R' Binyamin & Talia Kahane: Warriors of Yahadut (Written last year)

It was a cold and dark day in December. A blizzard had just crippled the entire Tri-State area, and I was housebound. I'll never forget the shock when I heard the terrible news. It was surreal in the most ghastly sense. I kept telling myself that perhaps I had misheard.But it was all too real. Rav Binyamin Kahane and his wife Talia were gone. Gunned down by Arabs, while driving the roads of the "liberated areas". Slaughtered with the same guns that these beasts were given by the accursed Left, courtesy of the "Oslo Peace Treaty". I sat all day in near shock like a vegetable. Totally devastated at the loss of such special people. An unimaginable loss for their young children (at the time) who were suddenly orphans in the truest sense of the word. A collective loss for the Jewish people, most of whom will never appreciate what true Scholar-Warriors are.

I never merited to study under the Rav's genuine "right-hand" son, who kept the idea alive after his assassination. (I was still living in the States.) I was however fortunate enough to meet him on those rare occasions that he visited the states. Unique in his own right, R' Binyamin had the qualities that the Rambam deems essential for passing on leadership to one's son. More important than pure Torah knowledge (and R' Binyamin was a genuine Torah scholar) is the attribute of mesirat nefesh (self-sacrifice). And R' Binyamin certainly had it. His very essence was mesirat nefesh, and the burning desire to sanctify the Almighty's name. From what I hear his wife was from the same mold. The quality of self-sacrifice was what made him the true torch-bearer of the Rav.

May G-d avenge the blood of Rav Meir Kahane, his son Binyamin and his beloved wife, and all the kedoshim who were slaughtered by these malignant beasts. May we see it soon with our own eyes, so that the pervasive desecration of G-d's name is permanently removed from the world. On that day, the knowledge of G-d will reign supreme, and all will know His Name.