An interesting article describes the busy life of a Chaplain serving the US Army in South Korea:

I spend most of my time during the week working around my battalion. I’m handling soldiers’ personal concerns, from marital problems to issues with their commanders. Soldiers in my unit have asked me to “bless” their newborn babies and perform non-religious…weddings, among other things.

Often I’m asked to deliver a “non-denominational” invocation prayer at change-of-command ceremonies and memorial observances, “spiritual fitness events” and other occasions. 

Because the MPs work at bases all over the country, I’m often on the road driving somewhere, or on the bullet train visiting troops outside of Seoul.

Before the Army, I didn’t have much of a background in counseling or attending to the psychological crises of total strangers – what they call the “ministry”. But I’ve become more proficient at it after four years of knocks on the door and phone calls in the middle of the night, sitting with soldiers, listening for hours as they confide in me about their dilemmas, disclosing the most personal of details.

This level of work and dedication is what military Chaplains do around the world every day for the servicemembers under their care.  Unfortunately, something as simple as the traditional prayer at a military change-of-command sometimes gets criticized as some sort of secret attempt to take over the world for Jesus — and, yes, the presumption is always that it’s Christians.  In fact, the last failed lawsuit against the Army specifically cited only Christian prayers in its accusations against the US military.

The Army Chaplain in Korea, though, is Jewish.

Jews in Green covers the story of Chaplain (Capt) Shlomo Shulman.  Shulman is no more out to proselytize or take over the world than his Christian counterparts are.  Like them, he publicly displayed his faith in the combat zone, even when Judaism may have been viewed with hostility by some locals.  (He even “talked a platoon of…engineers” into building a sukkah for a religious observance.)  Like all other Chaplains, he prays at official events and speaks on Spiritual Fitness. 

He’s caring for the men and women who make up his ‘flock,’ whatever faith they may be.

That’s his job; it’s the duty the Army has asked him to perform, because the Army values the religious freedom and spiritual well-being of all its troops.

And it seems he’s doing an admirable job of it.

A word of caution: The Jews in Green article ends with a tragic story.  While it, too, accurately conveys the trials of military Chaplains, it may be disturbing for some readers.