I have been here for like three years and I have not yet met any other practicing Jews. I mean I know that there aren’t to many of us in combat type jobs, but there have to be at least a few of us out here.

Are you referring only to military Jews?

I thought there was a pretty vibrant (civilian) Jewish community in SoCal… Where are you stationed?

As a Marine, I always figured San Diego was the best chance I have for a duty station with a decent sized Jewish community.

Well I was reffering to Jews in general. I am at Camp Pendleton which is about half way between L.A. and San Diego. I assume that if you come out here you will be at Miramar. I assume that the majority of the problem for me is the fact that I am in the infantry. The entire time that I have been in I have only met one other. My very frequent deployment schedule probably doesn’t help too much either. There is only one chaplain for the west coast and I am pretty sure that he is deployed right now. Services are generally done on your own.

Yeah, I guess Pendleton is a little more isolated.  I also remember the days of being a young enlisted guy with limited transportation.

Did you ever get a chance to meet Rabbi Elson?  He’s at the Naval Academy now, but he spent a lot of time at Miramar & Pendleton between his Iraq depoyments.

I’m sure we can find some other Jews for you out there.  Statistically, there’s got to be more than a few at Pendleton.  A lot of times, you have to beat the bushes a little to get them all to come out…

I heard from an observant guy out at the Stumps a while back.  I know that’s not too close either, but I could try and get you in touch with him.  I’d also talk to the chaplain on base.  If there is a Jewish layleader on base, he could point you to him.

Semper Fi!

PS: I did a little searching and found a couple things a little closer to you.

There is a Chabad at Lacosta (Carlsbad): see here.
And there are a few shuls south of the base: see here.

I hope this helps.

Actually I have met CMDR Elson. I am on the north side of base though. I just found Temple Beth-El in Aliso Viejo. It is a very militarry friendly congregation. Alot of the people in there are vets. And for the longest time, I was the Jewish lay leader. It just became very frustrating with all the deployments and what not to try and get anything done. I went to a lay leader confrence at Miramar in January of 04. Thanks for the help!

Seems to me that there must be some Jews in Camp Pendleton, judging from the amount of Jewish Religious supplies we are shipping to that location.

Dee
Jewish Prime Vendor for the Military

Dear red6,
My children live in LA and would love if you visited them for a Shabbos or for Purim.  I have a daugher and son who live there.  They will also introduce you to other families in the area.  To contact me email me at It is a group we started to send packages to our troops in Iraq and the surrounging countries.  B’ Shalom Linda