About JDL

Q. Do I have to be Orthodox to join JDL? Are Conservative and Reform Jews welcome to join JDL? Do I even have to be Jewish? (Recently Updated)

A. The Jewish Defense League does not believe in "hypenated Jews": A Jew is a Jew to us. Our membership reflects this philosophy, running the gamut from the completely secular to the Talmid Chacham (Torah scholar). While our ideology promotes the Torah approach to Judaism and is most well aligned with "Orthodox" Judaism, Reform, Conservative and religiously-unaffiliated Jews are well represented within JDL ranks. JDL membership is open to anyone - including the non-Jew - who believes in our cause and is willing to defend Jews and Judaism, which includes Jewish rights, honor, property and institutions.

Q. How do you write "Jewish Defense League" in Hebrew? (Recently Added)

A. The name of the Jewish Defense League in Hebrew is הליגה להגנה יהודית (transliterated, HaLiga L'Hagana Yehudit).

Q. Why has JDL received so much criticism in the past? (Recently Updated)

A. We get criticized all the time, but are much too busy helping the Jewish People to waste time on trivial personalities and trivial matters. When you walk down the street and a dog barks at you, you don't bark back at it. We do appreciate criticism, however, coming from the "Jewish Establishment," which did absolutely nothing to save Six Million European Jews. (We strongly encourage those who don't know the history of the Establishment during the Holocaust to read the book While Six Million Died by Arthur Morse.) This same establishment did nothing about Soviet Jews, Ethiopian Jews or any other beleaguered Jews in our time; only when it became fashionable did Federation Jews get involved. It was JDL that brought the issue of Soviet Jews to the front page of the Anglo press. Until then, nobody knew about the 2.5 million Jews dying a spiritual death there; after JDL was done with its campaign the gates were opened for Soviet Jewry to emigrate. Many people disliked the views and tactics taught by Rabbi Kahane, but his ideology is being vindicated with every passing day.

An increasing number of formerly crticial people are to starting to concede that JDL's positions are sensible and difficult to argue against. Of course, it is true that there have been some controversies in the past in which certain members got into trouble, and there have also been some dangerous baseless acusations made against the League in the past (including the malicious prosecution and subsequent wrongful death of our late chairman Irv Rubin, ז״ל הי״ד), but JDL has a strict no tolerance policy on even the mere suggestion of felonious activity that it enforces to protect everyone involved.

Q. What good things does JDL do that nobody ever hears about? (Recently Updated)

A. Lots of what we do never gets reported. Nobody likes good news, do they? Walking elderly Jews to synagogue, collecting money and food for poor Jews, settling neighborhood problems, Jewish educational programs and so on and so on -- no one ever hears about these JDL activities unless we publicize them ourselves, which we don't always do. That's okay; we do them anyway. Often, disputes between individuals or moronic policies by corporations have been settled by JDL with single phone calls. In some situations the people JDL assists don't want to publicize their stories, and we respect those requests. Over the last year (2010-2011), a JDL leader has generously extended his time and personal resources to help a downtrodden, psychologically impaired Jewish woman who has been on the receiving end of an onslaught from corrupt animal rights officials. Smaller tasks that JDL performs every day aren't necessarily news-worthy, but they make the difference to those who are helped.

Q. Does JDL hold racist views toward any group? (Recently Updated)

Absolutely, unequivocally, no–JDL is not a racist or bigoted organization in any way. Although we sometimes are required to speak in unambiguous terms about racial, ethnic and religious conflicts various groups are engaged in with Jews, JDL judges the conduct of people individually and without regard to any category they may fall under. And while JDL's primary mission is to defend Am Yisrael, we extend support to non-Jews as well; JDL helps decent people in distress of all races, ethnicities and religions.

Q. How does JDL feel about Yigal Amir, the alleged assassin of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin?

A. We feel that Yigal Amir wasted his precious life. However, we have now included the "alleged" qualifier with this answer because since our original answer was published substantial additional evidence came to light indicating the assassination may have been a conspiracy and Amir the Israeli government's patsy. But assuming Amir was legitimately guilty of the assasination, taking the life of Rabin was not worth Amir spending the rest of his life in an Israeli prison. The Israeli people would have taken Rabin out of office. While we were and remain ideologically opposed to Rabin and the false peace process he foisted on Israel, we believe ballots, not bullets, would have been the only correct way to deal with him. And even though Rabin was responsible for the murder of 18 precious Jewish souls aboard the Irgun ship the Altalena, his assassination was nonetheless wrong and counter-productive. Rabin's murder gave leftist Jews in Israel (as well as leftists in general) a martyr, a hero, and a weapon to use in furthering Rabin's political agenda (the false peace process) against Israel's best interests, all of which they do not deserve. Today even many right-wing Israelis treat Rabin with great reverence, treatment he would not have received if he had served out his term and died years later from natural causes. That would have allowed him to witness the horrific effects of his woefully misguided attempt at peace and would have given Israelis the chance to view his record more objectively.

