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Kahanist

Kahanist

. Assassinated in New York City on November 5th, 1990 by the Egyptian Islamist El Sayyid Nosair.]] Kahanism is a right-wing Religious Zionist movement which some consider to be an extremist fringe movement, named after one of its major proponents, Rabbi Meir Kahane. Following Kahane's assassination in 1990, the movement was split in two. One splinter group is headed by Kiryat Arba settler leader Baruch Marzel, while the other by Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane of Kfar Tapuach, who was assassinated in 2000.

Premises

The major premise of Kahanism is that the Arabs are hostile to the Jews, and that a "Greater Israel", absent of the hostile Arab population, should be created in at minimum present-day Israel including the West Bank and Gaza Strip or should include presently-Jordanian territory on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Some Kahanists also argue that such a greater Israel should be ruled according to Jewish theocratic law known as Halakha.

Outlawed

Since 1985, State of Israel has outlawed groups espousing Kahane's ideology as being racist, and forbids their participating in the Israeli government. The Kach party was banned from running for the Knesset in 1988, while the existence of the two Kahanist movements formed following Kahane's assassination were proclaimed illegal terrorist organizations in 1994 and the groups subsequently disbanded.

Alleged Kahanist actions in Israel and the West Bank

1994

Dr. Baruch Goldstein

The deadliest attack was when Baruch Goldstein, affiliated with Kach through the JDL, killed 29 Arabs at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, in 1994. After this attack, members of Kach praised Goldstein's actions, and in the insuing political turmoil, the Knesset banned Kach in Israel. Kahanists believe the attack prevented a repeat of the 1929 Arab massacre of Hebron's Jews.

Suspected Kahanist violence

Roadside shootings, stabbings and grenade attacks against Palestinians have been carried out in Jerusalem and the West Bank by individuals or groups suspected of having ties to the former Kach group. Aliases such as "The Committee for the Safety of the Roads" [http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3500], "The Sword of David" and "The Repression of Traitors" have been used. There is no evidence that real organizations with these names exist. The US government, claims that these are all aliases of "Kach", [http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/rpt/fto/2801.htm#kach].

Eden Natan-Zada

On August 4, 2005, Eden Natan-Zada murdered four Israeli Arab citizens and wounded several others when he opened fire on a bus in the northern Israeli town of Shfaram. Natan-Zada was an AWOL Israel Defense Forces soldier. He became involved with Kahanist activists via the internet, and hid from service in the religious West Bank settlement of Kfar Tapuach, home of deceased Kahane Chai leader Binyamin Kahane. No group has taken credit for Natan-Zada's attack or claimed that he was acting on their wishes, and members of the Kfar Tapuach community have condemned his attack against Arab civilians.

Kahanism in the USA

The main Kahanist group in the United States is the Kahane Movement which was formed by former memebers of Kahane Chai after the latter disbanded. The Jewish Defense League is associated with Kahanism having been founded by Rabbi Kahane, however its focus is the protection of Jewish communities from attacks by street thugs and anti-semites. It is not directly involved in Kahanist politics and openly supports mainstream democracy in Israel typically rejected by Kahanists. Another group in the United States with Kahanist leanings is the Jewish Task Force (JTF), which splits its political ideological focus between Israel and America.

See also


- Revisionist Zionism

External links


- [http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0151/vest.php An analysis of terrorism]
- [http://www.jpost.com/Letters/25638.html Palestinian victims of terrorism]
- [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/ An analysis and history of Kahane and Kahanism, based on an episode of "Frontline"]

Kahanist and Kahane related websites


- [http://www.kahane.org/ Official Kahane Site]
- [http://www.jdl.org.il/ Jewish Defense League]
- [http://www.revava.org/index.php Revava]
- [http://www.hameir.org/ HaMeir L'David]
- [http://www.kahanebooks.com/ Kahane Books]
- [http://www.geocities.com/miyadnkm MIYAD]
- [http://masada2000.org/ Masada2000]
- [http://www.jtf.org/ Jewish Task Force]
-



1990

:This article is about the year. For other uses, see 1990 (disambiguation). :"MCMXC" redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a.D.. 1990 (MCMXC) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January


- January 3 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
- January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- January 9 - Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello, the man who led the coup against Dr Apolo Milton Obote's government, dies in Ormduruman Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.
- January 10 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
- January 11 - Massive (200,000) demonstration in favor of Lithuanian independence.
- January 13 - Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
- January 15 - Thousands storm the Stasi HQ in Berlin in an attempt to view their records.
- January 18 - Former McMartin preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother Peggy McMartin Buckey are acquitted in a Los Angeles, California court of 52 child molestation charges.
- January 18 - Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting.
- January 22 - Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. is convicted of releasing the 1988 Internet worm.
- January 25 - Avianca Flight 52 crashed into Cove Neck, Long Island, after a miscommunication between the flight crew and JFK airport officials.
- January 25 - The Berlin Wall starts to come down.
- January 25-January 26 - Burns' Day storm rages over northwestern Europe - 97 dead
- January 27 - City of Tiraspol in the Moldavian SSR declares brief independence
- January 29 - The trial of the former skipper of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, begins in Anchorage, Alaska. He is accused of negligence that resulted in America's worst oil spill.
- January 31 - The first McDonald's opens in Moscow, USSR.

February

USSR
- February 2 - Apartheid: In South Africa President F.W. de Klerk allows the African National Congress to legally function again and promises to set Nelson Mandela free.
- February 7 - Collapse of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly of power
- February 10 - South African President F.W. de Klerk announces that Nelson Mandela would be released the next day.
- February 11 - James "Buster" Douglas KOs Mike Tyson to win world heavyweight boxing crown.
- February 11 - Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster prison, near Cape Town, South Africa
- February 13 - German reunification: An agreement is reached for a two-stage plan to reunite Germany
- February 15 - The United Kingdom and Argentina restore diplomatic links after 8 years. The UK had broken off links in response to Argentina's invasion of the Falkland Islands, a British Dependent Territory
- February 26 - The Sandinistas are defeated in Nicaraguan elections.
- February 26 - The USSR agrees to withdraw all 73500 troops from Czechoslovakia by July, 1991.
- February 27 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: Exxon and its shipping company are indicted on five criminal counts.

