Rabbi Levy’s comments to an older article are worth repeating in an individual post.

I’m a graduate of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion serving as an active duty chaplain in the Air Force.  I graduated, was ordained and entered the Air Force chaplaincy just over 11 years ago.  We weren’t at war then, but when I applied to their rabbinic program in 1991, we were in the middle of Desert Storm and nobody suggested that, as an active duty serviceman (I was in the Navy at the time) I would not be welcome at HUC-JIR.  During my five years at the school, nobody I encountered ever suggested that the military chaplaincy (everyone knew where I wanted to go with my rabbinate) was not an appropriate avenue of service for a rabbi.  At times while serving as an active duty chaplain, I’ve tried to recruit rabbinic students from HUC-JIR as well as ordained rabbis, have managed to recruit two rabbis (one HUC-JIR grad, one JTS grad) over the years, and more to whom I spoke expressed interest but were too old or otherwise not commissionable.

There are really two large impediments to recruiting more rabbis, and anti-military sentiment at HUC-JIR is not one of them.

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It’s hard enough fighting the fiery Evangelism that sometimes goes hand-in-hand with serving in the uniformed services.  This story on blackanthem.com gives me pause.

Full Article

Though the article touches on his duties as a chaplain, which I’m sure are exemplary if he loves soldiers, I worry that to non-Jews, his status as a military chaplain confers a sense that Messianic Judaism is legitimately Jewish.

I report, too, tongue firmly-in-cheek, that at his Messianic Seder, they had “traditional Messianic Passover dishes.”

This raises some serious questions for me.  As this movement gains in appeal, will the military expect that Jewish religious needs can be met by a Messianic Jew? How should a Jewish soldier react if a Messianic Jew is their unit chaplain?  I would be enormously uncomfortable.

To his credit, this particular chaplain claims not to try and convert Jew or Christian to his way.  Nevertheless, many of our fellow Jews in uniform are unaware of Jewish traditions, and may not be aware that Messianic Judaism is not authentically Jewish.  For soldiers with a Jewish and non-Jewish parent, I fear that the chaplain’s own personal story conveys the possibility that Messianic Judaism is an option for reconciling a mixed heritage.

I heard about a disturbing trend today on the radio on my way to work.  Soldiers with PTSD being harassed or ostracized by other Soldiers.  How can this be?!  We have been told, after all, that we are to be “our brother’s keeper.” Relating to this, I offer the following:

“He [the angel] said, ‘It will no longer be said that your name is Yaakov, but rather Israel, for you have contested with both the Divine and with man, and have prevailed.’” [Genesis 32:29]

In each of our lives, there will come a time, or perhaps there has already been a time, or two, where we have had to “struggle with an Angel.” The Angel is representative of any deep-rooted spiritual conflict that we wage with Hashem.  It may be that we are conflicted over, for instance:

•Why bad things happen to good people
•Why good things happen to bad people
•Why Hashem does not actively intervene (or so it seems) during events where people are vigorously exercising their evil nature (mass murderers, child abuse, etc.)
•Why death comes to some (it appears to us) too soon
•Why some are stricken with life altering disease, injury or destruction

This struggle may sometimes be so intense within us that it translates to our physicality in such ways to include acts of violence against others, self abuse, or even leading to thoughts of, or actual, suicide.

Through regular study of Torah and through a better (never complete) understanding of the nature of Hashem, we are better equipped to emerge from our spiritual struggles.  It is likely that we will not always emerge unscathed, but rather that we may experience some level of emotional scarring here and there: our own “limp.”

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the “limp” that many of us as Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines carry as a result of select experiences.  But, with large doses of “tincture of time,” Torah study and with the help and support of our Rabbi’s and behavioral specialists, we can endure, overcome and emerge.  We will definitely be “changed” as from Jacob (defined: the heel grabber) to Israel (defined: to struggle with G-d): stronger and better equipped to face the uncertainties that the future holds for us.  Please do not hesitate to ‘self refer’ to your local Behavior Health Specialists if you believe you
are suffering from PTSD:  losing sleep, recurrent disturbing thoughts or dreams, inability to concentrate.

May your “limps” always be small and your struggles few.  We love and support you always.  From your friends here at “Jews In Green” and www.thejewishsoldier.com

A few months back, I wrote about the use of Jesus in chaplain prayers.  The LA Times ran an article recently about the same thing entitled, Invoking God’s Blessing—but Whose God?. 

“When you begin to pray in a way that shows a clear affinity to a faith group, that could knock out a lot of people who could otherwise feel included in a prayer that refers to God in a way that all can acknowledge,” he explained. “You may wind up doing greater harm in the name of religion than good.”
The distinction between his prayer language at public military events and at voluntary church services on base or in the field follows Navy tradition and recent policy.
But those customs are at the heart of a debate about a chaplain’s liberty to express his own faith in a secular setting and whether phrases such as “praying in Jesus’ name” could offend others and cause divisions in the military ranks.

New regulations have been bounced around in congress and the Armed Services Committee, but nothing has come of it.  Evangelical Christian groups have been pushing to change the regulations to explicitly state that chaplains are able use prayers of the chaplain’s denomination at any and all events.  They feel that any regulations placed on prayer or religious practice is a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion.  They have found a few Republicans in congress to back their argument, but not enough to really make any changes.

Slate’s GI Jesus goes into more detail on the background of the legislation and idiot legislators who are behind all this.  The JWV has also voiced its approval of the final decision.

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In an effort to provide the American Thanksgiving with a little traditional Jewish flavor, I put together a little pamphlet with some suggested reading, prayers, songs for the occasion.  This little tool can be found at www.thejewishsoldier.com A great “ice breaker” to help share with non-Jewish friends some traditional Jewish prayers and stories during the Thanksgiving meal. 

