The big buzz word of Web 2.0 seems to be social. To be honest, I still can't bring myself to use a lot of these new social networking sites. However, there are a few sites out there I've begun to use and find tremendously useful.

Going along with this trend, I've decided to bring JIG into the fold. I've added a few minor features that will hopefully enhance your experience as a user, and also help to promote some of the articles on our website.

The first thing you may notice is the addition of a few options at the bottom of each post. Digg is a service that promotes stories based on how many people recommend (or digg) them. If you already use Digg, all you have to do is click on the link at the end of an article, and it will post it to Digg's site.

Next up is a link to del.icio.us. In it's simplest form, delicious is a way to organize your bookmarks online. There is a social aspect to it that allows users to share (and make popular) some of your own bookmarks. There are 2 new features on JIG in regards to delicious.

• Clicking on the del.icio.us link allows users to quickly add a JIG page to their bookmarks
• If you are a del.icio.us user and you want to submit a link of interest to the writers here at JIG, just tag any bookmark with the tag "for:jewsingreen". It will automatically pop up on our bookmarks and we'll check out the story.

Finally, there is flickr. For those that live under a rock, flickr is the largest photo repository on the web. JIG now has its very own flickr group. I've uploaded most of the photos from our gallery to the site, but the idea is that now it's much easier for all of you to share your photos with us. If you are a flickr user, just add any photos of interest to the "jewsingreen" photo group and we'll see it.

Enjoy! Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

“Shabbat Across America/Canada” is an unparalleled display of unity and Ahavat Yisrael, created in the hope of making certain that every North American Jew will have the opportunity to celebrate Shabbat!

Imagine an entire Friday evening dinner devoted to people who want to know more about Judaism! Its an interactive prayer service, joyous Shabbat dinner complete with song, ritual and lively discussion. It is fun-filled evening of camaraderie that unifies Jews everywhere as one people. Tens of thousands of Jews at hundreds of locations across North America will celebrate Shabbat together on March 7, 2008, many for the first time!

Want to Attend Shabbat Across America 2008?

Call 1-800-44-Hebre(w) and we’ll make sure you are invited!

For more information, visit here.

HEBREW SCHOOL SEEK TO SUPPORT TROOPS
The national network of Total Hebrew schools is sending mishloach manos Purim packages out.  Read the attached files for further details.

Letter to Rabbi Robinson
Totally Treats Flier (PDF)

40% OFF JPS BOOKS
The Jewish Publication Society is offering a 40% discount on all books and other publications to all military chaplains and lay leaders. Go on line to www.jewishpub.org and browse through the catalog. Once you decide on a book contact email Dolores Verbit at . Send a check or give her a credit card and she will sent you the book. It is a great deal.

PASSOVER PACKAGES
To ensure that the right number of packages get to the right people I need you to email your current address and number of packages needed by 28 FEBRUARY 2008. We need to have the most current list. Please email your information EVEN if you have not moved from your present duty assignment. This information will ensure that we have the most up to date list.

Thank you for your cooperation.

NOTE: The Subject line on your email should read Passover Packages 2008.  Send emails to .

Includes items such as macaroons, fruit slices, chocolate-covered matzo, etc.

The JWB-Jewish Chaplains Council in partnership with Bnai Brith finished shipping over 80 Buddy Bears for Hanukah to children (or younger siblings) of deployed Jewish military personnel. The strong response will result in a similar effort in the future. Return to this link often to find out when the next shipment will take place. Buddy Bears and future gifts are sent directly to the children. If you are or your loved one is deployed or about to be deployed please submit contact information for recipients to by clicking on the Buddy Bear Icon.

Editor’s Note:  I’m sure LTG Blum would find many of his American Jewish Soldiers feel the same way about Masada as their Israeli counterparts.

At Masada, a glimpse into the Israeli soul

By Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill
National Guard Bureau

MASADA, Israel - This ancient fort atop a Judean Desert butte 1,300-feet above the Dead Sea offers a glimpse into the Israeli soul.

“Masada is roughly analogous in importance to the Israelis as the Alamo is to Texas,” said LTG H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau (NGB).

An NGB delegation visited Masada in December during a four-day mission in Israel to bolster the Bureau’s relationship with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command and discuss joint exercises and other possible exchanges under the aegis of the U.S. European Command.

Masada was a convenient stop en route to a modern military complex, the IDF’s National Center for Ground Force Training. The modern facility offered insight into current Israeli military operations. The ancient ruins offered a glimpse into a nation’s psyche as reflected in one of its most cherished legends.

“It really helps you understand the history of this region, the millennium-long struggles that have gone on for democracy and individual rights and freedoms,” Blum said. “It’s almost spiritual for Israel.”

Read more...

Local man serves as Army chaplain

As the lone Jewish chaplain in Iraq, Andy Shulman currently spends his days counseling soldiers in one of the most dangerous places on earth.

For four years, Shulman, a Malden resident, worked as a program director for Congregation Beth Israel in Malden’s West End. However, as he wrote in an e-mail: “I was looking for something different.”

And something different he has found. Shulman now assists hundreds of soldiers – including American Jewish service members – as a chaplain with the Fourth Battalion of the Combat Aviation Brigade, Third Division. The battalion is stationed on the outskirts of Baghdad, outside the city’s international airport.

