Beyond Words: Selected Writings 1960-1990 Volume 6 1988-1989
Rabbi Meir Kahane (1932-1990) was the most controversial Jew of his generation. Born in New York, he was the son of a rabbi and was descended from a long line of rabbis. He studied at the Mirrer Yeshiva in Brooklyn and was ordained in 1956. He also earned a law degree from New York Law School and received a Master's degree in International Relations from New York University.  Rabbi Kahane founded the legendary Jewish Defense League in 1968 to combat the growing rise of anti-Semitism. He led a campaign of disobedience, sometimes violent, which ultimately led to the emigration of millions of oppressed Jews from the Soviet Union. He spent two decades touring American college campuses, exhorting Jewish students to be proud of their Jewishness, to learn about Judaism, and to immigrate to Israel. A passionate Zionist, he and his family immigrated to Israel in 1971. Entering the political arena, he ran for the Knesset unsuccessfully three consecutive times before his Kach Movement was finally elected in 1984. Its platform called for an emphasis on Judaism in the Israeli educational system and a Jewish outlook in its internal and foreign policy, including the removal of Israel's hostile Arab population. Kach was banned from running in the 1988 election, at which time polls showed it to be the third most popular party in Israel. Rabbi Kahane was arrested over 130 times for Jewish causes. A prolific author, Meir Kahane wrote 22 books in English and Hebrew. His widely-read column appeared in the Jewish Press from 1961 to 1990.