"Kahane Was Right"
In the wake of October 7th, it's clearer than ever that Kahane got many more things right than the American Jewish Establishment would care to admit
Few figures in American Jewish history evoke as visceral a reaction as Rabbi Meir Kahane. In most American Jewish Establishment circles, the mere utterance of his name elicits either nervous silence or moralistic outrage. American Jewry has largely sought to erase his memory, embarrassed by his legacy of violent actions and racist rhetoric.1 From founding the Jewish Defense League (JDL) in 1968—soon labeled by the U.S. government as “one of the most active [American] terrorist groups”2—to making aliyah in 1971 and establishing Kach, the only Jewish political party to be banned by the Israeli Supreme Court for being “manifestly racist,”3 Kahane's infamy is well earned.
Yet, the aftermath of October 7th brought definitive clarity to the abundant failures of the Jewish Establishment. While they were busy chasing the utopic fantasy of liberalism, building progressive coalitions, and funding leftist organizations, antisemitism flourished right under their noses unchecked and unacknowledged. When some Jews warned of growing antisemitism on the Left, the Jewish Establishment either ignored or dismissed it as conservative paranoia. The ADL, with regional offices in all 50 states, and Hillel, on virtually every college campus, failed to even notice the cancer growing at their doorsteps. But Kahane did, and he identified the threat 50 years before everyone else. While Kahane’s violent tactics in America were undeniably abhorrent and his entire Israeli career was even further reprehensible, Kahane's almost prophetic American ideas deserve a second look in the face of the spectacular failures of the Jewish Establishment.
Building An American Conceptzia
The Jewish Establishment's greatest failure was its blind faith in liberalism as a means to safeguard American Jews. This belief has its roots from when most Jews first came to America. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews immigrated from Eastern Europe fleeing deadly pogroms, restrictive antisemitic laws, and impoverished shtetls largely segregated from the broader gentile populations. The American shores, with its liberal enlightenment principles, guaranteed religious freedom, equality, and economic opportunity for the fleeing Jews. Antisemitism existed, but it paled in comparison to the systematic persecution Jews faced in Europe.
America's liberal promise was simple: Integrate into American society, adopt its values, participate in civic life; in return, America would treat Jews as equals. Jews quickly embraced this rare offer for equality. Liberalism became synonymous with Jewish safety and the bulwark against antisemitism.
And so Jews fought hard to protect and expand it, becoming the vanguard of liberal and progressive movements throughout the 20th century and now into the 21st. In the early 1900s, Jews settled in urban centers, often working in factories under harsh, unsanitary conditions. Quickly, they became leaders in the labor movement, creating unions and advocating for workers’ rights. After fighting in World War II, Jews dominated the Civil Rights era, participating in the Freedom Rides, co-founding4 and building the NAACP, and famously marching alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Inequality against African Americans was viewed as an attack on liberal principles and thus, by extension, a threat to Jews’ own safety in America. In recent years, the Jewish Establishment has championed campaigns for LGBT, immigrant, and reproductive rights. Jews even supported the 'Black Lives Matter' movement from the beginning and Jewish philanthropists have donated billions to liberal and progressive causes around the country.
On the rare occasions the Jewish Establishment decided to focus on actual Jewish issues, they fixated exclusively on right-wing "tiki-torch" antisemitism. They constantly warned of the grave dangers posed by neo-Nazi white nationalists and far-right conspiracy theorists while dismissing and minimizing concerns about growing antisemitism on the Left. For the Jewish Establishment, the epitome of American antisemitism was Charlottesville and Pittsburgh, not CUNY and Columbia.
But regardless of how often the Establishment sounded the alarms, Jews intuitively understood that "tiki-torch" antisemitism wasn't an actual existential threat. Pittsburgh was a tragic anomaly and Charlottesville amounted to a few hundred powerless rednecks. The Jewish question was solved. Liberalism was the answer, providing the permanent guarantee of safety they had long sought.
