Marine Corps

(reprinted from http://www.cantorsperlman.com)

CANTOR IVAN E. PERLMAN began his journey through life as a Cantor on March 14, 1948. He completed his Cantorial studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1950. Cantor Perlman has served congregations in Lyndhurst and Fairlawn, New Jersey; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Des Moines, Iowa; Providence, Rhode Island; Stockholm, Sweden; Sarasota; Boca Raton; and Tamarac, Florida.

At age 76 Cantor Perlman accepted the Cantorial position at Temple Beth Kodesh in Boynton Beach, Florida. This was followed by being elected their Ritual Leader at age 78 in the fall of 2003. On February 5, 2005, Cantor Perlman conducted his last Service and is looking forward to moving back to his beloved Rhode Island with his wife, Muriel.

Cantor Perlman served in the Marine Corps during WWII and was a recipient of the Bronze Star for Heroism on Iwo Jima. Ivan Perlman is a Life Member of the Marine Corps League, the Jewish War Veterans, and the Knights of Pythias. He has been the JWV Post Commander in New York City, the Department chaplain in Iowa, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Florida. He was the first National Cantor of the Jewish War Veterans. Currently, Ivan Perlman serves the Jewish War Veterans as its National Cantor, the Post 459 Chaplain, and is a Past Department Chaplain for Florida.

Ivan Perlman has been active in many organizations over the years and was instrumental in organizing the Friends of the Rhode Island School for the Deaf serving as its first chairman.

As a member of the Cantors Assembly of America, he served in many capacities and was its President from 1983 to 1985. Cantor Perlman and Muriel, his wife since August 16, 1947, have four grown sons (all Cantors!) and enjoy many wonderful grandchildren.

Click on Jewish veterans remembered during Iwo Jima-battle anniversary - a special newspaper article about Hazzan Ivan Perlman’s relationship with his country.

Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps

Sgt Foster L. Harrington, 31, of Ft. Worth, Texas, died Sept. 20, 2004 due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Harrington was assigned to the Marine Corps Reserve’s 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company, 4th Marine Division, Mobile, Alabama.

Harrington was more worried about his fiancee and others in Alabama threatened by Hurricane Ivan than the dangers he was facing in Iraq. “I said, `Foster, you’re in worse circumstances than I am, so why are you worried about me?’” said his fiancee, Fran Poston. “He said, ‘Because I want to make sure you’re taken care of. I’m OK where I’m at.’” Harrington, 31, joined the Marines in 1992 and was a water combat instructor and assigned to the Marines’ version of a special-forces unit. “The last words he talked about, he said ‘I’ll be back,’” said Paul Newton, chief of the Seven Hills Volunteer Fire Department, near Mobile, where Harrington was a firefighter and medic. “I said, ‘Buddy, your gear is in the closet, it’s yours and no one else is going take it,’” Newton said. Harrington said he’d be back for it, but “‘This is something I got to do, I want to go.’

Read more about Foster L. Harrington...

Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps

Joshua Mandel seems to have a knack for service.  He served two terms as the Ohio State University undergraduate president before he joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 2000. After his initial training, he returned home to Cleveland and began law school at Case Western Reserve University. While at Case, the young Republican worked for his state representative for three years in charge of community outreach.

At only 26 years of age, Cpl Mandel ran for the office of city councilman of his hometown of Lyndhurst, Ohio.  Mandel physically went door-to-door campaigning and listening to the people.  His sincere concern for the individual voters seemed to have a big effect on the people of Lyndhurst; he won his first race for public office with 4700 of the 5000 votes cast. 

Read more about Joshua A. Mandel...

Technical Sergeant, U.S. Air Force

Mikhail Ekshtut was born in Kiev, Ukraine. In 1976, when he was 5, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Seattle. He grew up mostly nonobservant, but maintained some connection to Judaism during the summers when he would attend a Chabad day camp.

As a child, I always wanted to serve my country. By nature I was machmir (strict) and never did anything in a half-hearted way, so I decided that I would join the best fighting force in the world, the U.S. Marine Corps.  My parents, who escaped the USSR to keep me from having to serve in the Soviet military, thought I was crazy. On Feb. 8, 1989, four days after my 18th birthday, I shipped off to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego.

TSgt. Ekshtut went on to serve overseas in Okinawa, Korea, the Philippines and Bangladesh. During the first Gulf War, he was deployed for seven months on a Navy ship in the Middle East. That winter, he lit Chanukah candles in the middle of the Persian Gulf.

After four years of active duty, he continued to serve in the Marine Reserves. After graduating college as a civil engineer, he spent a few months in Israel where he decided he needed to learn more about what it means to be a Jew.

After several years of learning, I was going to synagogue every Shabbat, putting on tefillin every morning and trying to keep kosher. The only time I could not keep the Sabbath was when I was doing my monthly weekend duty in the Reserves. It was not that I wasnt allowed on the contrary, the more observant I became, the more supportive everyone was. I lit candles and made “Kiddush” in the barracks on Friday night, and my friends would even do the “labors” that were prohibited for me on the Sabbath. But in the Reserves, Saturday is the main training day. 

It was time for me to make a decision: leave my beloved Marine Corps or stay in the Marines and not be so machmir one weekend a month. After nearly 13 years of service, I left the military to keep Shabbat.

But it wasn’t long before he came back…

Read more about Mikhail Ekshtut...