“The chaplain’s main responsibility is to ensure that each soldier’s Constitutional right to the free exercise of religion is being met,” Shulman wrote in an e-mail. “That’s the whole philosophy behind the military chaplaincy. Our mission is to ‘perform or provide’ religious support.”

Additionally, Shulman provides one-on-one counseling to soldiers and advises the battalion commander on troop morale and ethics. “And of course,” he added, “‘minority faith’ chaplains like me look after members of our own faith groups.”

Read the article at the Jewish Advocate.

The Aleph Institute will be hosting a Shabbaton (weekend retreat connected with the observances and celebration of the Sabbath) honoring the Jewish men and women of the United States Armed Forces. The Shabbaton will take place Friday and Saturday February 8-9, 2008 and will be followed by an historic training conference on Sunday, February 10 whose theme is: Military Ministry and Pastoral Care in Support of the Global War on Terror. Speakers at the event will be drawn from among the leaders, past and present of our nation’s Military.

Please pass this information along to all Jewish Chaplains, Lay Leaders and Jewish military personnel that may wish to attend so that they can plan accordingly.

Where: at The Aleph Institute Headquarters at The Shul in Miami, Florida
When: Shabbaton: Friday, February 8th, Saturday, February 9th , 2008
Training course: Sunday February 10, 2008

All meals are included along with a special Shabbat dinner on Friday evening, February 8 which will be attended by prominent community leaders as well as a Shabbat luncheon on Saturday, February 9, followed by the Sunday conference.

Event participation, program, meals and courses are free of charge to military personnel.

We would like as many Jewish military chaplains, lay leaders and personnel as possible to attend. Please let us know at your earliest convenience if you think you will be able to attend (so that we can make arrangements in advance) by either replying to this e-mail or calling us at 305-864-5553 x 32.

For further information and reservations please contact:

Avi Lesches or Rochel Katz
By email:
By phone: Avi or Rochel: 305-864-5553 ext 32

An official invitation (Letter of Instruction) with registration forms and detailed information will be sent out within the next couple of weeks.

THE ALEPH INSTITUTE
9540 COLLINS AVE
SURFSIDE, FL 33154
305-864-5553

It’s a good question - would you want to be buried in a military cemetery or a Jewish one?

With the Global War on Terror still going, it’s sadly a question some of us must reconcile with our loved ones prior to deployment.  Its a question, too, our rapidly diminishing WWII veterans are asking.

An article in the Washington Jewish Week asks this compelling question.

A very nice lady, in the words of Rabbi Harold L. Robinson, JWB Director, has a very nice offer, surely an act of chesed, to follow:

For Hanukkah… 100 Judaic eCard GIFT Memberships for the Troops

Roz Fruchtman is a NYC Digital Artist.  She is the owner/designer of the largest Online Judaic eCard Club on the web.

Say It With eCards Judaic Greetings

Roz wants to give back and through her service bring Jewish Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan home for the holidays via her Judaic-Themed Electronic Greetings, more fondly known as “eCards!”

Her eCard service will connect Troops with their loved ones, families, friends and business associates back home—“in-the-moment” or whenever the recipient is online to pick up their card(s).  The service is available 24/7, 365 days a year, so it is convenience based.

AS A PLUS… Say It With eCards offers more than 3,600 Judaic eCards and the ability to further customize the cards by including a digital image and/or audio file within each card.  It is the next best thing to being there and keeping a little of one’s ethnicity in the mix.

GIFT MEMBERSHIP OFFER… FOR THE TROOPS…

From now until December 31, 2007, Roz is offering:

100 Say It With eCards “Annual GIFT” Memberships to 100 Jewish Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. (These are 12-month Memberships)

To sign up for a GIFT Membership contact Roz from *a military* email address at and she will do the rest.  Please include a preferred USERNAME AND PASSWORD.

For more information, the offer specifics can be found here: http://www.sayitwithecards.com/gifts-for-jewish-troops.html
SHORTER URL: http://www.sayitwithecards.com/troops.html

An article in the Jewish Press caught my eye today, for it relates a portion of Jewish history in New Amsterdam, including one of the earliest accounts of Jewish military participation in the New World.

Asser Levy was a pioneer in fighting for the rights of Jews in New Amsterdam.

In 1655 he protested when Peter Stuyvesant and local officials required male Jews between sixteen and sixty to pay a tax in lieu of guard duty. Stuyvesant had cited the “disinclination and unwillingness” of local residents to serve as “fellow-soldiers” with the Jewish “nation” and “to be on guard with them in the same guard-house.” Levy insisted, however, that as a manual laborer he should be able to stand guard just like everybody else. Although initially thwarted, within two years he had succeeded in standing “watch and ward like other Burghers,” whereupon he promptly petitioned for burgher rights (citizenship). Again he was thwarted, but, backed by wealthy Jewish merchants who had immigrated months before from Amsterdam and recalled the promises made to them by “the Worshipful Lords” of the Dutch West India Company, the decision was reversed and the rights of Jews to “burghership” guaranteed.[7]

As a result of these legal actions, Asser Levy and Jacob Barsimson kept “watch and ward” with the other (non-Jewish) male residents of New Amsterdam. In addition, in 1657 all male Jews who lived in the town gained the rights of burghership (citizenship).

Read the entire article here.