And so a perilous conceptzia was born. And because of it American Jews were woefully unaware and egregiously unequipped to handle the antisemitism festering on the progressive Left. And because of it, as American campuses became doused in progressive antisemitic gasoline, the Jewish Establishment drowned in ignorance. And because of it, on October 7th, 2023, when a spark was finally struck, America's campuses erupted, burning bright with Jew-hatred, while the Jewish Establishment sat dumbfounded, forced to witness the incineration of their conceptzia before their very eyes.
Kahane's Warns of The Conceptzia
This American conceptzia is far from new and Kahane identified it with clarity and force throughout his writing. In his first major book, Never Again! (1971), Kahane writes that the Left's "Marxist-Lenist dedication" makes it the "deadly enemy of Jewish survival." He warns that "opposition and violent antipathy to the State of Israel is led…by the Left" and emphasized "[i]t is a principle of the radical Left that the State of Israel be eliminated. They support the most extreme of Arab terrorists and condemn Israel as an aggressor, fascist, racist expansionist state to be lumped into the same pariah class as…[apartheid] South Africa."5 Kahane foresaw the Left's attraction to radical Marxist doctrine and how that doctrine would lead the Left to radical hatred of Israel. And he predicted this over 30 years before the BDS organizations began "Israeli apartheid week" on college campuses6, long before SJP chapters began advocating for Israel's destruction7, and decades before Columbia students would chant "Go Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too."8
Of course, the anti-Israel protesters and their supporters have continuously attempted to reassure everyone that they aren't antisemitic, just anti-Zionist.9 Yet, these same anti-Zionists always seem to engage in the most vivid displays of antisemitism imaginable, often simply recycling centuries-old canards, merely substituting "Zionist" for "Jew". Kahane anticipated this exact phenomenon as well, writing, "Attacks upon Israel and upon the Zionist ideology…inevitably lead to hatred of the Jew…Attacks upon Zionists become, in the end, attacks upon Jews."10 Additionally, in Time To Go Home (1972), Kahane described the absurdity of using anti-Zionism as a thin veil for antisemitism, "Only the naive and truly foolish will fail to recognize that, in the minds of the simple hating masses, there is no distinction between Jews and Zionist."11 Kahane not only identified where Jew-hatred would come from but also the precise tactics these antisemites would use to obscure their hate. While the Jewish Establishment was busy debating distinctions between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism––setting up committees and crafting pedantic definitions––Kahane knew the true dangers of anti-Zionism.
Kahane's warnings extend even further, lambasting the embarrassing complicit ignorance of the Jewish Establishment and its mistaken faith in liberal ideology. In Why Be Jewish? (1977), after discussing the Jewish flight from Europe, Kahane writes that Jews sought refuge in American liberalism, "the Jew placed his trust and his energies in…Liberalism and Education and Equality and Democracy"12 dangerously assuming that the safety Jews had enjoyed in America would "be permanent."13 He explicitly charges "The American Jewish Establishment is liberal. It believes in Liberalism more than it believes in Judaism".14 Kahane then decries the Jewish Establishment for allocating funds to non-Jewish causes and "to institutions that often are detrimental to the Jewish cause".15 Kahane shares an identical sentiment in The Story of the JDL (1975) writing, "our Jewish Establishment..is absorbed with general social objectives rather than with Jewish problems".16
Kahane's critique of the Jewish Establishment perfectly resembles what we see today. When over 600 Jewish Organizations disgrace themselves by purchasing a full page ad in The New York Times calling Black Lives Matter "our best chance at equity and justice"17 and ignore the movement's infestation with antisemitism and anti-Zionism18, they are engaging in the very same self-destructive behavior Kahane warned about. When the Jewish Establishment enthusiastically embraces the false idol of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) –creating their own workshops and hiring full time DEI directors19–while blatantly ignoring the DEI regime's systematic exclusion of Jews and its role in "driv[ing] campus antisemitism"20, the Jewish Establishment shoots every American Jew in the foot. The Jewish Establishment has forfeited any right to feign surprise at the explosion of antisemitism. There is no excuse for their incompetence, no justification for their ignorance, and no defense for their failure.
