Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, ZT"L, HY"D

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Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, ZT"L, HY"D
Born October 3, 1966 - 19 Tishrei, 5727 in New York.
Assassinated December 31, 2000 - 5 Tevet, 5761 in Samaria.

Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane was the youngest son of Rabbi Meir Kahane. The family made aliyah to Israel in 1971 when he was 4 years old. He began his Yeshiva education in The Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva Rabbinical College. He later co-founded The Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea with his late father Rabbi Meir David Kahane in 1987.


During that time, Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane also began the Darka Shel Torah newsletter, a weekly commentary on the weekly Torah portion and current events in the spirit of his father's ideology. He directed this project for over fourteen years, until his death. In these commentaries, his writing skills and clarity in expressing The Jewish Idea began to be apparent. He also edited other publications and journals. He authored several books on the Halachic status of goyim in Israel and on other topics of Jewish Law, including The Haggadah of The Jewish Idea, a commentary on The Passover Haggadah based on his father's teachings.


On 18 Sivan, 5749 (1989), he married Talia Herzlich. They lived in Kfar Tapuach, Samaria, where they had six children.


Following the assassination of his father, November 5, 1990, the yoke of leadership fell upon Binyamin's shoulders. He established and headed The Kahane Chai Movement which was illegally banned from running in the 1992 Knesset Elections by the Bolshevik authorities, and eventually illegally outlawed in 1994. He was also Rosh Yeshiva of The Yeshiva of The Jewish Idea in Kfar Tapuach. Like his late father, Binyamin was continuously harassed by the Israeli authorities for expressing his ideas. He was arrested dozens of times, interrogated constantly for his activities, and on several occasions was sentenced to imprisonment. At the time of his death, he was standing trial on "sedition" charges and for "disturbing the peace" during protests against Oslo. He was the recognized leader The Kahanist Movement.


Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane and his wife Talia Kahane were assassinated on Sunday, December 31, 2000, by Arab Muslim Nazi terrorists on the roads of Samaria near Ofra. They were returning home to Kfar Tapuach with their family from Jerusalem where they had spent Shabbat. They left behind 6 children. Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, a gentle scholar, who fought like a lion when necessary, embodied the Torah concept of the scholar-warrior.