March


- March 1 - A fire at the Sheraton Hotel in Cairo kills 16.
- March 1 - Steve Jackson Games is raided by the U.S. Secret Service, prompting the later formation of the EFF.
- March 1 - Royal New Zealand Navy discontinues the daily rum ration
- March 4 - Afrisecal movement/ Afrisecaism introduced as an intellectual school of thought to the Literary collective of Jos by Francis Okechukwu Ohanyido on his birthday as part of the "Afriquest initiative".
- March 6 - An SR-71 sets a US transcontinental speed record of 1 hour 8 minutes 17 seconds, on what is publicized as its last official flight.
- March 9 - Police seals off Brixton South London after another night of protests against the poll tax
- March 9 - Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic to serve in that position
- March 9 - Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Clyde Wells confirms he will rescind Newfoundland's approval of the Meech Lake Accord, effectively killing the Accord
- March 10 - 18 months after seizing power in a coup, Prosper Avril is ousted in Haiti
- March 11 - Lithuania declares independence from the Soviet Union
- March 11 - Patricio Aylwin is sworn-in as the first democratically-elected Chilean president since 1970
- March 15 - Gulf War: Iraqis hang British journalist Farzad Bazoft for spying. Daphne Parish, a British nurse, is sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment as an accomplice
- March 15 - Mikhail Gorbachev is elected as the first executive president of the Soviet Union
- March 15 - The Soviet Union announces that Lithuania's declaration of independence is invalid
- March 18 - 12 paintings, collectively worth $100 million, are stolen by two thieves posing as police officers from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. This is the largest art theft in US history and the paintings (as of 2005) have not been recovered
- March 18 - East Germany holds first free elections since 1932
- March 18 - Thieves loot Isabella Steward Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, stealing paintings and treasures worth estimated $200 million (not recovered as of 2005)
- March 20 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering
- March 21 - After 75 years of South African rule Namibia becomes independent
- March 21 - A massive poll tax demonstration in Trafalgar Square, London turns into a riot. 417 people injured, 341 arrested
- March 23 - Gerald Bull assassinated in Brussels
- March 24 - The government of Australian prime minister Bob Hawke is re-elected for a 4th term.
- March 25 - In New York City, a fire due to arson at an illegal social club called "Happy Land" kills 87
- March 27 - Propaganda: The United States begins broadcasting TV Martí to Cuba
- March 27 - Namibia becomes a state independent of South Africa
- March 28 - President George H. W. Bush presents Jesse Owens with the Congressional Gold Medal.
- March 31 - London anti-Poll Tax Riots in Trafalgar Square. Incident subsequently known as "The Second Battle of Trafalgar"

April


- April 7 - Iran Contra Affair: John Poindexter is found guilty of five charges for his part in the scandal but the convictions were later reversed after an appeal
- April 7 - Scandinavian Star, a Bahamas-registered ferry, catches fire en route from Norway to Denmark - 158 dead
- April 13 - The Soviet Union apologizes for the Katyn Massacre
- April 15 - Food poisoning kills 450 guests of an engagement party in Uttar Pradesh
- April 24 - The Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.It becomes operational May 20
- April 24 - West and East Germany agree to merge currency and economies on July 1

May


- May 2 - In London, England, man brandishing a knife robs courier Nicholas Lane of bearer bonds worth £292 million - the largest mugging to date.
- May 15 - Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million.
- May 19 - British agriculture Minister John Gummer feeds a hamburger to his 5-year-old daughter to counter rumours about the spread of Mad cow disease and its transmission to humans
- May 20 - The first post- Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania
- May 22 - The leaders of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen announce the unification of their countries as the Republic of Yemen.
- May 29 - Rhode Island celebrates its bicentennial statehood.

June


- June 1 - U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production and to start destroying each of their nation's stockpiles
- June 12 - The parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty (see Russia Day)
- June 20 - British Chancellor John Major proposes a new European currency which would circulate alongside existing national currencies.
- June 22 - Underwater volcano Mount Didicas erupts in the Philippines

July


- July 2 - Stampede in a pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca - 1426 pilgrims dead
- July 8 - At 12:34:56 PM the time and date by US reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90.
- July 8 - West Germany defeats Argentina 1-0 to win the Football World Cup 1990
- July 12 - Square Co., Ltd. releases Final Fantasy in North America.
- July 15 - Tamil Tigers kill 168 Muslims in Colombo, Sri Lanka
- July 16 - In the Philippines, an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter Scale kills over 1600
- July 25 - The Serbian Democratic Party declares sovereignty of the Serbs in Croatia
- July 27 - The parliament building and a government television house in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago are stormed by the Jamaat al Muslimeen in a Coup d'état attempt which lasts five days. Approximately 26 to 30 people are killed and several wounded (including then Prime Minister, A.N.R. Robinson, who was shot in the leg).
- July 27 - Belarus declares its sovereignty; a key step toward independence from the USSR.
- July 28 - Alberto Fujimori becomes president of Peru
- July 30 - IRA car bomb kills British MP Ian Gow, a staunch unionist.

August


- August 2 - Gulf War: Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War.
- August 3 - The highest temperature recorded in the UK until 2003 - 37.1°C (98.8°F) at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire
- August 6 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council orders a global trade embargo against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
- August 7 - John Cain Resigns as VIC premier over a series of financial scandals and is replaced by Joan Kirner (10th)
- August 7 - At 12:34:56 (both AM and PM) the time and date by British reckoning was 12:34:56 7/8/90 i.e. 1234567890.
- August 19 - Leonard Bernstein conducts his final concert, ending with Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
- August 27 - Blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash along with 4 others following a concert near East Troy, Wisconsin.

September


- September 2 - Transnistria declares its independence from the Moldavian SSR; however, the declaration is not recognized by any government.
- September 11 - President George H. W. Bush delivers a nationally televised speech in which he threatens the use of force to remove Iraqi soldiers from Kuwait, which Iraq had recently invaded.
- September 12 - The two German states and the Four Powers sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany in Moscow, paving the way for German re-unification.

October


- October 3 - German re-unification, East Germany becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- October 5 - After one hundred and fifty years, ten months and two days (Friday, January 3, 1840 - Friday, October 5, 1990), The Herald broadsheet newspaper in Melbourne, Australia is published for the last time as a separate newspaper. Founded in 1840 as The Port Phillip Herald, it is merged with its morning tabloid sister paper The Sun News-Pictorial and the first issue of the new Herald Sun, described by owner Rupert Murdoch as "The world's first 24-hour newspaper", with morning and afternoon editions, is published on the 8th
- October 8 - Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: In Jerusalem, Israeli police kill 17 Palestinians and wound over 100 near the Dome of the Rock mosque on the Temple Mount
- October 13 - Lebanese Civil War: Syrian military forces invade and occupy Mount Lebanon, ousting General Michel Aoun's government. This effectively consolidates Syria's 14 year occupation of Lebanese soil.
- October 15 - Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lessen Cold War tensions and reform his nation.
- October 27 - Supreme Soviet of Kyrgyzstan choses Askar Akayev as republic's first president
- October 27 - New Zealand general election returns National with record number of seats - 67; Labour 29, NewLabour 1

November


- November 1 - Mary Robinson defeats odds-on favourite Brian Lenihan to become the first woman President of Ireland.
- November 1 - The Australian domestic avation market is deregulated.
- November 5 - Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel and Reynir Ver Jónsson borned.
- November 8 - Mary Robinson becomes the first female president of the Republic of Ireland.
- November 11 - Gulf War: The U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 678, giving Iraq until Tuesday, January 15, 1991 to withdraw its forces from Kuwait
- November 12 - Crown Prince Akihito becomes the 125th Japanese monarch and takes the title Emperor Akihito of Japan
- November 12 - Tim Berners-Lee publishes a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web. [http://www.w3.org/Proposal]
- November 13 - The first known web page is written.
- November 14 - Germany and Poland sign a treaty confirming the border at the Oder-Neisse line.
- November 15 - Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis launches with flight STS-38.
- November 18 - Andrei Tjikatilo is arrested on suspicion of serial murder and rape
- November 21 - The Super Famicom (aka Super Nintendo) is released in Japan
- November 22 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- November 25 - Lech Wałęsa and Stanisław Tymiński win the 1st round of first presidential elections in Poland, see: December 9
- November 27 - The UK Conservative Party chooses John Major to succeed Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- November 29 - Gulf War: The United Nations Security Council passes UN Security Council Resolution 678, authorizing military intervention in Iraq if that nation did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by Tuesday, January 15, 1991.
- November 29 - Treasurer Paul Keating announces that Australia is experiencing an economic recession.