Q. How does JDL feel about Dr. Boruch Goldstein?

A. Dr. Goldstein was a brilliant surgeon, a mild-mannered Yeshiva-educated man who was promoted to the rank of major in the IDF. He was warned by his superiors in the military to prepare an open field hospital in anticipation of another murderous attack by the hostile Arab population of Hevron during the Jewish festival of Purim. Many of these Arabs were standing outside Goldstein's synagogue in the Cave of the Patriarchs and yelling "Slaughter the Jew." Goldstein had lost 30 close friends in the last few years; they were murdered by Arabs in the Hevron-Kiryat Arba area. One of those was the son of his best friend, Mordechai Lapid; as Goldstein rushed to give the young man medical aid, he was held back by the Arabs on the scene and the young man died. Additionally, as there is proof that the Arabs were hoarding food and supplies in response to a Muslim call for a massacre on the Jewish holiday of Purim, we feel that Goldstein took a preventative measure against yet another Arab attack on Jews. We understand his motivation, his grief and his actions. We do not consider his assault to qualify under the label of terrorism because Dr. Goldstein was a soldier in a war zone who was faced by an imminent terrorist threat. We teach that violence is never a good solution but is unfortunately sometimes necessary as a last resort when innocent lives are threatened; we therefore view Dr. Goldstein as a martyr in Judaism's protracted struggle against Arab terrorism. And we will never be ashamed to say that Goldstein was a charter member of the Jewish Defense League.

Q. How has JDL viewed offers from notorious Jew-haters like Louis Farrakhan to discuss their differences with Jewish leaders?

A. As far as JDL is concerned, there is no common ground for discussion with those individuals. Years ago, Louis Farrakhan extended an invitation to Jewish leaders to have a discussion with him. As one would expect, those establishment Jewish leaders accepted the invitation and found themselves dismayed with the outcome. Even Edgar Bronfman, famed Canadian Jewish liberal, said he regretted his meeting with Farrakhan. High-profile Jew-haters will most likely not be changed one iota by attempts at dialog with them. Some ignorant Jew-haters can be convinced to change their opinions if they are shown overwhelming evidence against their positions, but the worst among them are too deeply invested in hatred to change their ways so easily.

Q. Why didn't the JDL condemn the 1985 murder of Alex Odeh, director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee? Did JDL have anything to do with the bombing that killed him?

A. It is true that JDL International Chairman Irv Rubin, HY"D, publicly stated that Odeh "got what he deserved" in the bombing of the ADC offices in Santa Ana, California. He also said, "I'm not crying over the death of Alex Odeh. My tear ducts are dry. My tears were used up crying for Leon Klinghoffer." Rubin made these passionate statements after observing Odeh on television less than 24 hours before his death on the local ABC news whitewashing the PLO's involvement in the death of the wheelchair-bound Klinghoffer on the hijacked cruise ship Achille Lauro. Odeh praised the PLO and called Arafat a man of peace. JDL believes–and there is no information to the contrary–that Odeh was murdered by his own people, probably Hamas, who believed Odeh to be too moderate.

Q. Why did the murderer of Rabbi Meir Kahane - El Sayyid Nosair - get off?

A. Although Nosair was acquitted by a "Third World" New York State Court Jury - every Jew who was a possible juror was summarily disqualified by the defense attorneys - he was found guilty of murder by a federal court jury years later. Nosair was sentenced to life in prison along with Sheik Rahman, the architect of the first World Trade Center bombing. It is now well known that if federal authorities had paid attention to Rabbi Kahane's assassination, they would have had a better chance of preventing the first attack, which, of course, was the major inspiration for the second and final World Trade Center attack on 9/11/2001.

Q. Is JDL anti-homosexual? (Recently Updated)

A. JDL seeks to encourage belief in the morality of our Creator as set down in His eternal Torah, and the Torah forcefully denounces male homosexual activity. We believe that the recent judicial trend in the United States to denigrate the institution of marriage by redefining the term to include homosexual couples is an especially inappropriate extension of judicial power, but even legislatures in democracies are not free to arbitarily redefine the meanings cultural institutions like marriage because of political correctness. We don't ask our members or supporters about their sexual activities, but we do not condone homosexual behavior as we feel it is detrimental to the perpetuation of Jewish life. However, it is not up to us to judge or condemn homosexuals. G-d judges all of his creation but is also merciful to humanity, knowing that we are souls placed in fallible flesh.

Updated by JDL June 3, 2011