It is impossible to understand the current Israeli political landscape without knowing the progenitor of the phrase ‘Never Again’: Rabbi Meir Kahane. Usually taken by Jews to signify the importance of maintaining constant vigilance against antisemitism or in the broader world as a bulwark against genocide writ large, Kahane meant something else entirely when he made those two words the title of his first book and slogan of the Jewish Defense League.
Kahane targeted his ‘Never Again’ message directly at the American Jewish establishment for what he perceived as their unwillingness to advocate strongly enough in Washington’s corridors of power on behalf of imperiled European Jewry. Born in 1932, Kahane’s worldview was formed in the shadow of the Shoah, when growing up in Brooklyn he was incredulous that Jewish organizations did not do more to prevent the indescribable tragedy as it was unfolding.
Kahane’s resentment grew further when he saw the same rabbis and communal leaders march for civil rights after they refused to put themselves at risk for their own brethren twenty years prior. His fiery rhetoric put him on the fringes of the Jewish world. Far from silencing his voice, he embraced the role of outcast finding a receptive audience among those on the margins.
Taking a page from the Black Panthers, Kahane preached ‘Jewish is Beautiful’ in a pre-cursor to the modern day ‘kiruv’ in-reach movement which seeks to bring Jews closer to Judaism. His populist message of Jewish exceptionalism resonated with Jews on the lower rungs of society: left behind working-class families who couldn’t afford to move to the suburbs during ‘white flight’ in the United States; North African and Middle Eastern Jews in Israel who begrudged living under the heel of Ashkenazi hegemony.
His already controversial message was dwarfed by his tactics, including the use of political violence. The freeing of Soviet Jewry became Kahane’s cause célèbre. What followed were a series of bombings carried out against Soviet missions, trade offices and other targets who he saw as collaborating with a Politburo that refused to permit the emigration of over one million Russian Jews.
Making Aliyah to Israel in 1971, he turned his sights on the Israeli political establishment and specifically the Arab-Israeli conflict. He advocated a population transfer of Arabs akin to the expulsion of Jews from Arab lands, the flight of Germans from Eastern Europe after World War II and India-Pakistan’s Population Transfer. His messaging reached such fever pitch that the Supreme Court banned his Kach political party.
There may not be a 20th century Jewish figure more polarizing than Meir Kahane. To his acolytes in today’s Otzma Yehudit party that currently holds six seats in the Knesset and the Minister of National Security portfolio, Kahane was no less than a prophet. To his detractors, Kahane was an out-and-out racist terrorist who did more to harm the Jewish people’s standing in the world than perhaps anyone else in recent memory. Both sides would doubtlessly agree that regardless of his views, he was an impassioned, charismatic orator in English and Hebrew whose ideas challenged core tenets of Judaism and Zionism.
Come join us on the first night of Shavuot as we delve into the complicated legacy of Meir Kahane to figure out how the rabbi who began his career at a small synagogue in Howard Beach, New York continues to influence Jewish life 34 years after his assassination at the New York Marriott. Only with such a personality could we put Biblical commentary in conversation with an extensive, declassified FBI file. Oddly enough, Japan plays a central role in the story surrounding his education. Come to the JCC for our Leil Tikkun Shavuot on Tuesday, June 11th to learn more and hopefully be part of a robust discussion. Bottomless kosher cheesecake! (until we run out)
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Lecture by Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence
Permission to Believe: Encountering Doubt as a Radical Act of Faith
Friday, May 31st
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Lecture: 8:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 7th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar
Kiddush sponsored by the Sloyer Family in honor of the birth of Mila Sakura
Saturday, June 8th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Shavuot Eve – Cheesecake and Class (in that order)
Lecture and discussion on Rabbi Meir Kahane: The enduring legacy of one of the 20th century’s most complicated Jewish leaders
Four kinds of sliced, Cholov Yisroel cheese. Six kinds of non-CY kosher cheesecake.
Tuesday, June 11th
Services: 6:30pm
Dinner: 7:00pm
Class: 8:00pm
Shavuot Morning
Wednesday, June 12th
Services with Yizkor: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 14th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Nasso
Bat Mitzvah of Miya Bavli
Saturday, June 15th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 21st
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Beha’alotcha
Bar Mitzvah of Jeremy Epstein
Saturday, June 22nd
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, June 28th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner by reservation: 7:00pm
Friday Night and Shavuot Dinner Reservations can made on our website: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/
Events
Sephardic Jewish Cuisine Cooking Class
In this intimate setting, limited to just 12 participants, you’ll have the opportunity to master the secrets of two mouthwatering dishes: Tagine and Tunisian cigars.
SOLD OUT
Sunday, June 2nd
10:00am – 2:00pm
Materials Fee: 2,000 JPY
Violins and Hope
From the Holocaust to the Symphony Hall: a photographic journey documenting the man and work of Israeli master luthier (violin maker) Amnon Weinstein who set up a project to restore violins that survived the concentration camps and ghettos of the Holocaust, even when their owners often did not.
Sunday, June 23rd
7:00pm – 9:00pm
Event Registration Page: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website: https://jccjapan.jp/event-committee-inquiry/
Announcements
Mazal Tov once more to Eli and the entire Starobin family on an incredible and memorable Bar Mitzvah. Otsukaresama deshita!
Mazal Tov to the JCC Hebrew School on finishing another great year with Sunday’s BBQ. Ganbatte to our graduating seniors attending university in the fall.
Scholar-in-Residence: Friday night, May 31st at 8:00pm, Rabbi Eliezer Lawrence will present a lecture titled ‘Permission to Believe: Encountering Doubt as a Radical Act of Faith’. Through the mystical teachings of Hasidic masters the Ba’al Shem Tov, Rabbi Nachman and the Post-Modernist Rav Shagar, we will explore how doubts and struggles with core Jewish beliefs can actually be the building blocks to an even deeper rootedness in spirituality.
Friday night, May 31st will also be the overseas Bar Mitzvah of the Alper Family who are flying all the way in from Austin, Texas to celebrate with us. We’ve already got a pretty nice turnout but as the Talmud teaches Rov Am Hadrat Hamelech which very loosely translates into the more the merrier.
Class in Japanese: Would you like to learn about an archaeological study of Israel? Nihongo-ga wakarimasuka? Prof. Keiji Hirakawa is a rare Japanese who has been digging in Israel over 34 years. His first encounter with Israel was in 1983 when he engaged in ethnographic research about the people’s lives, food, and religions there. He will give his talk “ISRAEL: Over the Sea Galilee (イスラエル―ガリラヤ湖をめぐって―) on June 11th from 1:00pm about the research findings based on his study over the site, Ein Gev and his experiences with the local people near the Sea of Galilee. The lecture is a JIFA event but JCJ members are welcome to attend. Admission is free.
Shavuot is almost upon us and the topic for the Leil Tikkun Shavuot lecture has changed given that a general class on anti-semitism is too broad for one hour and frankly a bit much for such a joyous holiday. Instead, come learn and discuss about Rabbi Meir Kahane, a figure revered and reviled by different segments of the Jewish establishment until today.
JCC member Rick Weisburd is cycling Tsukuba to help empower girls and women in developing communities. To donate please visit https://www.pedaltoempower.com/fundraisers/teamtsukuba and click ‘Join Our Team’.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club’s monthly meetings explore Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Bechukotai
Candle Lighting: 6:33pm
Havdala: 7:36pm