Yekutiel
Administrator
Hero Member
Posts: 909
Re: Re Fern Sidman
« Reply #22 on: April 25, 2007, 01:45:32 AM »
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He called up the press and said that he had done it?
Unfortunately I joined JDL later in 1979 or 1980 when Brett Becker was the national director. While I had learned much of the history by looking through the files, old archives, flyers and clippings as well as from friends who had been around during the Pechter years, I am by no means an expert. Since I made Aliyah in 1982, the issues in the later years I only know of from discussions with thr Rav and others.
I don't want to be too harsh on people here, but this is the info as I recall and much of what I am about to say are things that I have heard from Rav Kahane.
regarding Ken Sidman and Fern Sidman who was married to Ken's brother Yaakov, I personally heard only words of praise. The Rav was very upset to hear of Ken's sudden death. And he fully trusted Fern Sidman.
regarding Chaim, I believe that there was a short period in the mid 80s when Chaim did hold some sort of JDL position in NY. I think the Rav was no longer officially involved with JDL at that time. I also think that his position was contested by most of the fragmented JDL chapters that had remained.
I think that Rav Kahane respected Chaim for his dedication - I have not seen and remember no reference to Rav Kahane referring to him as a leader in the movement. I have seen ads and letters that Rav Kahane had written on behalf of Rambam as well as on behalf of Chaim when they were in prison.
As for Arno and Meir, they ran JDL in the early 80s and they had reestablished many chapters. Rav Kahane was very clearly the International Chairman and worked in full coordination closely with them. JDL was back in the headlines, serious marches and protests and conventions had been organized under their leadership. The Rav had already been brought back into JDL under Brett's leadership. Brett was also a dynamic leader confronting Nazis such as Harold Covington and holding serious protests and sit-downs on behalf of the release of Rav Kahane who had been under adminsitrative detention. Jolowitz reinstated the JDL training camps, we rented a beautiful loft in Manhattan for training and adminsitrative facilities. We had many protests regarding combatting the Sinai Withdrawal, Soviet Jewry, and Ethiopian Jewry. Part of being a leader means having people who follow you. These folks were leaders. They had chapters and they had a following and they were clearly recognized by Rav Kahane.
Already at this time there was a unique relationship with Irv, who called himself National Chairman and there were always issues between "who is the real chairman'? the NY directors or Irv from L.A.
It seemed clear that the NY people were sanctioned by the Rav. After Fern stepped down there again seemed to have been this issue between Irv and Chaim. Was Chaim self declared? Did the Rav sanction his role in any way? Was the Rav still involved with JDL? Did anyone else go along with accepting Chaim? I don't know, the Rav never mentioned him to me once in that capacity and I was already in Israel, serving jail time. I can't honestly answer in any detail what happened in the mid 80s in NY. I do remember discussing who would run JDL or KachNY with the Rav in the mid 80s. I remember him discussing three names, someone named Shmuel, Rafi and Fern. I asked him about Brett and through out a few other names. He did not raise Chaim's name. I did hear the Rav speak positively about Chaim in a tape of a JDL board meeting that I have in my archives, The name came up, and I think it might have been in reference to Chaim helping to oust Pechter, but not sure. I think that Chaim's relationship with the Rav had its ups and downs but in that recording he mentioned him in a positive tone.
I know that mentioning Pechter's name in the JDL office under Meir or Brett's leadership or in Rav Kahane's presence was like saying a curse word. I never met her. I was told that she had removed the Rav from the organization through some corporate manipulations and that Brett brought the Rav back. To mention her name was like to mention Wilson's name or Mordechai Levy. It was clear to me that the JDL leadership and the Rav despised these people.
It stands to reason that Chaim would have been among those loyal to Rav Kahane and against Pechter.
While I may have my differences with HaIvri or while others here may have their difficulties with Chaim or Irv, I think we need to keep the arguments within the framework of the halacha and stay more focused not on the individuals but rather on the ideas and programs that we represent. Let us try and keep the discussions focused on our words and our deeds.
it is not that important who held a leadership position - it is more important to discuss the ideas and programs we are trying to market and to judge them based on the merits or lack of merits of those ideas and programs.
I also think that it is not fair to attack Irv the way he has been attacked here, since he is no longer among the living and he died while sitting in jail after being railroaded and persecuted because he was known to be a Jewish militant. He gave much of his life and his freedom fighting for Jews. While he had his ups and downs concerning his relationship with Rav Kahane, to the best of my knowledge, he always put these issues aside and came out to do security whenever rav Kahane or Binyamin Kahane would come to LA. Do i think he is role model of a Jewish leader? No. Do I think he should be praised for his self sacrifice for Jews? Absolutely! Do I think we have done enough to demand justice in his case and to demand a thorough investigation into his mysterious death and the murder of Krugel in jail? No, we should all be ashamed of ourselves. Rather than slander a dead man, we should be demanding justice for these Jews. It could have happened to any of us!
Above I have posted a article yekutiel wrote on his forum really minimizing chaims role and makinng it seem like the other shmucks were doing all the work. He is liar because chaim is the one who was locked up. I don't know what to think of yekutiel anymore.
Topic: Yekutiel minimizing Chaims role in jdl (Read 9340 times)