December


- December 1 - Channel Tunnel workers from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 meters beneath the English Channel seabed, establishing the first ground connection between the United Kingdom and the mainland of Europe since the last ice age
- December 1 - The Los Angeles, California radio station KROQ opens their first annual Acoustic Christmas live concert.
- December 2 - A coalition led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl wins the first free all-German elections since 1932
- December 3 - At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with a Boeing 727 carrying Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 8 passengers and 4 crewmembers aboard flight 1482
- December 3 - Mary Robinson is elected the first female President of Ireland.
- December 6 - Saddam Hussein releases the Western hostages
- December 9 - Slobodan Milošević becomes President of Serbia
- December 9 - Lech Wałęsa wins the 2nd round of Poland's first presidential election
- December 16 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide is elected president of Haiti, ending three decades of military rule.
- December 31 - Russian Garry Kasparov holds his title by winning the World Chess Championship match against his countryman Anatoly Karpov.

Births


- January 7 - Liam Aiken, American actor
- January 30 - Jake Thomas, American actor
- February 11 - Q'Orianka Kilcher, German-born actress
- February 13 - Erdini Qoigyijabu, eleventh Panchen Lama
- February 23 - Christian Copelin, American actor
- February 28 - Anna Muzychuk, Ukrainian chess player
- March 8 - Abigail and Brittany Hensel, American conjoined twins
- March 23 - Princess Eugenie of York
- March 24 - Keisha Castle-Hughes, Australian-born actress
- April 9 - Kristen Stewart, American actress
- April 10 - Alex Pettyfer, British actor
- April 15 - Emma Watson, British actress
- May 1 - Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress
- May 2 - Kay Panabaker, American actress
- May 16 - Thomas Sangster, English actor
- July 24 - Daveigh Chase, American actress
- August 6 - JonBenét Ramsey, American beauty queen and murder victim (d. 1996)
- October 18 - Carly Schroeder, American actress
- October 22 - Jonathan Lipnicki, American actor
- November 7 - Marisa Siketa, Australian actress
- November 27 - Shane Haboucha, American actor
- November 30 - Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player
- December 17 - Ashley Edner, American actress
- December 20 - Joanna Noelle Levesque, American singer/Actress

Deaths


- January 2 - Alan Hale Jr., American actor (b. 1918)
- January 4 - Doc Edgerton, American electrical engineering (b. 1903)
- January 6 - Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- January 9 - Spud Chandler, baseball player (b. 1907)
- March 13 - Karl Münchinger, German conductor (b. 1915)
- March 20 - Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (b.1929)
- April 15 - Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (b.1905)
- April 17 - Ralph Abernathy, American civil rights leader (b. 1926)
- May 16 - Sammy Davis Jr., American actor, dancer, and singer (b. 1925)
- May 16 - Jim Henson, American puppeteer (b. 1936)
- June 3 - Stiv Bators, American singer (The Dead Boys) (b. 1949)
- June 22 - Ilya Frank, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1908)
- July 7 - Bill Cullen, American game show host (b. 1920)
- July 18 - Yun Po Sun, President of South Korea (b. 1897)
- July 22 - Manuel Puig, Argentinian writer (b. 1932)
- August 17 - Pearl Bailey, American singer and actress (b. 1918)
- August 27 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, American guitarist (b. 1954)
- September 16 - Len Hutton, English cricketer (b. 1916)
- September 26 - Alberto Moravia, Italian novelist (b. 1907)
- September 30 - Patrick White, Australian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1912)
- October 13 - Le Duc Tho, Vietnamese general and politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1911)
- October 14 - Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor (b. 1918)
- November 17 - Robert Hofstadter, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915)
- November 23 - Roald Dahl, English writer (b. 1916)
- December 2 - Aaron Copland, American composer (b. 1900)
- December 14 - Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Swiss writer (b. 1921)
- December 16 - Douglas Campbell, American World War I flying ace (b. 1896)

Nobel Prizes


- Physics - Jerome Isaac Friedman, Henry Way Kendall, and Richard Edward Taylor
- Chemistry - Elias James Corey
- Physiology or Medicine - Joseph E. Murray, E. Donnall Thomas
- Literature - Octavio Paz
- Peace - Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, Derek Gooley

Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel


- Harry Markowitz, Merton Miller, William Sharpe

Fields Medalists


- Vladimir Drinfeld, Vaughan Frederick Randal Jones, Shigefumi Mori, Edward Witten

Templeton Prize


- Baba Amte (Joint Award)
  - L. Charles Birch (Joint Award)

Right Livelihood Award


- Alice Tepper Marlin, Bernard Lédéa Ouedraogo, Felicia Langer and ATCC (Asociación de Trabajadores Campesinos del Carare)

Uncertain dates

For a brief while in early 1990, Romania had a civil war in the aftermath of the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the opposition was for Nicolae Ceauşescu and the Communist regime, and those for the new regime.
- New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is published in the United States.
- Metropolitan Aleksy of Leningrad elected Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.
- First Anglican female priests in the United Kingdom are ordained at St. Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- Robert Runcie announces resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury. George Carey succeeds him.
- Channel 7 + 10 networks go into receivership (Aus)
- Homosexual Acts between Consenting adults decriminalized in Queensland
- Beginnings of Trance music
- General continuation of 1980s-style pop culture as large events in 1991 and 1992 such as the Grunge movement start the Nineties pop cultural era
- als:1990 ko:1990년 ja:1990年 simple:1990 th:พ.ศ. 2533

Religious Zionism

Religious Zionist Movement.

