Editor’s note:  And this soldier asks, what did we ever do to you?  Just kidding!  The enthusiasm of children in helping troops both sustain morale and fulfill mitzvot is itself remarkable.

In connection with the Aleph Institute, a Chabad-Lubavitch organization that caters to Jewish military personnel serving overseas, the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, N.Y., will be sending packages of matzah to forward bases in advance of Passover.

The museum, a project of Chabad-Lubavitch’s Tzivos Hashem children’s organization, will kick off the project, dubbed Operation: Message in a Matzah, on Wednesday. Ending on April 13, the initiative will see children bake their own matzahs from scratch and writing greetings to soldiers stationed abroad. For each matzah baked, the museum and the Bal Harbor, Fla.-based Aleph Institute will send one package of specially baked unleavened bread for use at the Passover Seder.

Army Sgt. Scott Humphrey, who has been deployed overseas four, remarked that “gestures like this make the time go by a lot faster.”

More at Chabad.org.

Mark J. Pelavin, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism made the following statement:

Each American life lost over the last five years of our military involvement in Iraq has created a tragic and profound hole that will never be filled in the lives of family, friends and loved ones.  The solemn milestone we have reached this week as we mourn the loss of the 4,000th U.S. soldier leads us to reflect that, while we may have begun this war with the justifiable goal of deposing a dictator and enhancing world safety, we continue fighting in Iraq without a clear vision for a sustainable peace, without a timetable for withdrawal, and without a metric for success. 

Jewish values demand of us that we “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalms 34:15). Current U.S. policies in Iraq are not succeeding in creating peace. After five years of this war, the world is arguably less safe, hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed, and Iraq’s infrastructure remains unstable. And we are still not coming to grips with the economic costs of the war, which some now estimate to be more than $3 trillion, or $15 billion each month.

While we recognize that the surge has sharply reduced the number of fatalities in many areas of the country, we join with the broad array of political and military leaders who believe that military progress alone will not make the changes necessary for long term success in Iraq.  We believe that a call for a phased withdrawal will help keep the kind of political pressure on Iraq’s leaders that can lead to these necessary changes.

On this grim occasion, we say again: It is time to pursue a new strategy which better protects the troops who remain in Iraq and also begins to withdraw them in the most expeditious way possible. Our men and women in uniform and their families deserve nothing less.

This piece is written by Neil Block, Captain, US Navy, Retired, Lay Leader at Fort Benning, Georgia, Home of the Infantry.

Being the Jewish Lay Leader at the Army Infantry Command at Fort Benning, Georgia is a busy time consuming job.  It is more than compensated for, though, by the personal fulfillment which comes from being able to be of service to my fellow Jewish military personnel, particularly the training troops who are, in most cases, just making the arduous transition from civilian life to the military, and who most could use the insightful care and concern that this old vet can provide.  There are so many wonderful young, and not so young, people I meet along the way and the gratitude they express for being able to hold themselves out comfortably as Jews in a recognized and structured Jewish environment which our weekly Sunday morning worship services provide is great reward. (More on that last tidbit as a footnote.)

Besides, the tales gleaned from the basic trainees who include 17 years olds and 41 year olds in the same training units are priceless.  Or, of just knowing the young men who have PhDs and are enlisted as buck privates.  Or the bankers, or lawyers, or professionals and/or the others from every and all walks of life and geographic expanse who have made a conscious determination to serve this great country of ours.  But, today was an especially interesting day and I just had to share it.  Three serendipitous cosmic convergences occurred this morning which merited telling.

Read more...

Editor’s note:  Chabad Lubavitch has really been out there supporting the troops.  This is the kind of material one really enjoys posting.

HILTON HEAD, S. CAROLINA—(March 21, 2008)
Dvora Lakein

In a speech hailed by one priest as the most inspiring talk since Martin Luther King Jr., Chabad Rabbi Yossi Jacobson addressed the Chief of Chaplains Senior Leader’s Training Conference on March 6, 2008.

As the featured religious speaker at the event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Rabbi Jacobson was the first rabbi to ever address the United States Military’s annual chaplaincy event.

His invitation came at a very difficult time for the U.S. Military Chaplains. Two-star General Chief of Chaplains Doug Carver later reflected, “We are broken, but Rabbi Jacobson helped us find light within our brokenness.”

During the five-day conference, General Carver and other advisors tried to instill faith within the beleaguered chaplains’ hearts. These spiritual advisors “have grown tired and stressed in the midst of providing ministry and support to those who are fighting the war,” said General Carver of the seven-year battle in Iraq and the general war against terrorism. The goal of the conference is to provide them with the religious strength to continue their personal battle.

Colonel Yakov Goldstein, also a Chabad rabbi, who has been in the military for more than three decades and is currently the highest ranking Jewish chaplain, was approached by conference organizers a year ago. Coordinators wanted his help to create a “different kind of event,” in what would be General Carver’s first year as chief of chaplains. They specifically wanted a Jewish speaker to “break the Christian paradigm.”

Read more here.

Purim is upon us once again, and even though it follows the Jewish holiday axiom ("they tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat"), it’s always a favorite with the kids, not the least of which are all of us “adult children” in uniform.

Please, as time permits, send Jews in Green pictures of your Purim festivities, whether abroad or stateside.  Family and military pictures are all welcomed.

