I’m always loathe to personally embrace gay rights as a Jewish issue.  Movements concerned with either contemporary social justice issues or maintaining relevancy are mentioned in this article in Jerusalem Post.

Points for consideration and discussion:
1.  Is this really a Jewish issue?
2.  In spite of the fact that we are blessed to live in a nation where civilian control of the military is paramount, is it troubling that many Jewish voices on this issue, such as Rabbi Wernick of the Conservative Movement, have not served as either troops or chaplains?  Are there Jewish military voices speaking on this issue, or would like to?
3.  How does this positively or negatively affect Jewish service, if at all?
4.  Can we reshape the dialog to stop being dishonest?  Attempts to make this about anything other than fairness, i.e. the “this is a national security” issue mantra, ring false with an organization where by rule, we are all expendable.

A topic I am curious about is based off a recent Sexual Assault Prevention briefing.  An astounding number of sexual assaults within the military are male-on-male attacks, with 95% of the accused perpetrators identifying as heterosexual.  Just to clarify, my thought here does not involve “gays-as-villainous-rapists,” but rather, with the removal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, and I can only assume would be the Congressional modification of current UCMJ articles as well, without additional protections implemented, will homosexual men in particular end up as a statistical victim class?

Whether for or against homosexuals within the military, there are many fine points for discussion.  It’s not an issue I’m personally invested in nor particularly concerned about, but with Jewish groups choosing to identify this as a “Jewish issue” on the behalf of the aggregate, I’d like to give Jewish service members, past and present, a forum to air our thoughts.

By JEANNE F. SAMUELS 11.FEB.10
“Now that I placed my life at risk, it is becoming so interesting that I feel that everything must be written down, so that later either I – if I survive – or my friends can re-live these days.”

Those words, written on Aug. 3, 1918, began the diary of then-16-year-old Yitzak Jacov Liss. His remarkable day-to-day account of his military life documents a historic period: the Jewish Legion in World War I Palestine. Young Liss served as an enlisted man in the British Jewish Legion 38th Battalion Royal Fusiliers from May 1, 1918, to Dec.8, 1919.

Read more at the Jewish Herald Voice.

UPDATE: The list has been sorted alphabetically, broken out by rank, service branch, and basic home of record (if known), including sadly the latest casualty.

I think it’s appropriate to remember our Jewish service members who have given all in the Global War on Terror.  If I missed any names, I do apologize.

For families of the deceased:  Ha’makom yenahem etkhem betokh she’ar avelei Tziyon vi’Yerushalayim.

Agami, Daniel - Specialist, Army, Florida
Allen, Howard Paul - Sergeant, Army National Guard, Arizona
Ben Yahudah, Benyahmin - Specialist, Army, Georgia
Bernstein, David - 1st Lieutenant, Army, Pennsylvania
Bitton, Albert - Corporal, Army, Chicago
Blum, Aron C. - Sergeant, Marines, Arizona
Bruckenthal, Nathan - Petty Officer, Coast Guard, New York
Budeysky, Steven M. - Sergeant, Army, Chicago
Cohen, Michael R. - Corporal, Marines, Pennsylvania
Dvorin, Seth - 2nd Lieutenant, Army, New Jersey
Engel, Mark E. - Lance Corporal, Marines, Colorado
Evnin, Mark A. - Corporal, Marines, Vermont
Fairbairn, Aaron - Private First Class, Army, Washington
Farkas, Daniel - 1st Lieutenant,Army National Guard, New York
Fletcher, Jacob S. - Private First Class, Army, New York
Freeman, Daniel J. - Specialist, Army, Cincinatti, OH
Harrington, Foster - Sergeant, Marines, Texas
Jacobson, Elizabeth N. - Airman First Class, Air Force, Florida
Kane, Jeremy - Lance Corporal, Marines, Cherry Hill, NJ
Krissoff, Nathan M. - 1st Lieutenant, Marines, Nevada
Mervis, Paul - Lieutenant, British Army, London
Pine, Shawn - Lieutenant Colonel, Army Reserve, Texas
Pontell, Darin - Lieutenant JG, Navy, Pentagon, died on 9/11
Rosenberg, Mark - Major, Army, Florida
Schrage, Dustin - Corporal, Marines, Florida
Schulte, Roslyn - 1st Lieutenant, Air Force, St. Louis, MO
Secher, Robert Michael - Captain, Marines, Tennessee
Seiden, Marc S. - Specialist, Army, New Jersey
Shackelford, Michael - Sergeant, Army, Denver, CO
Sher, Gregory - Private, Australian Army, Melbourne
Sherman, Alan D. - Sergeant, Marines, New Jersey
Sklaver, Benjamin - Captain, Army Reserve, Hamden, CT
Stern, Andrew K. - 1st Lieutenant, Marines, Tennessee
Tarlavsky, Michael - Captain, Army, 5th Special Forces Group
Weinger, Robert M. - Sergeant, Army National Guard, Illinois
Wershow, Jeffery - Specialist, Army National Guard, Florida
Wolfe, Colin J. - Private First Class, Marines, Virginia
Wolfer, Stuart A. - Major, Army, Florida
Wong, Elijah - Sergeant, Army National Guard, Arizona
Yelner, Jonathan - Senior Airman, Air Force, California