Rabbi

:See Semicha for article about "ordination" of rabbis. Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means "teacher", or more literally "great one". The word "Rabbi" is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means "great" or "distinguished, (in knowledge)". In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi or Rebbi) — in recent centuries being re-vocalized to Rabbi ("my master"). This term of respectful address gradually came to be used as a title, the pronominal suffix "i" ("my") losing its significance with the frequent use of the term. In Eastern Europe, Rabbi is vocalized as "Ravin," (Раввин). The role of rabbis within Jewish communities has been and continues to be multifaceted. In ancient times, Rabbi was a Hebrew term used as a title for those who were distinguished for learning, who were the authoritative teachers of the Law, or who were the appointed religious leaders of their community. Today rabbis are still responsible for teaching on matters of Jewish religion in general and law in particular; and are usually qualified to determine the applicability of Jewish law. Rabbis often work as religious leaders. Synagogue rabbis (also known as "pulpit rabbis") typically speak on behalf of their communities on a wide range of issues, offer spiritual leadership for their congregation, and are usually involved in Jewish lifecycle events. Nevertheless, rabbis are not essential to the performance of Jewish liturgy and ritual, and Jewish congregations can persist indefinitely without a rabbi assigned to them. Some religious leaders such as Hasidic rebbes and Talmudic rosh yeshivas may not even have a formal semicha ("ordination") and may have arrived at their positions by lineage or by being acknowledged for their great knowledge and insights into Talmud and Halakha and other areas of traditional Torah scholarship. It is safe to say that the title of "rabbi" is probably more of a "credential" or title, not a particular "job".

History

Moses and Joshua: The first "rabbis"

By tradition Moses was the first rabbi of the Children of Israel. To this day he is known to most Jews as Moshe Rabbeinu ("Moses our Teacher"). Moses is also considered the greatest prophet in the Hebrew Bible. Moses passed his leadership on to Joshua as commanded by God in the Book of Numbers, where the subject of semicha ("laying [of hands]" or "ordination") is first mentioned in the Torah in Numbers 27:15-23 [http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=4&CHAPTER=27] and Deuteronomy 34:9 [http://bible.ort.org/books/pentd2.asp?ACTION=displaypage&BOOK=5&CHAPTER=34]. By Jewish tradition, the authority granted by semicha has been passed from rabbi to rabbi from Moses to the present day.

Era of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible)

The governments of the kingdoms of Israel and the Judah were based on a system of Jewish kings, prophets, the legal authority of the court of the Sanhedrin and the ritual authority of priesthood. Members of the Sanhedrin all had to receive their semicha ("ordination" derived in an uninterrupted line of transmission from Moses) yet they were more frequently referred to as judges (dayanim) akin to the Shoftim or "Judges" as in the Book of Judges, rather than rabbis. All of the above personalities would have been expected and assumed to be steeped in the wisdom of the Torah and the commandments which would have made them "rabbis" to our way of thinking. This is illustrated by an important two thousand year old teaching in Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) of the Mishnah which cites King David by saying: :He who learns from his fellowman a single chapter, a single halakha, a single verse, a single Torah statement, or even a single letter, must treat him with honor. For so we find with David King of Israel, who learned nothing from Ahitophel except two things, yet called him his teacher (in Hebrew: rabbo -- meaning his "rabbi"), his guide, his intimate, as it is said: 'You are a man of my measure, my guide, my intimate' (Psalms 55:14). One can derive from this the following: If David King of Israel who learned nothing from Ahitophel except for two things, called him his teacher (i.e. rabbo -- his "rabbi"), his guide, his intimate, one who learns from his fellowman a single chapter, a single halakha, a single verse, a single statement, or even a single letter, how much more must he treat him with honor. And honor is due only for Torah, as it is said: 'The wise shall inherit honor' (Proverbs 3:35), 'and the perfect shall inherit good' (Proverbs 28:10). And only Torah is truly good, as it is said: 'I have given you a good teaching, do not forsake My Torah' (Psalms 128:2). (Ethics of the Fathers 6:3) With the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish monarchy, and the decline of the dual instititutions of prophets and the priesthood, the focus of scholarly and spiritual leadership within the Jewish people shifted to the sages of the Men of the Great Assembly (Anshe Knesset HaGedolah). This assembly was composed by the earliest "rabbis" as we know them for the last two thousand years, in large part because they began the formulation and explication of what became known as Judaism's "Oral Law (Torah SheBe'al Peh). This was eventually encoded and codified within the Mishnah and Talmud and subsequent rabbinical scholarship, producing what is known as "Rabbinical Judaism".

Sages as rabbis

The rabbi is not an occupation found in the Torah (i.e the Pentateuch) as such; the first time this word is mentioned is in the Mishnah (most commonly thought to be codified around 200 C.E, that codification often attributed to Rabbi Judah Hanasi). The more ancient generations had no such titles as Rabban, Ribbi, or Rab , for either the Babylonian sages or the sages in Israel. This is evident from the fact that Hillel I, who came from Babylon, did not have the title Rabban prefixed to his name. Of the prophets, also, who were very eminent, it is simply said, "Haggai the prophet" etc., "Ezra did not come up from Babylon" etc., the title Rabban not being used. Indeed, this title is not met with earlier than the time of the patriarchate. This title was first used for Rabban Gamaliel the elder, Rabban Simeon his son, and Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai, all of whom were patriarchs or presidents of the Sanhedrin. The title Ribbi too, came into vogue among those who received the laying on of hands at this period, as, for instance, Ribbi Zadok, Ribbi Eliezer ben Jacob, and others, and dates from the time of the disciples of Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai downward. Now the order of these titles is as follows: Ribbi is greater than Rab; Rabban again, is greater than Ribbi; while the simple name is greater than Rabban. Besides the presidents of the Sanhedrin no one is called Rabban. The title "Ribbi" was borne by the sages of ancient Israel, who were ordained by the Sanhedrin in accordance with the custom handed down by the elders. They were titled Ribbi and received authority to judge penal cases. Rab was the title of the Babylonian sages who received their ordination in the Talmudical yeshivas. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era.

The role of the rabbi in the last 200 years

In 19th century Germany and the United States, the duties of the rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian Minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis". Sermons, pastoral counseling, representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance. Non-Orthodox rabbis, on a day-to-day business basis, now spend more time on these traditionally non-rabbinic functions than they do teaching, or answering questions on Jewish law and philosophy. Within the Modern Orthodox community, rabbis still mainly deal with teaching and questions of Jewish law, but are increasingly dealing with these same pastoral functions. Orthodox Judaism's National Council of Young Israel and Modern Orthodox Judaism's Rabbinical Council of America have set up supplemental pastoral training programs for their rabbis. Traditionally, rabbis have never been an intermediary between God and man. This idea was traditionally considered outside the bounds of Jewish theology.