Good health and happiness to you, your family and friends.  May you have countless blessings to recall happily this Thanksgiving.

HAG SAMEACH and a speedy return to all who are away this season.

Certainly one of the downsides of being a Jew in the military is being stationed in the middle of nowhere.  We often find ourselves far from the Jewish infrastructure that Jews in large cities enjoy.  And when we deploy...fuggetaboutit.  Because of this, observing mitzvot can be a
significant challenge, but no matter where we are we can at least study Torah, and as we know, “the study of Torah is equal to them all, because it leads to them all.”

But how should we study?  Just reading the weekly parsha is a start, but it’s hard to really learn without some kind of experienced guide.
Jewish chaplains are perfect for this role, but unfortunately most of us don’t have access to one on a regular basis.

Nothing can fully replace a rabbi (or other Talmudic scholar) when it comes to Torah study, but I’ve found something that comes awfully close.  I have recently discovered the wonders and joys of the Jewish podcast!

If you have no idea what a podcast is, see this site.  In a nutshell, it is a technology that “grabs” online audio programs for offline listening.  Think of it as Tivo for radio.  All you really need is internet access and the free iTunes.  With an MP3 player, you can take this audio anywhere.  Perfect for those extended trips to the field.

The good news is that there is a plethora of podcasts out there focused on Torah study and Jewish subjects.  I’ve sorted through plenty of them and provide you with a list of what I think is the best out there.

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Where have all the Rabbis gone? This is the question asked by so many military congregations outside of the United States. The need for more Rabbis within the military chaplainry is clearly evident. In the entire United States Navy, which supports both the Navy and the Marine Corps, there are only six Rabbis. Now, the exact number of Jews is a matter for the demographers to figure out; however, on a small island in the middle of the Pacific the lack of a Rabbi is very evident.

The island of Okinawa is located between the Japanese mainland and the island nation of Taiwan. Okinawa is a Japanese Prefecture with a large US military population whose primary mission is to keep North Korea on a leash and fight terror in Southeast Asia. Within this population, it is a fairly conservative estimate to say that there are at least a hundred Jews on the island.

The Jewish Community of Okinawa; is led by a Military Lay Leader who not only has the responsibility of leading the congregation, but also has to maintain his normal daily military duties. This does not allow the amount of dedication required of someone who is to provide guidance and support to the spiritual and moral well-being of the Jews of Okinawa. 

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Way back when we asked readers, ”What’s on your dog tags?”.  We revisit this issue in light of a quite thorough article about one Soldier’s experience with the dog tag dilema in Desert Storm.

The “article” is actually an exerpt from a book by Debra Darvick.

Dog tags. When you get right down to it, the military’s dog tag classification forced me to reclaim my Judaism. In the fall of 1990, things were heating up in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. I had been an Army Captain and a helicopter maintenance test pilot for a decade and received notice that I would be transferred to the First Cavalry Division which was on alert for the Persian Gulf War. Consequently, I also got wind of the Department of Defense “dog tag dilemma” vis-a-vis Jewish personnel.

Then, as now, Jews were forbidden by Saudi law to enter the country. But our Secretary of Defense flat out told the King of Saudi Arabia, “We have Jews in our military. They’ve trained with their units and they’re going. Blink and look the other way.”

You can read the rest of the exerpt HERE, and you can purchase the book HERE.

Since we are revisiting the topic, let’s open up the polls once again and see what our readers have on their dog tags.  CLICK HERE to vote on and discuss this topic further.

The Navy has recently joined the other services in encouraging observance of non-Christian holidays.  I can’t imagine this is something drastically new, but it merited an article in Stars & Stripes.

“The purpose of the message was to increase commanders’ awareness about the need for religious accommodation,” Chaplain (Lt. Cmdr.) John Kalantzis, an action officer in the Navy Chaplain’s policy office, told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.

Something I found particularly interesting about the article is that they provide numbers for the different faith groups, which I have found hard to come by.

“The vast majority” of servicemembers report that they are Christian, although within that category there are dozens of different groups, Dolinger said.

About 30 percent of servicemembers report that they are Catholic, he said.

Non-Christian servicemembers include Buddhists (served by a single monk in the entire military chaplain corps), about 4,000 Jews (served by 22 Rabbis), about 3,730 Muslims (served by 11 Imams), 1,383 Wiccans, and 353 Hindus, according to statistics provided by Dolinger.

An ironic tidbit in the article is in the sidebar where they list examples of some of the holidays.  One listing reads: “Shavuot (Pentacost): Begins at sunset, June 1 and ends at nightfall, June 3”.

Isn’t that like saying “Passover (Easter):”?  So much for sensitivity training.

Many great scholars have written and taught us on the “art of war.” However, let’s not forget that Torah and the Prophets also provide us, still today, a magnificent source for learning and development of our military leadership skills during these times.  As we approach the last reading in the Book of Numbers, Mattot/Massei, we begin to learn from Moses how to prepare and conduct a battle.  We learn from this Parsha, that Moses, in his anger, makes a rather hasty and severe decision regarding prisoners of war.  This should cause us to reflect on our own decision making processes and self-control during the austere conditions and stresses of military leadership in the combat zone. 

Deuteronomy, Chapter 20 also goes on to provide us invaluable lessons regarding preparing Soldiers for war: we learn about leadership conduct as well as rules of engagement.  Example:

1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. 2 When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. 3 He shall say: “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. 4 For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

How many of us have ever heard of the war of “Gog, M’Gog?” A variety of articles posted on www.thejewishsoldier.com provide an in-depth look at descriptions of this war which was prophesied by Jewish sources during biblical times.  Visit, learn and discuss it at your next study group.  Interesting stuff! 

Shalom!