See the Future
By Moshe Katz
CEO
Israeli Krav International

Florida - New York, October 2015

Dedicated to the memory of Mr. Chaim Bieber (see below)

Back in December we released a new DVD, it was called "Defeat Hamas". The idea was to counter what our enemies were planning. The idea was to prevent the attacks that surely would come.

Hamas had just released a free video helping people learn how to kill Jews and get away with it. Of course they wish to kill any infidels as well, which includes a large percentage of the world. We saw their video and together with videos taken from Israeli police surveillance cameras we studied their tactics and techniques and came up with realistic solutions to these problems.

We released this as "Defeat Hamas; Knife, Ax, Gun defense solutions". We sold a few hundred copies world-wide but not even five in Israel. Sad.

At one of our recent seminars in Florida, a student, Mark D. made a very astute observation which inspired this blog. I mentioned that now in Israel we have been going through a turbulent period with an increase in individual attacks. These attacks are not major operations but individual attacks with simple weapons and directed against Israeli civilians. Mark pointed out that way back in December, as soon as we had the first sign of things to come, IKI released this DVD. We also posted blogs and encouraged people to train.

There was no response. Our classes in Israel did not grow and there was the usual lack of interest. Now with the recent attacks, suddenly, everyone is seeking Krav Maga instructors. Sadly there is a dearth of truly qualified Krav Maga instructors and all sorts of semi trained individuals with out of date skills are hosting classes and seminars. They are mostly teaching poor techniques that will not help anyone. This truly saddens me.

Mark pointed out that we had ample warning and that IKI was there with an immediate response, but no takers, and little to no interest. And now there are simply not enough qualified instructors to answer the need.

What I know to be equally true is that as soon as the violence subsides, which it surely will without any doubt, the interest in Krav Maga classes will also subside and very few students will remain. This is the sad truth I have learned in over thirty years of teaching in Israel.

Very few students will stay with us long enough to really develop skills.

Marks' wise words triggered some thoughts.

Seeing the Future

Back in 1897 a man named Dr. Theodor Herzl, also known by his Jewish name Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl held a conference. He had gathered leading Jewish figures from all over Europe for the First Zionist Conference. It was held in Basel, Switzerland, the date was August 29, 1897.

There are those that make things happen, there are those that watch things happen and there are those that do not know what happened. The great ones are in the first category. The mass of ignorant humans in the last category.

That night a tired Dr. Herzl went home and made an entry in his personal journal. "Tonight I have created the Jewish state, it shall come to rise, it will be a reality in fifty years". He wrote a book called Der Judenstaat - The Jewish State. "Versuch einer modern Lösung der Judenfrage", (attempt, or proposal, for a modern solution to the Jewish question).

On the 14th of May, 1948 the third Jewish commonwealth, the modern state of Israel, came into existence. It was fifty one years after Herzl's prophetic diary entry.

There are those that make things happen.

Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl, a.k.a. Dr. Theodor Herzl, one of the fathers of modern political Zionism

"The Jews who wish for a State will have it."

A young Ze'ev, Vladimir, Jabotinsky, soon to become the father of modern Jewish militarism, was a disciple of Dr, Max Nordau. (July 29, 1849 - January 23, 1923).

Nordau raised the concept of what he called the "Muscle Jew". He understood there was a need for a change, to return to the old ways, the ways of the Biblical Jewish warrior.

19th century Zionist philosopher, Max Nordau, was quoted as telling Jewish leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky that “the Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won’t buy an umbrella merely because he sees clouds in the sky. He waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia.”

The late Rabbi Meir Kahane learned this lesson from Jabotinsky and told us many years ago.. a man walks out of his house and sees clouds...but does nothing. He feels a drop of rain but does nothing. Catches pneumonia and runs to get his umbrella, this is the story of the state of the Jew during the period of the exile. (i.e. post the destruction of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem).

On so many counts, Nordau’s words remain completely accurate and reliable today.

As Mark pointed out, back in December the Hamas publicly released their video on how to kill Jews and others. It was on youtube and on Facebook but you could not get people to come to Krav class for free. We made our DVD, we wrote blogs and encouraged people to train in knife defense.

Today suddenly people want classes, after weeks of stabbings of innocent unprepared people. And the words of Max Nordau, from so many years ago, still ring true.

Will people ever learn?

This blog was inspired by Mark Dragonette's comment and is dedicated to the memory of Chaim Bieber, a dear friend who devoted his life to fighting for Jews.

Chaim was born in Brooklyn, NY, volunteered in the Israeli war of Independence for the establishment of the modern state of Israel. He was among the leading members of the Jewish Defense League for the protection of Jews in the United States, and his entire life was devoted to Judaism and his people. He passed away during this Krav Maga Tour. He merited to be buried in the State of Israel.

I will miss sitting across from him at the Shabbat table. I will miss the twinkle in his eye, and I will miss his gentle affectionate kiss on the cheek.

He was a true fighter and a man who always stood up for what he believed in.

He will be missed by all who knew him.

He was a warrior for Israel