Women and the rabbinical credential

Jewish tradition and law does not presume that women have more or less of an aptitude or moral standing required of rabbis. However, it has been the longstanding practice that only men become rabbis. This practice is continued to this day within the Orthodox community but has been revised within the non-Orthodox organizations, including the Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative movements, where women are routinely granted semicha on an equal basis with men. The issue of allowing women to become rabbis is not under active debate within the Orthodox community, though there is widespread agreement that women may often be consulted on matters of Jewish religious law. There have been reports that a small number of Orthodox yeshivas may have unofficially granted semicha to women, but the prevailing consensus among Orthodox leaders and a small number of Conservative communities is that it is not appropriate for women to become rabbis. The idea that women could eventually be ordained as rabbis has sparked widespread opposition among the Orthodox rabbinate. Rabbi Norman Lamm, one of the leaders of Modern Orthodoxy and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, totally opposes giving semicha to women. "It shakes the boundaries of tradition, and I would never allow it." (Helmreich, 1997) Writing in an article in the Jewish Observer, Moshe Y'chiail Friedman states that Orthodox Judaism prohibits women from being given semicha and serving as rabbis. He holds that the trend towards this goal is driven by sociology, and not halakha ("Jewish law".)

Modern Orthodox trends in female leadership

On the other hand, several efforts are underway within Modern Orthodox communities to include qualified women in activities traditionally limited to rabbis:
- In the United States, Modern Orthodox rabbis Avi Weiss and Saul Berman created an advanced educational institute for women called Torat Miriam. They do not claim that the graduates of this institute are rabbis, but that the long term goal is to have women "work on a professional level in the synagogue," he said. (Helmreich, 1997)
- Rabbi Aryeh Strikovski (Mahanayim Yeshiva and Pardes Institute) worked in the 1990s with Rabbi Avraham Shapira (then a co-Chief rabbi of Israel) to initiate the program for training Orthodox women as halakhic Toanot ("advocates") in rabbinic courts. They have since trained nearly seventy women. Strikovski states that "The knowledge one requires to become a court advocate is more than a regular ordination, and now to pass certification is much more difficult than to get ordination." The use of Toanot is not restricted to any one segment of Orthodoxy; In Israel they have worked with Haredi and Modern Orthodox Jews.
- In Israel a growing number of Orthodox women are being trained as yoatzot halachah, who serve many in the Israeli Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community.
- Orthodox women may study the laws of family purity at the same level of detail that Orthodox males do at Nishmat, the Jerusalem Center for Advanced Jewish Study for Women. The purpose is for them to be able to act as halakhic advisors for other women, a role that traditionally was limited to male rabbis. This course of study is overseen by Rabbi Yaakov Varhaftig.
- Rahel Berkovits, an Orthodox Talmud teacher at Jerusalem's Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, states that as a result of such changes in Haredi and Modern Orthodox Judaism, "Orthodox women found and oversee prayer communities, argue cases in rabbinic courts, advise on halachic issues, and dominate in social work activities that are all very associated with the role a rabbi performs, even though these women do not have the official title of rabbi."

Becoming a rabbi

Traditionally, a man obtains semicha ("rabbinic ordination") after the completion of an arduous learning program in the codes of Jewish law and responsa. The most general form of semicha is Yorei yorei ("he shall teach"). Most Orthodox rabbis hold this qualification; they are sometimes called a moreh hora'ah ("a teacher of lessons"). A more advanced form of semicha is Yadin yadin ("he shall judge"). This enables the recipient to adjudicate cases of monetary law, amongst other responsibilities. He is addressed as a dayan ("judge"). Few rabbis earn this ordination. Although not strictly necessary, many Orthodox rabbis hold that a beth din (court of Jewish law) should be made up of dayanim.

Orthodox Judaism

An Orthodox semicha requires the successful completion of a rigorous program encompassing Jewish law and responsa in keeping with longstanding tradition. Orthodox rabbinical students work to gain knowledge in Talmud, Rishonim and Acharonim (early and late medieval commentators) and Jewish law. They study sections of the Shulkhan Arukh (codified Jewish law) and its main commentaries that pertain to daily-life questions (such as the laws of keeping kosher, Shabbat, and the laws of sex and family purity. Orthodox rabbis typically study at yeshivas, which are dedicated religious schools. Modern Orthodox rabbinical students such as at Yeshiva University study some elements of modern theology or philosophy, as well as the classical rabbinic works on such subjects. The entrance requirements for an Orthodox yeshiva include a strong background within Jewish law, liturgy, Talmudic study, and attendant languages (e.g., Hebrew, Aramaic and in some cases Yiddish). Since rabbinical studies typically flow from other yeshiva studies, those who seek a semicha are typically not required to have completed a university education.

Haredi and Hasidic Judaism

While Haredi and Hasidic yeshivas (also known as "Talmudical/Rabbinical schools or academies") do grant official semicha ("ordination") to many students wishing to become rabbis, most of the students within the yeshivas are not learning Torah or Talmud because they desire to become rabbis or hold any official positions. The curriculum for obtaining semicha ("ordination") as rabbis for Haredi and Hasidic scholars is the same as described above for all Orthodox students wishing to obtain the official title of "Rabbi" and to be recognized as such. Women do not, and cannot, become "rabbis" in the Haredi and Hasidic worlds. Only men can do so, and only after a long process of study in, and recognition by, their own yeshivas. Within the Hasidic world, the positions of spiritual leadership are dynastically transmitted within established families, usually from fathers to sons, while a small number of students obtain official ordination to become dayanim ("judges") on religious courts, poskim ("decisors" of Jewish law), as well as teachers in the Hasidic schools. The same is true for the non-Hasidic mitnagdim yeshivas that are controlled by dynastically transmitted rosh yeshivas and the majority of students will not not become rabbis, even after many years of post-graduate kollel study. Some yeshivas, such as Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim (in New York) and Yeshiva Ner Yisrael (in Baltimore, Maryland), may encourage their students to obtain ordination and mostly serve as rabbis who teach in other yeshivas or Hebrew day schools. Other yeshivas, such as Yeshiva Chaim Berlin (Brooklyn, New York) or the Mir yeshiva (in Brooklyn and Jerusalem), do not have an official "semicha/rabbinical program" to train rabbis, but provide semicha on an "as needs" basis if and when one of their senior students is offered a rabbinical position but only with the approval of their rosh yeshivas. Consequently, within the world of Hasidic Judaism and Haredi Judaism, the English word and title of "Rabbi" for anyone is often-times scorned and derided, because in their view the once-lofty title of "Rabbi" has been debased in modern times. Hasidim and Haredim will therefore prefer using Hebrew names for rabbinic titles based on older traditions, such as: Rav (denoting "[great] rabbi"), HaRav ("the [great] rabbi"), Moreinu HaRav ("our teacher the [great] rabbi"), Moreinu ("our teacher"), Moreinu VeRabeinu HaRav ("our teacher and our rabbi/master the [great] rabbi"), Moreinu VeRabeinu ("our teacher and our rabbi/master"), Rosh yeshiva ("[the] head [of the] yeshiva"), Rosh HaYeshiva ("head [of] the yeshiva"), "Mashgiach" (for Mashgiach ruchani) ("spiritual supervsor/guide"), Mora DeAsra ("teacher/decisor" [of] the/this place"), HaGaon ("the genius"), Rebbe ("[our/my] rabbi"), HaTzadik ("the righteous/saintly"), HaKadosh ("the holy"), "ADMOR" ("Adoneinu Moreinu VeRabeinu") ("our master, our teacher and our rabbi/master") or often just plain Reb which is a shortened form of rebbe that can be used by, or applied to, any Jewish male as the situation applies. Note: A Rebbetzin (a Yiddish usage common among Ashkenazim) or a Rabbanit (in Hebrew and used among Sephardim) is the official "title" used for, or by, the wife of any Orthodox, Haredi, or Hasidic rabbi. Rebbetzin may also be used as the equivalent of Reb and is sometimes abbreviated as such as well.

