Tis the season for Passover stories I guess. The Free Lance-Star has a story online about a retired Marine near Quantico who opened his home to a young Second Lieutenant on Pesach.

The story itself is not that remarkable, but LtCol Haas deserves a special yesher koach for all his service at Quantico. He volunteered his own time to lead services for Jewish candidates at Marine Corps Officer Candidate School for several years. I first met him back when I went through in 2000. I have no idea if he still does this, but he is obviously still giving to the Jewish community at Quantico even after his retirement.

His generosity should be an example for all of us "Jews in Green". Semper Fi LtCol Haas!

The USA Weekend had an interesting article recently on religion in the military, specifically in Iraq. It chronicles five servicemembers who had some experience with their religion while fighting in Iraq. Spc. Joe Kashnow tells his story of being an Orthodox Jew in the Army and his faith in God throughout some harrowing experiences in Iraq.

I was going through one of my bread cravings the other day (during Passover) and I realized what a great thing this new low-carb craze is to some Jews. These days I keep strict kosher for Passover, but there was a time when that wasn't the case. I've been stationed in a few places where finding kosher for Passover items are next to impossible, so I used to just do my best to eliminate bread and reduce any other prohibited items on Passover. In the Atkins-crazed America we now live in this "method" is a whole lot easier.

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The Museum of Jewish Heritage at Battery Park in New York City has an exhibit showcasing the Jewish men and women who fought in World War II called "Ours to Fight For." The exhibit is also available online. The exhibit's website is very impressive and well put together. There are a number of videos and interviews (including Ed Koch) as well as facts and photos from the war.

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KOACH, which is traditionally a college outreach program for Conservative Judaism, has a listserv devoted for Jews in the military. Although their website describes the list as being for the families of Jewish active duty military, my brief experience with it seems to show that it is equally useful for the actual servicemembers as well.

Even though this is sponsored by the Conservative movement, I think it is a valuable resource for ALL Jews serving, regardless of your movement affiliation.

They also offer a number of subscription options so you can control when and how much mail you receive on the listserv, although it looks like it's not an overused listserv (like many others I've belonged to).

MSNBC has a great story about a number of Jewish soldiers celebrating passover in the middle of fighting in Iraq.

It's almost a year old now, but I think it is a perfect example of how we can honor our traditions even in the most unlikely and inconvenient of places.

If you have any unique and interesting stories like this one, email them to and we'll publish them on the website.

What's better than a nice hot MRE? A kosher one, of course! As most of us know, keeping kosher in the military can be a particular challenge. Add field operations into the equation and it gets even worse.

So what's a good little Jewish boy (or girl) to do? Enter MoM to the rescue. No, not your mother, MoM (My Own Meals). As far as I know, there used to be "regular" kosher MREs in standard packaging (like the current vegetarian ones). Now, a private company has the responsibility of supplying kosher rations to the U.S. military. MoM makes 10 different kosher meals. Each meal contains an entree plus a bag containing a variety of components.

So how do I order them?

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A big part of Jews in Green is interactivity, so please don’t hesitate to post comments on any of the stories listed here.  In addition, you can take advantage of the forums to meet other Jewish service members and discuss things important to you.  Enjoy and don’t be shy with the feedback!

Well, after months of hard work, Jews in Green is official! The site was designed to help the many Jews serving in our nations armed forces. Jews in Green provides a source of relevant news to Jewish service members as well as a forum for us "Jews in Green" to meet and talk with one another about issues important to us. To learn more about us, click on the "about us" link above.

A big part of Jews in Green is interactivity, so please don't hesitate to post comments on any of the stories listed here. In addition, you can take advantage of the forums to meet other Jewish service members and discuss things important to you. Enjoy and don't be shy with the feedback!

There is a new category on JIG called ”Essentials”.  With over 500 posts and growing, I felt we needed to highlight some stories that are must reads.  If you are a new visitor (or have only been reading JIG for a year or so), check out the “essentials” section for the very best JIG has to offer.