Corrupting The Jewish Youth
In addition to the explosion of Jew-hatred on our college campuses, the Jewish Establishment stands complicit in the spread of yet another and even more insidious contagion: the corruption of the Jewish youth. Their obsession with liberalism infiltrated their pedagogy. They hollowed out Jewish education, eliminating virtually anything Jewish about it, leaving behind only a thin diluted shell of 'Tikkun Olam Judaism'. The result? A generation of young, progressive activist Jews alienated from their Judaism, estranged from Am Yisrael, increasingly detached from Zionism, and disturbingly willing to align with anti-Jewish causes.
The disastrous state of young Jewry is painfully obvious. A 2021 survey of the exceptionally progressive Bay Area Jewish population shows a meager 41% of Jews aged 18-34 are even "comfortable with the idea of a Jewish state", making them the only age group in which less than half responded affirmatively. In the same region’s 2017 survey, just 53% of self-identified liberals expressed comfort with Zionism’s foundational claim, compared to 68% of moderates and even more conservatives.21 National data reveals similar generational and ideological trends. According to a 2021 Pew Survey, the 18-29 demographic is yet again the sole age group where a minority feels "emotionally attached to Israel". Among Democrats the number was 52% compared to Republicans' 72%22. The trend is unmistakable: young progressive Jews are increasingly alienated from their Jewish identity and their connection to Israel. Even after the brutal awakening of October 7th, many young Jews still sit sound asleep. They chant for "Intifada" alongside their SJP comrades at anti-Israel rallies, and they become the subjects of countless anecdotes of distraught and helpless Zionist parents clashing with their anti-Israel, progressive children.
Kahane was so alarmed about the erosion of Jewish identity among the youth, he dedicated an entire book to the topic, aptly titled with the agonizing question these estranged Jews ask themselves every day: Why be Jewish? In this book, Kahane observed, with remarkable clarity, that these Jews "are for everything--but Judaism". They "struggle for political causes that are non-Jewish and, many times, anti-Jewish."23 For Kahane, young Jews are not simply politically unaware or uninterested in activism itself. In fact, inspired by the Establishment's emphasis on Tikkun Olam, they are some of the most loud and outspoken members of their generation. But, while their progressivism compels them to pursue any number of causes for social justice and civil liberty, their weak Jewish identity means they neglect Jewish causes and often even participate in anti-Jewish ones. Kahane writes that Jewish Marxists and other "Jewish radicals have totally supported anti-Jewish, Jew-hating groups, causes, and individuals."24 These Jews "[join] in with enemies of their own people and in the destruction of Judaism and Jewishness."25
But who made young Jews this way? Who is to blame for this self-destructive perversion of Judaism? Kahane does not equivocate: He ruthlessly accuses the Jewish Establishment of failing to properly educate young Jewry. While nearly all of the Establishment is implicated in Kahane's scathing remarks, he especially focuses on the Reform movement. When Reform leaders are "perplexed" as to why Jews don't care about Judaism, Kahane answers bluntly "They made him so".26
After October 7th, not even the Reform leaders could continue deluding themselves into ignoring their own complicity in the sorry condition of young Jewry. On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, who has held a litany of prestigious Establishment titles and is widely considered one of New York City's most influential religious leaders27, publicly repented for his own movement's role in this crisis. In an astonishingly honest and incredibly self-aware sermon, Rabbi Hirsch admits:
"As your teachers, educators, rabbis, and moral guides – know that we tried to instill in you a sense of justice, righteousness, virtue, honor, rectitude, honesty and decency for all people….What we did not intend is for your generation to turn your backs on our people. We wanted you to be Zionists. We did not intend that our emphasis on tikkun olam – social repair – would lead some Jews to join anti-Israel demonstrations. We did not intend for Jews to lead Passover Seders in so-called “liberated zones” – liberated from Zionists - that violate not only university policies, but threaten the safety of Jewish students. Some of those protests contain anti-American sentiments as well. We did not intend to encourage or excuse Jews who burn American flags, or support those who do. We did not intend that criticism of Israeli policy lead to detached indifference and a vacuous lack of compassion for the murdered, brutalized, sexually assaulted and kidnapped of our own people. We did not intend that you give not even a passing thought to the many tens of thousands of our people who have become refugees from their southern and northern homes. We did not intend to strip Jewish solidarity, empathy, responsibility and mutuality from your Jewish identity – not only towards Israeli civilians, but soldiers your age who exhibit astonishing courage and remarkable self-sacrifice, many of whom laid down their lives protecting our people in feats of enormous heroism….We did not expect the Jewish spirit to dribble away while we thought we were passing it on."28
Conclusion
The Jewish Establishment now stands at a pivotal crossroads. While the horrors of October 7th have starkly exposed its failures, this dark chapter has also created an unexpected opportunity. The inundation of Jews nationwide with antisemitism has awakened a renewed interest in Judaism, with many desperately seeking community and frequently finding refuge in Establishment spaces. But if the Jewish community is to emerge from this desperate antisemitism crisis, the Jewish Establishment must confront its conceptizia —its overtrust in a worldview that no longer guarantees safety or survival. The Establishment cannot be afraid to call out Jew-hatred on the Left. The solution is not a return to Kahane’s violent extremism but rather a reclamation of what the Jewish Establishment has abandoned: a robust, unapologetic Jewish identity rooted in history, strength, and community. Only by rediscovering its core values and prioritizing Jewish continuity over fleeting political alliances can American Jewry hope to secure a future for itself. Anything less is not mere ignorance but complicity in its own demise.
Magid, Shaul Meir Kahane (2021) p6
Hoffman, Burce Terrorism in the United States and the Potential Threat to Nuclear Facilities (1968) https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/101049NCJRS.pdf
https://embassies.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/state/Law/Pages/THE%20KACH%20MOVEMENT%20-%20BACKGROUND%20-%2003-Mar-94.aspx
The NAACP was co-founded by Jews in 1909, rather than after World War II
Kahane, Meir Never Again! 1971 p87
https://web.archive.org/web/20110513203251/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233050211942&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
https://www.jns.org/sjp-hypes-palestinian-genocide-while-advocating-israels-elimination/
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-798160
https://chicagomaroon.com/28911/viewpoints/column/join-sjps-boycott-zionist-classes/
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/mar/07/debunking-myth-that-anti-zionism-is-antisemitic
Kahane, Meir Never Again! 1971 p88
Kahane, Meir Time To Go Home 1972, p238
Kahane, Meir Why be Jewish? 1977 p100
Ibid. p112
Ibid. p129
Ibid. p155
Kahane, Meir The Story of The JDL 1975 p71
https://medium.com/@jewishorgssayblacklivesmatter/jewish-organizations-and-synagogues-say-black-lives-matter-a1a0f7ea6da7
https://urj.org/what-we-do/audacious-hospitality/racial-equity-diversity-inclusion-redi-workshops
https://jweekly.com/2023/03/02/tawonga-to-be-first-jewish-camp-with-full-time-dei-director/
https://nypost.com/2023/10/18/i-was-a-dei-director-dei-drives-campus-antisemitism/
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/u-s-jews-connections-with-and-attitudes-toward-israel/
Kahane, Meir Why be Jewish? 1977 p18
Ibid. p24
Ibid. p26
Ibid. p38
https://swfs.org/our-staff/ammiel-hirsch/
Great article, Josh. I think more Jewish parents must send their kids to Jewish schools. They are incubators for a strong sense of self and pride in being Jewish.
The problem is not supporting “non Jewish” causes; it is the causes they are supporting. It is a necessity to promote a world that values free and open society; if our world continues to devolve into tribalism and authoritarianism it will be the few million Jews against the world. The problem is what causes are being supported. It should have been clear that ideologies (like Marxism) that divide the world into “oppressor and oppressed” and that claim successful societies are evil and barbaric societies are their victims would lead to a disaster not just for Jews but for all of western civilization. A proper defense of western liberal civilization is also a shield against antisemitism.