Conservative and Masorti Judaism

Conservative Judaism holds that one may obtain rabbinic ordination after the completion of a rigorous program in the codes of Jewish law and responsa in keeping with Jewish tradition. It adds to these requirements by adding the study of: the Hebrew Bible, Mishna and Talmud, the Midrash literature, Jewish ethics and lore, the codes of Jewish law, the Conservative responsa literature, both traditional and modern Jewish works on theology and philosophy. Conservative Judaism has less stringent study requirements for Talmud and responsa study compared to Orthodoxy but adds following subjects as requirements for rabbinic ordination: pastoral care and psychology, the historical development of Judaism; and academic biblical criticism. Entrance requirements to a Conservative rabbinical study include a strong background within Jewish law and liturgy, knowledge of Hebrew, familiarity with rabbinic literature, Talmud, etc., and the completion of an undergraduate university degree. Rabbinical students usually earn a secular degree (e.g., Master of Hebrew Letters) upon graduation. Conservative seminaries are now ordaining female rabbis and training female cantors. There are still traditional conservative congregations (many found in Ontario, Canada) that resist this movement.

Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism have different requirements for ordination. Though Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis may learn less Talmud, Codes and halakhic responsa than in Orthodox or Conservative seminaries, they may study more in other areas such as Kabbalah, Hasidism, sociology, cultural studies, and modern Jewish philosophy. The Reform or Reconstructionist rabbinical seminaries require students to first earn a bachelor's degree before entering the rabbinate. In addition, studies are mandated in pastoral care and psychology, the historical development of Judaism; and academic biblical criticism. Both men and women may be rabbis or cantors. The seminary of Reform Judaism is the Hebrew Union College. It has campuses in Cincinati, OH, New York City, Los Angeles, CA and in Jerusalem, Israel. The rabbinical college for Reconstructionist Judaism is called The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and is located in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia.

Acceptance of who is a rabbi

Historically and to the present day, recognition of a rabbi relates to the person's competence to interpret Jewish law and act as a teacher on central matters within Judaism. More broadly speaking, it is also an issue of being a worthy successor to a sacred legacy. As a result, there have always been greater or lesser disputes about the legitimacy and authority of rabbis. Historical examples include Samaritans and Karaites. Acceptance of rabbinic credentials involves both issues of practicality and principle. As a practical matter, communities and individuals typically tend to follow the authority of the rabbi they have chosen as their leader (known as the mara d'atra) on issues of Jewish law. They may recognize that other rabbis have the same authority elsewhere, but for decisions and opinions they will work through their rabbi. The same pattern is true within broader communities, ranging from Chassidic sects to rabbinical or congregational organizations: there will be a formal or de facto structure of rabbinic authority that is responsible for the members of the community. The divisions between the various religious branches within Judaism may have their most pronounced manifestation on whether rabbis from one movement recognizes the legitimacy and/or authority of rabbis in another. As a general rule, rabbis are reluctant to accept the authority of other rabbis whose halachic standards are not as strict as their own. In some cases, this leads to an outright rejection of even the legitimacy of other rabbis; in others, the more lenient rabbi may be recognized as a spiritual leader of a particular community but may not be accepted as a credible authority on Jewish law.
- As a result, the Orthodox rabbinical establishment rejects the validity of Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis on the grounds that their movement's teachings are in violation of traditional Jewish tenets. Orthodox rabbis are generally also skeptical toward Conservative rabbis, asserting that certain positions held by the Conservative rabbinical organizations are in violation of specific laws.
- Conservative rabbis accept the legitimacy of Orthodox rabbis, though they are often critical of some of the Orthodox positions. And although they would rarely look to Reform or Reconstructionist rabbis for halachic decisions, they accept the legitimacy of these rabbis' religious leadership.
- Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis, on the premise that all the main movements are legitimate expressions of Judaism, will accept the legitimacy of other rabbis' leadership, though will not accept their views on Jewish law. Some of the more traditional elements within Reform Judaism are skeptical toward the more radical elements within Reconstructionist Judaism. This debate causes great problems for recognition of Jewish marriages, conversions, and other life decisions that are touched by Jewish law. Orthodox Rabbis almost always do not recognize marriages and conversions by non-Orthodox Rabbis. Often, Conservative Rabbis do not recognize Reform and Reconstructionist marriages and conversions. Finally, Reform and Reconstructionst Movemements recognize the paternal bloodline as a valid claim towards Judaism, whereas Conservative and Orthodox Movements constrict this interpretation to the maternal side, per halacha. This creates a halachic "no man's land" for interfaith and gay marriage couples, as well as immigrants to Israel.

Rabbinic seminaries unrelated to the major Jewish denominations

There are several possibilities for receiving rabbinic ordination in addition to seminaries maintained by the large Jewish denominations. These include seminaries maintained by smaller denominational movements, and nondenominational (also called "transdenominational" or "postdenominational") Jewish seminaries.
- The Union for Traditional Judaism (UTJ), an offshoot of the right-wing of Conservative Judaism and the left-wing of Orthodoxy, has a seminary in New Jersey; the seminary is accepted by all non-Orthodox rabbis as a valid, traditional rabbinical seminary. Orthodox Jews are divided on the legitimacy of this seminary, as they usually view all non-Orthodox seminaries as heretical; this seminary, however, bridges Conservative and Orthodox Judaism, and some Orthodox synagogues have hired UTJ rabbis.
- The Jewish Renewal movement has an ordination program, ALEPH, but no central campus. Most Orthodox Jews consider any non-Orthodox ordinations invalid. In general, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism recognize the validity of this program.
- The Academy for Jewish Religion, in New York City, has, since 1956, been a rabbinic (and cantorial) seminary not affiliated with any denomination or movement. Hebrew College, near Boston, includes a similarly unaffiliated rabbinic school, opened in the Fall of 2003. These seminaries are accepted by all non-Orthodox rabbis as valid rabbinical seminaries. Orthodox Jews are divided on the legitimacy of these seminaries; most consider their ordinations invalid.
- Shema Yisrael Torah Network is an organization that helps Jews from all over the world learn Halacha from the most basic levels up until rabbinical smicha exams that are performed by the Chief Rabbinical office in Jerusalem, Israel

Becoming a rabbi: To have or not to have ordination

There is no formal requirement to have semicha in order to be known as a "rabbi". Haredi Judaism and Hasidic Judaism hold that becoming a rabbi in and of itself is not important. Rather, they encourage their students and disciples within the yeshivas they control to become great scholars, so that the students will have an innate knowledge of the Talmud, Halakha, the Tanakh and of course the Torah, combined with a commitment to the highest standards of the Shulkhan Arukh ("The Code of Jewish Law") that should be the basis and guide for all Jewish life from cradle to grave.

