all the
demonstrations, while also teaching us Zionism and Jewish history. We
learned about Zev Jabotinsky, the great Zionist Revisionist leader who
warned the Jews of Europe to get out as a “fire was raging about to
consume them”. But his warnings fell on deaf ears. We also learned about
Menahem Begin and his underground fighters, the Irgun. I dare say, we
were moved by their sacrifice.
Meir took a special interest in me and mentored my Jewish education. He
referred me to many books, and I devoured them enthusiastically. As I read
about the boys who were hanged by the British occupation forces, I must
admit, I romanticized their sacrifice, naively thinking, I too was prepared
for that ultimate sacrifice for the Jewish nation. I was 18 years old as were
many of them. The passion of Kahane influenced and motivated us, as he
taught us that part of Jewish history that was omitted in our previous
education. Our pride in our Jewish identity grew with each lesson. Some
years later, many of our members served in the IDF, and made aliyah to
Israel. (I often remember when he told us, with that twinkle in his eye,
“You know boys, when your friends get older what stories will they have to
tell their grandchildren? But all of you, boy, you will have plenty”. He was,
of course, right.)
Our membership reflected the mosaic under the Jewish umbrella. We had
yeshiva students and religious Jews as well as alienated and assimilated or
non-observant Jews. What motivated us to activism was Kahane’s message
of Ahavat Yisrael, love of fellow Jews. Meir reminded us that we were all
Jews responsible for each other!
I began to travel with him to speaking engagements all over the tri-state
area and then to many places further away. Because I was the Black Belt
karate instructor, many assumed I was his bodyguard. But my role was to
assist in setting up chapters and karate classes in those new areas.
Those were heady days for me. I continued to read all the books Meir
suggested and eagerly waited for more. Soon, I was knowledgeable enough
to conduct lectures for incoming new members. I was also sent out on
speaking engagements to synagogues and men’s clubs to fill in for Meir,
who couldn’t possibly cover the many new invitations. Having listened to
him so often when I accompanied him, I could easily deliver many of his
stump speeches.
On a personal level, I was no longer attending college with any regularity
as I was completely devoted to the cause. I spent the days in the office,
teaching karate in the evenings. Many of my nights were devoted to less
legal activities. My parents, hoping I would pursue a career in law, were
devastated. It wasn’t that my father didn’t agree with our aims. It was just
that he wanted someone else’s son to be doing the work. I seldom argued
with him as I understood his concerns. (Sometime later, I was told by my
mother that, at times, my father attended JDL demonstrations — but in
secret).
Then the plight of Soviet Jews caught our attention. Learning about the
meager effort to save Europe’s Jews by the previous generation, we were
determined to be different. We decided to highlight the plight of the Jews
in the Soviet Union by bringing the issue to the front pages. We began by
picketing Soviet cultural programs, such as concerts but graduated to
disrupting them when the press no longer covered our picketing activities.
It appeared, that we constantly needed to ‘up the ante’ to generate the
headlines that kept the focus on Soviet Jewish issues. As our activities
garnered headlines, many adults I encountered ridiculed our efforts.
“Do you think you will take on the Soviet Union and win”? They asked. “A
bunch of teenagers defeat the Soviets”? But Kahane’s clever insight led us
to many successes. We embarrassed the Soviets as our activities became
more daring. Kahane understood that the Soviets, hated to be exposed to
public scrutiny. Our activities shone a spotlight on them. Their propaganda
apparatus wanted, at all costs, to depict the Soviet Union as the proletariat
paradise and they could not tolerate the bad publicity we were generating.
In this we were hugely successful. Admittedly, not all our activities were
safe and perhaps not all of them were smart. But, in retrospect, we were
teenagers and post teenagers. We dared to publicize the odious treatment
of Russian Jews by their government, the mighty Soviet Union, and in
retrospect we accomplished this. While the Soviet Union (and mainstream
Jewish organizations) called us hooligans and thugs, the Soviet Jews called
us heroes.
In 1971, Kahane moved to Israel and left no clear leader in charge of the US
group. Leaderless, the JDL slowly disintegrated. In truth, we were also
getting older and needed to move on with our lives. Some became lawyers
or businessmen, while I earned a doctoral degree from the SUNY College of
Medicine. We may have left the JDL, but we never forgot the lessons taught
by Meir Kahane.
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