Customer Reviews

Or Hara'ayon = The Jewish Idea, volume 1

5 star:		(9)
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2 star:		(1)
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In this seminal work, written by Rabbi Meir Kahane up until his untimely death in 1990, we find a new dimension to this most intriguing Jewish personality: Torah scholarship on a par with the greats of the past two generations. While Kahane is best known as the consummate outsider, the spellbinding preacher to the masses in his life as religious and political activist, The Jewish Idea, Vol. 1, will challenge the reader to reexamine Kahane as a serious scholar possessed with an encyclopedic and analytic knowledge of the classic texts--Talmud, Bible, Prophets, and commentators. They are all woven together masterfully in this tapestry of modern Jewish thought. The Jewish Idea, Vol. 1 places Kahane in a league with Torah luminaries who were deemed unconventional during their lifetimes, yet later recognized for their genius and foresight--Maimonides, Hirsch, Kook, Soloveichik, and Hildesheimer to name but a few. This is the most important work ever produced by Rabbi Kahane. A must-read for the serious Jewish scholar and for the lay person alike seeking insights into 21st century Jewry and Israel.

Rabbi Kahane, in this book, talks about basic principles of judaism.He shows us a new and unique perspective over the fundamentals of the jewish religion, covering several themes such as faith and trust, good and evil and the yoke of heaven. His main point is to show that the real ideas of judaism have been distorted and perverted due to the long exile that the jewish people has been through. Considering this, he gives the real meaning of what have been misunderstood, without carrying about being political correct. Maybe from this point stem all the polemics that were criated around his figure, for him saying openly what others think but are afraid to say. The Rabbi also show us his great Torah knowledge by quotting, to each argument, a passage from the Talmud,Midrash,Halacha or sages. No doubt it is a very worthy reading.

I saw Meir Kahana once in Israel and was very impressed by his charisma and the way he charmed the crowd.
Nevertheless, how surprised I am by his book, i did not expect to read such a deep, rich book, nearly each sentence makes you think, and written in a very logical way also.
Every sentence is taken from the various sources of Judaism (Tehilim, bible, Midrash etc...) which is wonderful for someone like me who has not all that knowledge : he made all the research to make a link between an idea exposed and all the sources that idea comes from.
It shows how knowledgeable the Rabbi was, and teach you the basic philosophy of the Jewish religion in the pure way it was before the contamination of the Exile.
I am sure Mr Rabbi Meir Kahana will remain not only in the history of the Jewish people, but also his books will contribute to a lot of Jews like me who only have a basic knowledge of our religion to be proud of our jewish values.
That book encouraged me to be more religious so made of me a better man: more calm, and understanding more the meaning of life on this earth.
The Rabbi was a pure scholar, not only a politician, and all his politic ideas come from our religion, nothing more, nothing less. An excellent book which may change your life.

IN THIS BOOK THE LEADER OF WORLD JEWRY SETS DOWN THE GUIDELINES OF WHAT IT IS TO BE A JEW IN TODAYS WORLD. AS ALWAYS RABBI KAHANE WRITES NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH IN THIS BOOK. THE RABBIS WRITINGS ARE SIMILAR TO THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS IN THE BIBLE. THIS BOOK WILL SURELY MAKE THE KAPOS IN THE US JEWISH AND ISRAELI ESTABLISHMENT CRINGE WITH EMBARRASSMENT. AFTER READING THIS BOOK THE READER WILL BE LEFT WITH A FEELING OF AWE FOR THE AUTHOR AS WELL AS A FEELING OF ANGER TOWARDS THOSE IN THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AND THE MOSSAD THAT WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR KAHANES MURDER. AM YISROEL CHAI!

Rabbi Meir Kahane, of blessed memory will be remembered for being an outspoken and passionate defender of his people and of his faith. This classic treatise on Jewish thought is a highly significant historical and religious contribution to the corpus of books on Halachic laws. Rabbi Kahane explores all areas of Jewish law and Jewish concepts with the kind of depth and aplomb that is rarely seen. His prescience and wisdom shine through on every page as he delves into complex subjects using a voluminous amount of sources from the Torah and Talmud. This book is replete with narratives and examples that illustrate points that have long been ignored in other books of this kind.

Rabbi Kahane was a true Torah scholar, a very learned man and a wise and compassionate leader of his people. This book is a must read for all yeshiva students and anyone who is desirous of authentic Torah knowledge.

Now I understand why Rabbi Kahane was so villified by the Left. The book is so truthful, scholarly, and ethical that it inevitably clashed with the Leftist agenda. I highly recommend the book. Although it is written to the highest scholarly standards, it is concise, profound and yet very accessible and readable. There are no boring parts.

This is Rabbi Kahane's magnum opus, and is even more magnificent if you can read it in Hebrew. In this book, Rabbi Kahane, a pious Jew, Torah giant, talented scholar, master orator, and the greatest Jewish leader of our time, reveals to the Jew what true Judaism is---while at the same time exposing the perversions and lies that have been promulgated by the secular, assimilated Israeli an American Jewish establishments. Rabbi Kahane has accomplished a remarkable feat---he has revived the authentic Jewish Idea that had lain dormant and concealed for the last 2000 years of the Jews' accursed Roman exile (which officially ended in 1948 with the establishment of the State of Israel). Rabbi Kahane opens an entirely new world for the assimilated Jew who lives outside of the Land of Israel---a world where the Jews were not today's despised, confused, assimilated minority in the exile, but a proud and strong people living in their own land, with kings that ruled and prophets that prophesied, putting their faith in G-d, and not in some flesh-and-blood sitting in some White House.