See also


- List of rabbis
- Posek
- Rosh yeshiva
- Rebbe
- Rabbinic literature
- Synagogue
- Mashgiach ruchani
- Beth din
- Yeshiva
- Cantor
- Clergy

References

General


- Rabbi, article in the Encyclopedia Judaica, Keter Publishing

Women in Orthodoxy


- Debra Nussbau, Cohen, Jewish tradition vs. the modern-day female, March 17, 2000, Jewish Telegraphic Agency
- Lauren Gelfond Feldinger, The Next Feminist Revolution, The Jerusalem Post, March 17, 2005
- Moshe Y'chiail Freidman, Women in the Rabbinate, Jewish Observer, 17:8, 1984, 28-29.
- Laurie Goodstein, Causing a Stir, 2 Synagogues Hire Women to Aid Rabbis, February 6, 1998, New York Times
- Jeff Helmreich, Orthodox women moving toward religious leadership, Friday June 6, 1997, Long Island Jewish World
- Marilyn Henry, Orthodox women crossing threshold into synagogue, Jerusalem Post Service, May 15, 1998
- Jonathan Mark, Women Take Giant Step In Orthodox Community: Prominent Manhattan shul hires ‘congregational intern’ for wide-ranging spiritual duties, The Jewish Week Dec. 19, 1997
- Emanuel Rackman, (Women as Rabbis) Suggestions for Alternatives, Judaism , Vol.33,No.1, 1990, p.66-69.

External links


- [http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos062.htm Rabbi], entry in the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook
- [http://www.jofa.org/social.php/participatio/rabbis Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance resource page on Women's leadership roles in Orthodox Judaism]
- [http://www.rrc.edu/ The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College]
- [http://huc.edu/ Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute for Religion (Reform seminary)]
- [http://jtsa.edu/ The Jewish Theological Seminary of America (Conservative seminary)]
- [http://yu.edu/ Yeshiva University (Modern Orthodox seminary)]
- Category:Titles ja:ラビ

Meir Kahane

Meir David Kahane (Hebrew: מאיר דוד כהנא, Kahane being a variation on Cohen or "priest"; also known by the pseudonym Michael King) (August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990), was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, political activist, and eventually a member of the Israeli Knesset. On both sides of the Atlantic Kahane was known for his strong political and nationalist views, most apparent in his ideal of a theocratic "Greater Israel" but also evident in his clandestine work with the mafia, FBI, and Mossad. Kahane founded two controversial movements: the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in the United States and the Kach political party in Israel. The latter was declared a racist party by the Israeli government and in 1988 removed from the Knesset, and the former was formally listed as a terrorist organization by both the FBI and the U.S. State Department.

Ideology

Kahane's overall views have been called Kahanism. Kahane adhered to the belief that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people; that in fact the people who call themselves Palestinian are a mixture of disparate and unrelated Arab clans with no claim to a distinct ethnic identity. Thus Kahane proposed the forcible deportation of all Arabs from all lands controlled by the Israeli government. In his view, evicting all Palestinians (even Israeli Arabs), was the only acceptable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Kahane also believed that Israel should become a theocracy, governed purely by orthodox Jewish law known as the Halakha. He advocated that the Israeli government should pass theocratic laws such as banning the sale of pork, outlawing Christian missionary work in Israel, and a ban on all sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews. Critics have compared this measure to Nazi Germany's Nuremberg Laws; however, supporters say Kahane was protecting Torah values and the integrity of the Jewish nation. See: Jewish view of marriage.

Early life

Kahane was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1932. He came from a family that adhered to Orthodox Judaism. His father, Rabbi Yechezkel Shraga Kahane, was born in Safed, Palestine in 1905 and studied in yeshivot in Poland and Czechoslovakia. Later he emigrated to America, where he served as rabbi of two congregations. Meir Kahane received rabbinical ordination from the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn. He was fully conversant with the Talmud and Tanakh, and worked as a pulpit rabbi and teacher in the 1960s. Subsequently, he earned a degree in international law from New York University. As a teenager he became an admirer of Zeev Jabotinsky, who was a frequent guest in his parents' home, and joined the youth wing of Revisionist Zionism called Betar. He personally led protests against Ernest Bevin the British Foreign Secretary who opposed the foundation of Israel on the grounds that Britain should side with the Arab Muslims' aspirations for an independent state. Kahane also organized and launched public demonstrations in the US against the Soviet Union's policy of persecuting Zionist activists and curbing Jewish emigration to Israel. He was a central activist in the "Free Soviet (Russian) Jewry" movement and is widely credited with the release of the Russian refuseniks to Israel. During the 1960s, Kahane joined the FBI and worked undercover in COINTELPRO against anti-Vietnam war movements. He presented himself as Michael King, a Presbyterian journalist . Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in 1968, purportedly in response to threats made by the Black Panthers movement. Kahane was also in contact with Joe Colombo, head of the Colombo mafia family, and was with him in 1971 when Colombo was shot dead by the Gallo family. Kahane confirmed his connections in an interview he gave to Playboy magazine in 1972. In the 1960s Kahane was an editor of the largest Anglo-Jewish weekly, Brooklyn's The Jewish Press and was a regular correspondent for that paper until his death. He appeared often on American radio and television.

Israel

The Jewish Press Meanwhile the JDL in the U.S. continued to branch out into terrorist activities, including the bombing of several buildings; the harassment, stalking and sometimes murder of prominent members of the JDL political and intellectual opposition; and the coordination of JDL activities with the Israeli Mossad (headed in the early '70's by Yitzhak Shamir). Consequently, police pressure began to build upon Kahane, and in 1971 he decided to leave the U.S. In 1971 he emigrated from the United States to Israel (known as "making aliyah" in Judaism). He quickly moved to establish the Kach Party. In 1980 Kahane stood unsuccessfully for election to the Knesset, after which he was sentenced to six months in prison for plotting to attack the Al Aqsa mosque. In 1984 Kahane launched another election campaign, and successfully won a seat in the Israeli parliament. The Central Elections Committee had banned him from being a candidate on charges of racism, but the Israeli High Court found that the Committee did not have the legal power to do so. It is notable that at his trial Kahane refused to accept the standard oath of office for the Knesset, insisting on adding Biblical quotations to it. In a later session, the Knesset Chairman demanded that Kahane repeat his oath, which he did. Kahane's legislation proposals centered on revoking Israeli citizenship from non-Jews, and banning Jewish-Gentile marriages or sexual relations. To his detractors, Kahane defended his positions by unapologetically citing Jewish religious doctrine regarding the Jewish marriage. As his political career progressed, Kahane became isolated in the Knesset. His speeches were boycotted by Knesset members and were made to an empty parliament, except for the duty chairman. Kahane's legislation proposals (and motions of no-confidence against the Government) were all rejected by his fellow Knesset members. Kahane often called the other Knesset members "Hellenists" (in Hebrew; this is a historical term glommed from Jewish religious texts for ancient Jews who assimilated into Greek culture after Judea's occupation by Alexander the Great. Jewish religious books assert that "Hellenists" were responsible for weakening the Jewish relationship to God.) In 1987 Rabbi Kahane opened his Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea (Yeshivat Haraayon Hayehudi) in the Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood of Jerusalem where he would regularly give lessons. Rabbi Avraham Toledano was the Mashgiach Ruchani, and other Rabbis included Yehuda Kroizer, the Chief Rabbi of Mitzpe Yericho, and Rabbi David Bar Hayim. In 1985 the Knesset passed an amendment to Israel's Basic Law, barring "racist" candidates from standing for election. The Committee applied it to Kahane, who appealed against the decision to the Israeli High Court. This time the Court found in favor of the Committee, declaring Kahane to be unsuitable for election. Kahane asserted that the reason for the Kach party ban was that polls showed it about to become the third largest party in Israel.