Returning from a two-month hiatus with a firm commitment to maintain this blog, starting with this:

For the active duty military, this may or may not be relevant, since as Jews in the American military, our lives likely do not revolve around either Israel or life on university campus.

For some in the reserves currently enrolled in school, this may be more omnipresent.

March 1st through March 14th is Israel Anti-apartheid Week, and though the organizers are apparently too daft to recognize the difference between 7 days and a fortnight, their message will be crystal clear - “free thinkers” of the world will continue to fallaciously dog Israel and single it out for “crimes” that no sane or discerning individual would.

I do not fall into the “cult of Israel” paradigm.  I do not think it necessarily admirable when a youth who spends his life immured in gilded Americana decides to go throw his lot in with the Israeli military, no matter how noble the concept.  As long as the United States and Israel are allied, there are plenty of opportunities to serve here, in the land that has equally given us so much, with ostensibly more freedom of religious movement than we might enjoy in Israel (see marriages and conversions).  A strong Jewish presence in allied Diaspora military, as we’ve documented with former Guard Bureau chief General Blum’s visit to Israel, does more for maintaining Jewish credibility in the US than kids enlisting overseas.

For my part, too, as much as I love Israel, my spiritual home is in a minyan, or teaching our faith to my children, or our home when we bask in the glow of Shabbos candles on our dining room table.

I also like big snow storms, especially with the recent two foot dump the Mid-Atlantic just enjoyed.

I only say this to lay the groundwork that one need not indulge a knee-jerk support of Israel in order to recognize just how damaging is this Western opinion shift towards Israel, for both Jews in Israel and Diaspora.

We, especially those of us in the military, cannot forget that how we fare in Diaspora is a bell-weather for what’s in store for the Jewish people.

I don’t know why it is buried in the news, but the sad fact is, one of the continually growing “hate crime” sectors in the U.S. are crimes committed against Jews.  Many of these are taking place on college campuses, where antisemitism thinly disguised as “legitimate criticism of Israel” manifests in events such as this “anti-apartheid week.” See the ridiculous outbursts at Ambassador Oren, for instance, in California.

Take it apart:  Mel Gibson, “Kick a Jew Week” on Facebook, which enjoyed significantly less press than a similar persecution of redheads, and even local students in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, describing that “Jew” is being bandied about as an insult amongst peers in their schools.

It’s not a “left” or “right” issue.  See the dude that shot up the Holocaust museum for a scary manifestation of an antisemitic fringe right.  Read the comment section on the Huffington Post attached to ANY article regarding Israel, and many about other countries in the Middle East, and you’ll see where the self-flagellating losers like former President Carter have taken us.  “We have seen the enemy, and it is us” nonsense, rinse, repeat.  People are quoting Israel as the cause du juor for demonizing Jews and bring forth the age old canards, which read like they’re still using the Protocols as a play book.