Rabbi Kahane explains lucidly to his Jewish reader the two most basic concepts of Judaism: Kiddush HaShem (sanctification of G-d's name) and Chillul HaShem (desecration of His name); and he illustrates these concepts by bringing distant Scriptural events to life. The Rabbi's command of the Scriptures, Mishnah, Talmud, Gemara, Toseftah, Agadah, and contemporary history---is astounding. His eloquent and cogent writing style is inspiring and captivating. This is the most important book that a Jew has to read and re-read throughout his life, ESPECIALLY the various Reform and Conservative "rabbis" in the exile, none of whom had enough courage to accept invitations to debate Rabbi Kahane in public.

For a secular Jew who mulls doing Teshuva and returning to his roots, this is the FIRST book that he or she must read---it lays not just a foundation but the RIGHT foundation. Our sages say, "The seal of G-d is Truth". Rabbi Kahane's book, as are all his writings, is the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. A testament of the Rabbi's genius, stature, and the important role he played in showing the Truth to both Jews and gentiles, was the fact that the first terrorist act by Al Qaeda on American soil was the elimination of Rabbi Kahane---he was the only Jew that the Arabs called "The Great Jew", the only Jew that they feared and respected. How sad that the evil Muslim enemies recognized what we Westerners didn't. How bitter his loss is to us, and how painfully the U.S. was punished for not investigating throughy his murder, thereby letting Al Qaeda slip through the FBI's fingers and ultimately thereby allowing the 1993 bombing and 9/11/2001 destruction of the WTC towers.

I must say, although I have not read the second volume yet (because it is in the mail) the first was more than enough to give a 5/5. The Rabbi deals with very basic, but very overlooked and molested beliefs, values, Laws of Judaism using all the Jewish Holy books and ancient writings from past Rabbinical scholars to justify his position and prove to the Jews who wish to learn proper Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, the ways of the Tzaddikim (Righteous).

This is an amazing work that gives a very logical and justly presentation of "War & Peace", "Love & Hate", Kiddush HaShem & Chillul HaShem and much more. The Jewish Idea is so detailed, logical and in depth reasoning that I find that every Jew must read this work. It is such a shame that Rabbi Kahane was undermined by the Socialist Jewish Establishment, with their Liberal Gentile Establishment cohorts, quickly labeled this Rabbi as a "Hate mongerer", "Racist" and every falsely applied title before delving into, or opening their minds to this Rabbis reasoning, logic and immense scholarship. In all honesty, it is such a shame. I decided to actaully read his works and found him that he, and his works, were nothing like those that undermined his efforts perported him to be, while never being able to "tolerate" any of his well founded and presented research. This Rabbi Kahane fellow was, in my opinion, on the same level of spirituality, Tzaddik (righteousness)and scholarly knowledge as the 18th century Gaon of Vilna (Another Right Wing Extremist).

Or Hara'ayon is, by far, Rabbi Kahane's greatest achievement. "And I am afraid, for the first time, that we are in the hands of people so blind and so mad and so un-Jewish that we may not be able, G-d forbid, to avert the catastrophe." - Meir Kahane, which suggests to any person of reasonable intellect that Rabbi Kahane was right on many issues especially the case of Israel and the Arab/Muslims. We see that what he warned 30 years ago has come true and more will of his predictions will come true in the future. He wasn't a prophet but a very logical and scholarly Rabbi that opened his mind to consider World realities and not hide behind ones arrogance and one sided knowledge which produces ignorance to the other. The most important goal Rabbi Kahane should have acheived was the making Israel a Jewish State from its current Hebrew speeking Greece, and thus the deportation of all of the Muslims (because if one actually reads the Islamic Holybooks; Quraan/Hadith, one will see that Rabbi Kahane was spot on.) and placing a Free Enterprize economy with Jewish education. What can I say, he was spot on and only an ignoramus, or one with a purely immoral G-dless Secular-Socialist agenda, would believe otherwise.

I feel Rabbi Kahane was VERY correct, and every Jew reading this SHOULD consider as this world declines into chaos and Hellenism: "Let us not suffer from a national amnesia that causes us to forget who and what we are." - Meir Kahane (A very powerful quote in my opinion)

This book reads like an encyclopedia or a bibliography. Every other sentence has a quote from some other source. You don't really get to hear Kahane's voice. I was expecting to hear his philosophy, but instead I got jewish philosophy from others. This book might be good for people who don't know much about judaism, but if you're looking for Kahane, you won't find him here. You could easily take Kahane's name off the cover, and just look at the table of contents, and then just open to the chapter that interests you and read what other jewish sources had to say about things like humility, love for God, and love for fellow jews. I still want to check out the second volume, because it looks more interesting than the first.

Very great books. Have read this and the second volume multiple times. This copy purchased here was actually my second purchase of them (purchased to donate to a shul).
Very well written, straight to the point. Brings source after source after source after sources from Chazal for the points and topics presented, but at the same time its very well written and some what easy to read. Something both the simple and the very learned and and will benefit from.
Also discusses Jewish topics and ideas that are many times rarely discussed today by others. Isn't afraid to tell the truth and the laws of G-D.