Assassination

While concluding a speech in Manhattan New York, Kahane was murdered by El Sayyid Nosair, a member of an Arab terrorist cell operating in New York in 1990. According to prosecutors, a man named Wadih el Hage purchased the .38 caliber revolver used by Nosair. El-Hage was told by a man named Mahmud Abouhalima to buy the gun. Nosair was acquitted of murder because no witness had actually seen him pull the trigger, but was convicted on gun possession charges. Nosair later stood trial as a conspirator of the blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman. Both of them received life sentences for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, conspiracy to blow up several Brooklyn bridges, and plotting to assassinate several U.S. politicians. Nosair actually received life plus 15 years of imprisonment[http://www.tkb.org/CaseHome.jsp?caseid=332]. Since it was ruled that Kahane's death was part of the total "seditious conspiracy," Nosair was later convicted of killing Kahane[http://www.cnn.com/US/9510/terror_trial/update/].

Political legacy continued

Following Kahane's death, no charismatic leader emerged to fill the void, and Kahane's radical ideology declined in popularity among Israelis. However, two small Kahanist factions later emerged: one under the name of Kach and the other Kahane chai (Hebrew: כהנא חי, literally "Kahane lives [on]"). In 1994 following the massacre in the Cave of the Patriarchs by a Kach supporter, the Israeli government declared both to be illegal terrorist organizations[http://web.nps.navy.mil/~library/tgp/kach.htm] [http://www.ict.org.il/inter_ter/orgdet.cfm?orgid=19]. The U.S. State Department has also added Kach and Kahane Chai to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Providing funds or material support to these organizations remains a criminal act to this day, both in Israel and the U.S. In autumn of 2000, after Yasser Arafat rejected an Israeli proposal to create a Palestinian state, and led his people in a violent uprising against the Jewish State, Kahane supporters spray painted graffiti on hundreds of bus shelters and bridges all across Israel. The message on each target was identical, simply reading: "Kahane Was Right".

Son killed

Meir Kahane's son, Kahane Chai leader Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, along with his wife Talya were shot dead in a Palestinian machine gun attack on December 31, 2000, as they were driving with their children from Jerusalem to their home in Kfar Tapuach. The attackers later commented that they were targeting random Israeli settlers, and 'got lucky' by hitting Binyamin Kahane.

Publications


- (Partially under pseudonym Michael King; with Joseph Churba) The Jewish Stake in Vietnam, Crossroads, 1967
- Never Again! A Program for Survival, Pyramid Books, 1972
- Time to Go Home, Nash, 1972.
- Letters from Prison, Jewish Identity Center, 1974
- Our Challenge: The Chosen Land, Chilton, 1974
- The Story of the Jewish Defense League, Chilton, 1975, 2nd edition, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, (Brooklyn, NY), 2000
- Why Be Jewish? Intermarriage, Assimilation, and Alienation, Stein & Day, 1977
- Listen, Vanessa, I Am a Zionist, Institute of the Authentic Jewish Idea, 1978
- They Must Go, Grosset & Dunlop, 1981
- Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, Lyle Stuart, 1987
- Israel: Revolution or Referendum, Barricade Books (Secaucus, NJ), 1990
- Or ha-ra'yon, English title: The Jewish Idea, n.p. (Jerusalem), 1992, translated from the Hebrew by Raphael Blumberg, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1996
- On Jews and Judaism: Selected Articles 1961–1990, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993
- Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Devarim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1993, 1995
- Perush ha-Makabi: al Sefer Shemu'el u-Nevi'im rishonim, Institute for Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1994
- Listen World, Listen Jew, 3rd edition, Institute for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (Jerusalem), 1995
- Kohen ve-navi: osef ma'amarim, ha-Makhon le-hotsa'at kitve ha-Rav Kahana (Jerusalem), 2000 Also author of Numbers 23:9: "... lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations," I. Block, 1970s. Contributor—sometimes under pseudonym Michael King—to periodicals, including New York Times. Editor of Jewish Press, 1968.

External links


- [http://kahane.org/ Kahane Website]
- [http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=455 Official Knesset Site]
- [http://www.kahane.org/biography.html Biography of Meir Kahane by his Followers]
- [http://www.adl.org/extremism/jdl%5Fchron.asp Kahane and the Jewish Defense League by the Anti-Defamation League]
- [http://library.nps.navy.mil/home/tgp/kach.htm "Terrorist Group" Profiles of Kach and Kahane Chai]
- [http://www.ict.org.il/inter_ter/orgdet.cfm?orgid=19 International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism: Kach and Kahane Chai]
- [http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/elsayid_nosair/index.html?sect=22 Crime Library article on Kahane: His killing starts Islamic violence]
- [http://www.kcholmim.org/uncomfortable.html Rabbi Kahane's book Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews, complete edition]
- [http://hameir.org/books/revolution.html Kahane, Israel: Revolution or Referendum?]
- [http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0799/9907081.html Report on Kahane by the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs (NGO of former U.S. State Department foreign officers)] Kahane, Meir Kahane, Meir Kahane, Meir Kahane, Meir Kahane, Meir Kahane, Meir

1990

:This article is about the year. For other uses, see 1990 (disambiguation). :"MCMXC" redirects here; for the Enigma album, see MCMXC a.D.. 1990 (MCMXC) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events

January


- January 3 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
- January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns.
- January 9 - Lt Gen Bazilio Olara Okello, the man who led the coup against Dr Apolo Milton Obote's government, dies in Ormduruman Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan.
- January 10 - Time Warner is formed from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Communications Inc.
- January 11 - Massive (200,000) demonstration in favor of Lithuanian independence.
- January 13 - Douglas Wilder becomes the first elected African American governor as he takes office in Richmond, Virginia.
- January 15 - Thousands storm the Stasi HQ in Berlin in an attempt to view their records.
- January 18 - Former McMartin preschool operators