Read more...

This moving video came in the email from Chabad today.

This wonderful tribute and recounting of the horror that befell these people is all too poignant in reminding us the importance of eradicating terrorists.  The suffering of Jew and Indian alike was utterly pointless.  May our efforts someday make the world safer for the wonderful shlichim who are out there, trying to bring the kind of generous hospitality that these young people committed their lives to.

I’ve heard so many different perspectives on the Fort Hood shootings, but I wanted to share some Jewish ones.

I personally agree with President Obama’s admonition not to jump to conclusions.  For the sake of the dead and the wounded--most especially their families--I’d like to see a thorough investigation.  If Major Hasan reached out to terrorist groups or people sympathetic to such causes, why?  What motivated him to murder so many of his fellow Soldiers when it was highly likely that he would *never* fire a weapon in anger at other Muslims overseas?  Hopefully, since he’s still alive, he can give some accounting for his currently inexplicable actions before his punishment is meted out.

For me, personally, an explanation of “Islamic fundamentalism” is incomplete, too.

The most horrible part is that the sectarian divisiveness, the growing partitions within our own segmented societies, could be as much the culprit in this shooting.  As Jews, we often ask the military for consideration of our beliefs.  Where would many of us stand if our co-religionists were at the other end of our rifles?  That said, the American Muslim contingent within our Armed Forces should be praised for being American first.  Was this inevitable?  Should we be alarmed that if *any* fellow goes off the deep end, that there are extreme fundamentalists from any religious walk of life who would urge a Major Hasan to inflict harm on his fellow uniforms?

The first selection is from Mikey Weinstein, of MRFF.

As we turn our collective eyes to the tragedies of Fort Hood this week, we mourn the men and women who offered themselves up to serve our country overseas, only to make the ultimate sacrifice in a senseless act of violence back home.

But the shootings at Fort Hood should be an important wake up call to the continuing religious intolerance that has been allowed to blatantly and systemically manifest in our nation’s armed forces. Too often, honorable men and women who have joined our military are comprehensively denigrated and made to feel worthless because, although they wear the same uniform, they do not pray in the “approved” church or to the “correct” God or to no God at all.

Let me be clear, there is absolutely no excuse for the alleged actions of Nidal Malik Hasan. What he did is reprehensible, and goes against everything the American military stands for.

But we must realize that the alleged mistreatment Hasan received in the American military almost certainly played a key role in his disaffection. Reliable reports indicate that fellow soldiers gave him a diaper to wear on his head, mocking Islamic headdresses. His car was keyed by an Iraq veteran because he had an “Allah is Love” bumper sticker, and others suggested he should ride a camel instead.

Read the rest at the MRFF’s web site.

For another perspective, I turn to Dennis Prager.

The deaths and maiming at Fort Hood are heartbreaking and angering. But ultimately far more injurious to America than the act of evil that caused those deaths and injuries is the massive self-deception American society engages in out of fear of being called bigoted, racist or “Islamaphobic.”

Any American who is not prepared to lie to himself has reason to believe that Hasan’s religious views were prominent, if not exclusive, factors for why he slaughtered fellow American soldiers. The motives appear as clear as any could be.

Personally, I’ve no idea what to think, so I’ll keep it basic.  Fratricide, or any servicemember-on-servicemember crime, is the worst offense someone in uniform can commit.  Whatever the motives, the circumstances of why pale in comparison to the what.

One thing I do rail against is this concept that this is representative of a military on the brink.  While it seems fair for the media to withhold speculation about Islamic connections, it should be even more reluctant to calumny a force that performs its duties admirably and professionally.

I open the forum for discussion!  Be well, and happy belated Veterans Day!

Dear Chaplain, Lay Leader or Jewish Member of the Armed Forces of the United States of America:

Chanukah Is Around The Corner. First Candle is December 11, 2009.

