A DoD article highlights US Army Chaplain (LtCol) Avi Weiss, a chaplain who “FOB hops” around Afghanistan as the only Jewish religious leader in the theater.
“Attempting to keep traditional Jewish laws is difficult in this environment,” said Weiss, explaining the shortage of rabbis in the military. “It’s a credit to the military that it Read more
The lengths to which the US military will go to protect the free exercise of its troops have been noted here many times before. From delivering fresh palm fronds at Easter to helping servicemembers build a Sukkah, the military generally does an admirable job of trying to provide religious resources to those it separates from those resources in the call to war.
Recently, the base chapel in Kandahar, Afghanistan, received its first Torah scroll, created in memory of fallen servicemembers. Chaplain (LtCol) Avi Weiss explains the significance of the scroll:
Capt Rubin at Jews in Green recognized this for the support of religious freedom that it is.
Military atheist Justin Griffith, on the other hand, Read more
As noted previously, the US military has four Jewish Chaplains in Afghanistan to help US servicemembers celebrate the Jewish High Holy days; in fact, three of the chaplains are in country temporarily solely for that reason.
Four rabbis – roughly 15 percent of the military’s Jewish chaplaincy – are visiting Afghanistan, including several remote military installations, to help troops and civilian employees mark the High Holidays through Oct. 21.
The four are Army Chaplains (LtCol) Laurence Bazer, (Col) Jacob Goldstein, (LtCol) Avi Weiss, and (Navy Lt) Josh Sherwin. Chaplain Bazer noted the significance of the Jewish presence in the predominantly Islamic country: Read more