I’ve received two requests specifically for Jews in New Jersey:

Jewish Veterans

Margery Gross, of Temple Emeth Shalom in Margate, NJ, would like to get in touch with any veterans of the current “global war on terror”. 

The temple honors the veterans during the holidays, and they will be having Memorial Shabbat services in May.  They would very much like to have a returning Jewish soldier come and speak at one of these services.

If you, or anyone you know is interested, please contact Margery or by phone at (609) 601-7748 (leave a message and she will call you back).

The Air Force Academy

Bob Wiener, from The NJ Jewish News, is working on a story concerning the religious bias at the Air Force Academy.  This was brought into the headlines again after a recent story on Good Morning America.

He would like to speak to anyone from New Jersey with any ties to the Academy.  This includes current cadets, alumni, family members, or even friends of Jewish cadets at the Air Force Academy. 

If you have any information, please contact Bob or by phone at (973) 929-3134.  He made it clear that any statements can be on or off the record, and anonymous or not.

I received a unique request via email last week.  Allen Rosenzweig, an Orthodox Jew from Long Island, NY, offered to help out with anyone who is deployed with a bar mitzvah age child back at home.

His son is currently preparing for his bar mitzvah in early July.  He and his wife thought it would be a nice idea to help any families in the NY area by celebrating the bar mitzvahs together and/or offering some moral support.

I never really thought of this kind of problem, but I’m sure it comes up from time to time.  If you are interested, or know someone who is, you can contact Allen via .

The Fort Belvoir Jewish Congregation Invites all service members and families in the NoVA - Washington DC area to an Outreach Shabbat Dinner on Friday, March 11, 2005.

Here are the details:

• Time: 6:30 PM Friday, March 11, 2005
• Place: Fort Belvoir Chapel Fellowship Hall
• Events: Shabbat dinner followed by Services led by Hazzan Rabinowitz
• Contact/RSVP: Sara Astrow (703) 806-4196

The chapel is in search of Active Duty/Reserve/Guard/Marines/Coast Guard/Air Force/Navy Soldiers and Families!

A donation to the Fort Belvoir Jewish Congregation of $10 per family is greatly appreciated.  Checks should be made payable to “CTOF Jewish”.

Stars & Stripes reports on new bonuses to “correct a shortfall of captains in the reserve components that predates the war on terror.”

Two new, lump-sum $6,000 bonuses are now in effect: an “affiliation” bonus for active-duty officers and warrant officers to prompt them to sign up for service with National Guard or Army Reserve, and an “accessions” bonus for some newly commissioned officers if they are in a critical specialty or agree to re-train into one after joining the reserve components.

These bonuses are open to almost anyone.  If you are interested in serving as an officer in the Army reserves or the National Guard, even if you are a civilian or in the IRR, you can get this money.  Bonuses for officers are unheard of, so this is a big deal.  Read the full article for more info.

Via Stars & Stripes:

Ramstein Air Base is expected to break ground on a $535,000 addition to the base chapel that will give Jewish and Muslim worshippers their own space to pray and learn.

The 4,000-square-foot addition will include two rooms for worship — one for Jews and one for Muslims — that will allow worshippers to face southeast toward Jerusalem and Mecca. Those rooms will be connected by a classroom that can be used by either group as overflow space.

The current spaces used for services are considered “less than ideal”.  Captain Donald Levy (the base’s Jewish chaplain) says the new annex will create a “happy coincidence” each Friday, as Jewish and Muslim worshippers meet at the same building for prayer.

I was recently interviewd by Megan Brown of New Voices Magazine.  She is currently writing an article about Jews in the military and would like to speak to people who have been or will be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. 

These [people] can be from any branch of the military.  I would also love to speak with chaplains.  My article is sort in two parts.  One is about how being Jewish affects servicepeople’s view on war.  The other part is about how Judaism is practiced by those deployed or living on bases, and the organizations that help them celebrate holidays, etc.  I would love to speak to younger people, but really, anyone is fine.

If you are interested in participating in the article, please .

A conference of Jewish Lay Leaders is scheduled to take place at the Naval Base in Norfolk 13 to 17 February.  I am not sure how much information has been promulgated to Jewish personnel and/or Lay Leaders about attending the conference or providing issues for consideration.

In my several years in this new endeavor, I have run into many interesting situations--from administrative and supply to ecclesiastic--which could have been ameliorated had I had some guidance and/or insight.  So, this conference has the potential for shedding light and adding resource assistance.

If there are any issues any one out there wishes to have discussed at that conference, please provide me the particulars and I will do so.  I will try to submit a post-conference write up for general consumption.

Best to all who serve,

Neil Block
Captain, USNR, RET
Jewish Lay Leader
US Army Infantry Command
Fort Benning, GA

The results are in and here are the results for our First Annual Jews in Green Photo Contest (click on a photo to view it in the gallery):

1st Prize goes to CPT Elizabeth Levitt for her photo of her Channukah celebration in Iraq.

2nd Prize goes to 1LT Daniel Minkow for his photo of him and the base menorah on Travis AFB.

3rd Prize goes to SGT Anthony Popkin for his photo of himself participating in an inspection of a joint U.S. - Korean guard post along the DMZ.

An honorable mention goes to LTC Susan Meisner for her photo of Chaplain Howovitz with the last remaining (native) Jew in Afghanistan.  Her photo was my top pick, but LTC Meisner was gracious enough to pass on the prize to other entries.

First prize will receive a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate and all award winners will receive a camouflage kippah.

While there are only 46 photos in the new Jews in Green Photo Gallery, there have been close to 4000 views of the photos!  I consider this a huge success. 

Just because the contest is over, doesn’t mean you should stop sending photos.  The photo gallery is intended to be a constantly growing scrapbook of us Jews in uniform.  So keep ‘em coming!

KABUL, Afghanistan —The Chaplain’s office sent out a brief e-mail—a Rabbi was coming for the Jewish High Holidays.

While Chaplain (Captain) Avrohom Horovitz led services in Bagram for Rosh Hashanah and in Kandahar for Yom Kippur, his presence in Kabul between the holidays—and in the theater—was a boost to Jewish servicemen and women.

Kabul Army Education Center Counselor Sheila Dickerman said the Rabbi’s presence led to “a reconnection and rediscovery of my roots.” For Dickerman, originally from Honduras, Jewish life centered on the home; attending Jewish services in the Kabul Compound chapel was a special experience for her.

Read more...

As I mentioned in a previous post, Jews in Green has been nominated as “The Best New Blog of 2004”.

Voting has officially started on Isreallycool, so go vote for us!  You can learn more about the contest HERE and you can vote for our category HERE.

Thanks for all the support!