For more detailed information about the holiday of Chanukah and it’s observances, please visit http://www.chanukah.org

Chanukah Toys Form (PDF)

Read more...

Jewish war vets receive monument

BY GINA DAMRON
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER (Freep.com)

In honoring Jewish military veterans with a stone monument at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly Township, local vets were sending a message.

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“Jewish people have served in every war this country has fought,” Gerald Order, 65, commander of the Department of Michigan Jewish War Veterans, said at the unveiling Sunday.

Organizer Stanley Eisenberg of Rose Township—a 75-year-old veteran of the Coast Guard who served during the Korean War—said the monument cost about $1,800 and was dedicated by the state’s Jewish War Veterans and Ladies Auxiliary.

The monument stands knee-high along a paved path with other memorials near a quiet, tree-lined waterfront.

“It’s a place where we can come in prayer and thank God for everything He has given us, everything we have worked for, everything we have sacrificed our life for,” said Bernard Feldman, 77, of Southfield, a Korean War veteran who served in the Navy on the USS Smalley.

Officials at the dedication didn’t know how many Jewish military veterans there are in Michigan or across the country. But a document on the National Museum of American Jewish Military History’s Web site, published in 2004, says nearly 1 million had served in the armed services during the 20th Century.

About 60 people attended Sunday’s dedication, including Rabbi Karen Companez of Temple Beth El in Flint.

“We come together to honor the memories of those who are no longer with us,” Companez said.

“We come together to offer support for one another.”

Contact GINA DAMRON: 586-826-7269 or

“Pride, Honor & Courage” New film focuses on Hartford-area Jewish women during World War II

By Cindy Mindell (Jewish Ledger)
Published: Wednesday, October 7, 2009 12:54 PM EDT

Sarah Brody was serving with the Army Nurse Corps in Germany during World War II, when she was shot at a few minutes after this photo was taken. Brody is one of several Hartford area Jewish women whose WWII stories are chronicled in a new documentary that will premiere in West Hartford this month.

Since she became executive director of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford (JHSGH) five years ago, Estelle Kafer has made it a priority to organize oral history projects among the various segments of the local Jewish community.

“It’s important to try to tell the stories of individuals and community members and their experiences within the community, and to use our archives to make those stories come alive,” she says.

In 2008, while planning a women’s oral history project, Kafer consulted with Jayne Guberman, oral history director of the Jewish Women’s Archive, a national organization based in Brookline, Mass.

Guberman mentioned the JWA’s plans to conduct a nationwide survey of Jewish women who had served in the military. To start, JWA hoped to set up “roadshows” akin to the PBS series, “Antiques Roadshow” at historical societies and smaller museums throughout the country. Women would come to give their stories and show their artifacts to interviewees, which would then be added to the JWA collections and displayed in an online exhibit.

Read more here.

Jews in Green fave Alison Buckholtz scribed a great article for Tablet:  A New Read on Jewish Life.

When my husband Scott shipped out to Baghdad last month, he left a lot behind; he knew he’d be weighed down with duffel bags full of body armor, combat gear, and new Army uniforms, so he put aside most of what he really wanted to take. (Although he is an active-duty Navy pilot, he’s in Iraq working with a joint services force for 12 months.) Recently, I gathered these items to include in his first care package. During his many past deployments, including one he returned from barely a year ago, I developed an intimate relationship with the postal service, and as I began to transfer his belongings into multiple flat-rate boxes, I sighed. Here we go, I thought, anxious all over again about the year ahead.

After repackaging the new undershirts, old New Yorkers, phone cards, Speed Sticks, DVDs, and extra flight suits, I spotted the siddur. It’s small enough to fit into the palm of my hand. The black leatherette cover is stamped in gold and reads, in Hebrew and English:

PRAYER BOOK

FOR JEWISH PERSONNEL

IN THE ARMED FORCES

OF THE UNITED STATES

Read the rest here.

I still have my nicely bound Siddur, though mine is dated a little more recently and edited by Rabbi Stephen O. Parnes, the fellow who married Leah and I.  The small Jewish world in which we live…