Purim sameach!

Order haggadot here.

Deployed abroad?  Looking for a speedy Pesach seder so one meets halachic requirements and still fits within the “hurry up and wait” of the military?  Anyone who’s ever been anywhere in the military knows that the mission comes first.

The 30minute-Seder, approved by Reconstructionist Rabbi and the Army’s own Chaplain Bonnie Koppell, is a perfect alternative haggadah where brevity is mission-essential.

Check today at the above link, and you will find that the company is offering a special to members of the military.

On March 23, 1933, a Walk to Remember
Anti-Nazi March & Boycott Honored

By Neely Tucker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 7, 2008; Page C07

The New York crowd was all trench coats and fedoras. It was just before noon. Snowflakes were seen outside the staging area of Domchek’s Restaurant at 12 St. Marks Pl.

Jewish American war veterans were mounting a protest march against the policies of Adolf Hitler toward German Jews.

He’d been officially in power for three days. It was March 23, 1933.

The march to City Hall drew about 6,000 participants and hundreds of thousands of spectators, marking perhaps the first public protest in the United States against the Nazi program that would become the Holocaust. Largely forgotten by history, the march and the resulting boycott of German goods it helped launch are the subject of a 75th anniversary exhibition at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History. The exhibit, occupying a small area in the museum in Northwest Washington, opens to the public today, and is scheduled to be on display for one year.

“The march stimulated within the Jewish community a very positive approach—the boycott,” said Robert M. Zweiman, president of the museum and a former corporal in the U.S. Army, as he looked over some of the documents from the exhibit. “We kept the issue before the public, even when other Jewish organizations did not, for fear of Hitler harming Jews in Germany.”

Read more...

Editor’s note:  Yeah, they quoted me, but I reached out to Representative Pitts by telephone and fax, rather than a visit to his office.  Also, it bears repeating, the JWV offers a free membership to those in-service.  JOIN!!!

Jewish Veterans’ Group Struggles To Retain Relevance

By Nathan Guttman
Thu. Mar 13, 2008

Washington - On March 7, members of the Jewish War Veterans gathered for an exhibit commemorating one of the group’s greatest moments, a 1933 march protesting the Nazi rise to power in Germany. But while the former servicemen came together to honor their past, the present state of their movement was visibly on display.

Dozens of the elderly men and women in attendance proudly wore service caps commemorating their tours of duty. Veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam were duly represented, but those who had done tours in Iraq or Afghanistan were not to be found.

It was not for a lack of Jewish soldiers who served; by one estimate, there are some 30,000 Jewish men and women currently in the military, though the figure could not be independently verified. The decidedly older crowd, rather, was indicative of the ongoing struggle that the JWV — for nearly a century the representative body of Jewish servicemen — faces in both making its voice heard in the Jewish community and maintaining its relevance for young Jewish veterans, many of whom know little about the group and its long history.

To be sure, the JWV remains a presence in Washington. On March 6, members descended on Capitol Hill to lobby for improved health care and welfare for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. But while such efforts find the JWV in common cause with the broader veteran community, when it comes to specifically Jewish concerns, the group has often found itself fighting an uphill battle, particularly given the paucity of information about the numbers and whereabouts of Jewish troops.

Read more...

From the Forward:
Our Troops Need Reform Rabbis
Opinion
By Benjamin Abramowitz
Thu. Mar 13, 2008

In 1916, at the age of 15 and just a decade after landing at Ellis Island, my father enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served with distinction for 35 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

After graduating college, I, too, joined the service, taking a commission in the infantry. I served for 28 years, including two combat tours in Vietnam, and retired as a colonel.

My oldest son, Dave, a 1982 graduate of the Air Force Academy and an Army aviator, is now a colonel serving in Iraq. My two other sons served as commissioned officers in the Army Reserve and National Guard, and my grandson Jacob is a third-year cadet at West Point.

For three generations my family has served this country, and throughout it all we have had help from rabbis in keeping Jewish tradition a part of our lives, even when we were stationed away from an organized Jewish community. Rabbis were always available to meet our needs, including providing a Jewish education for our sons. Indeed, it was at a Seder conducted by Rabbi Judah Miller in a church basement outside of Fort Riley, Kan., that I met my future wife.

Unfortunately, I fear my grandson Jacob may not have as easy a time practicing his faith — and for this the Reform movement is much to blame.

Read more...

Weekend for Army Personnel an Inspiration for Wider Community

Chabad.org Staff
Feb 18, 2008

Some 50 Jewish soldiers and chaplains from all branches of the U.S. military, and their family members, turned out for the Feb. 8-9 military Shabbaton hosted by the Aleph Institute at The Shul of Bal Harbour in suburban Miami.

The Aleph Institute, a Chabad-Lubavitch program that provides Jewish soldiers with educational opportunities, on-base Shabbat and holiday programming and kosher food packages, organized the Shabbaton in order to allow soldiers stationed close to home and at far away bases to join their families for a spiritually uplifting weekend. According to organizers, though, the gathering was just as inspiring for The Shul’s congregation.

The traditional Friday-night dinner took place in an ornately decorated outdoor tent, where military leaders and chaplains spoke about the importance of religious connections to America’s Jewish service personnel.

Read the rest at Chabad.org.