Rabbis of LA | New Findings on Rabbi Yanky Kahn’s War Trip

Back from his second humanitarian trip to Israel, Rabbi Yanky Kahn is planning two – possibly three – more visits to the war-ravaged land by Passover. “It’s like a Holocaust is going on every day,” Rabbi Kahn said. “Soldiers are being murdered daily, and life has not gone back to normal since Oct. 7.”

As an influential leader at Chabad of the Valley, for the last 100 days one of his motivations has been keeping the Jews of Israel and Los Angeles closely informed about each other. “Part of my job here,” Kahn said at his Tarzana home, “is to keep the fire going strong – from the L.A. community, from the Valley – to Israel.” Just one part. Another dimension is to involve young people — keep them fully aware of the ugly, unavoidable realities of modern war.

On his first war trip in October, Rabbi Kahn joined a dozen rabbis, bringing mounds of suitcases stuffed with much needed clothing, practical materials and toys for kids. His latest visit was intensely personal; he was traveling with his family. In addition to his mother and brother, the rabbi was joined by his 15-year-old son, 20-year-old niece and 17-year-old nephew. “It is necessary to teach our children about giving compassion and showing that caring is the most important thing you can do,” Kahn said.

The passenger list may change for this year’s trips. Content does not. As he did on his first visit, the rabbi brought nine suitcases of clothing – for the troops and others in need. Therein lies a story that perhaps you never expected to hear from Israel. 

In the wake of Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack, Rabbi Kahn said Americans might be shocked to learn how stunningly fast “generals and regular soldiers – everyone — just left home to go to war.” All they took was what they were wearing. “Our suitcases contained warm clothing – sweaters, whatever will keep them warmer in winter weather,” the rabbi said. 

He still seemed surprised by the reactions of the recipients. “Seriously, just giving a guy a shirt makes such a difference,” he said. “Fascinating. But it’s … it’s freezing cold, and now you get a thermal shirt. That’s all you need.”  Echoing his first trip, the Kahn family spent much time with the soldiers, going from base to base.

Besides needed clothing, the rabbi’s troupe handed out cigars, which the soldiers loved, along with iPads, cigarettes and tefillin. “Tefillin was a big hit this time, much bigger than the last trip,” he said.

Traveling with your family, Rabbi Kahn happily learned, was different from traveling with other rabbis, with the freedom to go where and when he wanted. Before leaving the Valley, the rabbi talked with a man who installs alarms at his synagogue. The man said he had a classmate in Israel and suggested Rabbi Kahn look him up. 

Here is what the rabbi learned about the middle-aged Israeli on his visit. On Oct. 5, he sold everything he owned in Israel, and his plan was to move to Davis, California, to work in agriculture.  On Oct. 7, however, his son was kidnapped and murdered, his ex-wife was murdered, and her two children were taken hostage.

Now the man’s whole life has stopped.

He has no home, nowhere to go. He is alone. He can’t move to California because his life is unsettled. He has to finish life in Israel now. He has to bury his son. There is plenty of stuff to take care of. But he has no home to go to. 

Rabbi Kahn obtained the man’s name and number. He drove to where the man is staying, handed him money, clothes, an iPad, tefillin.

The rabbi is confident that just having someone coming to visit him when he was all alone will make a difference. Rabbi Kahn’s usually sunny face darkened as he reflected on his encounter: “Here is a man at an age when he should be at the height of his life, late 40s, early 50s. His son is gone. All alone. No one visits him. Then someone comes and says ‘I brought things for you.’”

Next stop was at the home of a man who’d just returned, temporarily, from army duty. “I gave him a hug,” the rabbi, a lifelong hugger, said. 

The Kahn party found food to be scarce.  In what the rabbi called a short week, “we were just going from base to base, coming home at 1, 2 in the morning, and by 7 in the morning we had to be out. We would prepare for the next day, to do things that would be helpful.”

When the Kahn party first arrived, they drove toward the Lebanon border. “Many soldiers told us that people in Israel, rightly so, are anxious to get back to work,” Rabbi Kahn said. “But the soldiers still are fighting. When people come now and still show support, it means a lot to them because people are forgetting.”

Rabbi Kahn’s friends have seen for years that he possesses an outsized capacity for zest. And giving.

“When you come to Israel now in wartime with energy, and you bring presents and letters of love – it has a huge impact on people.” 

“When you come to Israel now in wartime with energy, and you bring presents and letters of love – it has a huge impact on people,” he said. A rosy outlook in Israel meets stubborn opposition. “The soldiers are still in good spirits, thank God,” said the rabbi, “but the war goes on. Unfortunately, they are dying every day. It is challenging.”

Rabbi Kahn is in his mid-40s. “All these fathers who are fighting are our age,” he said. “Our job now is just to show them our support. But don’t think you have done your job. For Israel and the soldiers, life is not normal. Why should it be normal for us?”

What motivates and inspires the young soldiers out in the field for the first time? The rabbi responded quickly. “The Jewish nation,” he said. “They are protecting us. That is why we should do everything – and I think we are – trying to help them.”

But back home, at a Ralphs market, he had a less pleasant encounter. “I am waiting in line, and a lady comes and cuts the line. I didn’t say a word. The person in front of me says ‘why are you cutting the line?’ They have a little argument. The lady turns and says to me, ‘Hamas should have killed all of you.’ This happened in Encino, California, last Friday. I am standing there with my son who has just come back from Israel with us, and I am thinking, what should I do? Right there, I called 911, took a picture of her, took a picture of her license plate, and waited for the police to come. 

“I am not going to stand quietly anymore and say ‘let’s just ignore it,’” he said. “We are on high alert. We must stand strong. We are going to succeed.”