For you last minute folks who don’t have access to a haggadah for your seder, jewishfreeware.org has a few resources available for download.

These include haggadahs based on experience level, Passover songs, a Passover guide, and a seder supplement.

Jewish chaplains are hard to come by sometimes, especially in small isolated units.  This problem often becomes particularly evident during holidays, when religious leaders are in high demand.

To combat this problem, a New York chapter of the Jewish War Veterans is sending 12 rabbis to the Middle East to conduct seders for the troops.  It’s called “Operation Matzoh Meals”.

NorthJersey.com has a story about one of the rabbis making the journey.

I think this is an awesome idea and hope to cover the story more.  If anyone has more info on the operation, send me an or post a comment below.

I’m sure there is a seder going on at most bases around the country (and the world), so I’m offering this tiny spot on the web to advertise your event.

Below are flyers and information for a couple seders at or near military bases.  If you have something you would like to add, your information (and/or flyer) and I will post it here.

• Fort Belvoir, VA: 24 April at 1900 Flyer (PDF)
• Fort Leonard Wood, MO: 24 April from 1600 to 2000 Flyer (PDF)
• Fort Lewis, WA: 24 April at 1800 Flyer (PDF)
  The Jewish Community Passover Seder will be held the second evening of Passover. There will be explanations, English readings, and Hebrew transliterations for those who may never have attended a Jewish Passover Seder.

  Home hospitality is available for those who wish to attend a Passover Seder on the first night of Passover, 23 APR 05, in a private home.  Contact for more details.

• Yongsan, Korea: 23 & 24 April at 2000 Flyer (GIF)

It all began in New City, New York when seven kids decided they wanted to make a difference. The students at ToTal @ HaMerkaz, a Sunday Hebrew school, were thinking how they could show their support and appreciation to the American soldiers that are currently serving overseas. They came up with a wonderful idea called “Purim Treats for Troops”.

After they created this spectacular program, they decided to spread the idea to all the other schools in the ToTal network (about 30 joined in). The idea was to create Purim packages, or Mishloach Manot, that are traditionally given to friends and family on the holiday of Purim, and then mail these packages to the soldiers stationed overseas so that they would receive them in time for the Purim holiday.

Each and every school made a difference; some schools made only two packages, while one school made seventy. But quickly the numbers began adding up. By the time the program was completed, over THREE HUNDRED packages had been mailed to troops currently serving around the world.

Read more...

After numerous phone calls, emails, and hours of research, I think I finally got my head around this whole Passover thing.  This should serve as a resource for any service member who wants to make sure he or she can get what they need for Passover.

There are 3 basic options for Passover food provided by the military:

• A Participant kit: includes most of the items required for 2 seders. (matzoh, haggadah, grape juice, charoset, kipah, and more) Full Details (PDF)
• A Leader’s kit: same as the participant kit, but includes a Passover Machzor and a Kittel.
• Passover MREs: There are parve and meat meals available.  You would need order enough meals to last you through the holiday.  Each kit does not come with matzoh, so you would need to supplement this with one of the kits above (or a care package).  Full Details (PDF)

The seder kits can be ordered through the DSCP.  See here for details on placing orders through them.

The MREs orders are also through DSCP, but they are handled by a different department.  The POC for them is Debbie Sinno, (215) 737-3688, DSN 444-3688, FAX (215) 737-2988, or .

The deadlines are soon approaching, so you will have to act fast if you haven’t already.  I apologize that this story was a little late coming to press (on JIG).  Training has been intense for me lately and I wanted to make sure I had information on the DSCP story before I published this.  Hopefully our care packages will fill any gaps from missed orders.

Last year, there was quite a dilemma delivering the seder kits.  The original order was misdirected and discarded.  Through an amazing logistics effort and a ton of overtime, a second emergency shipment found its way to the troops within five days!  It’s really an amazing story.  You can read the full story here (PDF).

I think it really shows how much the people at DSCP and other spots along the logistics chain are willing to help to make sure our religious needs are met.  Read on to see some pictures from the operation.

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And the hamantashen just keep on coming…

PhillyBurbs.com reports on a number of Hebrew school students who put together Purim packages for troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“There are many Jewish soldiers out there,” said Rabbi Dovid Max, who heads the Community Torah Center of Bucks County. “We wanted them to still be able to appreciate the holiday even though they are so far from home.”

He said assembling the 18 packages helped teach the kids the importance of giving, while fulfilling one of the four customs of Purim: “mishloach manot,” the giving of food.

I’m actually not surprised at all.  I have been overwhelmed with offers of help in sending packages for Purim and Passover. 

I really wish we had more addresses of troops to send to.  Even though there are a lot of goodies headed overseas, I imagine there are still a few Jews out there that aren’t getting anything.  If you know of any deployed service member that needs (or wants) support, pass on their info, or tell them to contact us!

For all of you Jews in and around NAS Pensacola…

Singles Wild West Purim Party!!!

WHEN: Saturday, March 26, 7:30 PM
WHERE: “Bamboo-Willie’s”, Pensacola Beach
WHAT: Join us for music, drinks & good company.
COST: $5 Entance Fee
Please RSVP By Monday, March 21st,and feel free to call for more information:
Mobile, AL- Anat: (251) 656-8294
Pensacola, FL- Cheli: (850) 346-1539. 

It’s a wild west PURIM party, please come with the suitable costume!!! Special prizes to the best costumes!!!

Sponsored by the Pensacola and Mobile Area Jewish Federations.

My wife and I spent President’s Day busy in the kitchen.

We baked over 12 dozen hamentashen that will ship out along with other snacks, sweets, Shabbat candles, and cards first thing tomorrow morning.

(more pictures in the “Full Story")

With the extreme generosity of a few people, we collected almost $100 in donations for our Purim mailing!  This allowed us to send out several more packages that originally intended.  Plus, with my matching contributions we should even have some left over for our upcoming Passover mailing.  Thanks for all who gave.  If you still want to donate or help out, click here.

We also have a lot of people who are helping out in their own communities to send packages and cards to our deployed troops.  I hope to have some information to report back about their efforts as well.

Again thanks to everyone out there helping to support our deployed troops.  It’s still not too late to help out for Purim and it is defintely not to early to start thinking about Passover!

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Bagram Air Base, Afganistan My name is SPC Alexander Hoffman, and I’m the Jewish lay leader for Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.  After this past Yom Kippur, I decided to write my experience down.  Until now, I haven’t shared my write-up.  I was looking through some files on my computer, and found it, and decided that it was something I wanted to share with all of you.

Read on for the full story

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