Tag Archives: Jewish

Group Provides Holiday Supplies for US Troops

The US military generally does an admirable job of supporting the religious exercise of its members.  That’s not to say it doesn’t use (or need) a little help sometimes.

Like external groups of other faiths, the Aleph Institute is organizing shipments of faith-based supplies to Jewish members of the US military around the world.  As announced at Jews in Green,

They are offering to ship Prayer Books & Ritual Materials for the High Holidays and Sukkot FREE OF CHARGE to active duty military Read more

Weinstein Complains of “Wretched” Christian Air Force Training



According to the Air Force Times, the Air Force is reviewing “all” materials it uses to teaches “ethics, core values, and character development.”  The reason?

More Christian-themed course work surfaced.

The gross misrepresentation of the Chaplain briefing at Vandenberg, promoted by Michael Weinstein and his “religious freedom” allies, has already been discussed.  The latest issue is a “complaint” about ethics training in ROTC.

The ROTC briefing, called “Core Values and the Air Force Member,” contains references to the Sermon on the Mount and the Ten Commandments as examples of ethical values. Two additional slides list the New Testament teachings of Jesus known as the Beatitudes, and seven of the commandments, including “Have no other gods before me.”

The 22-slide briefing also cites the Golden Rule as an example of ethical values. One of the slides points out that the Golden Rule — “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” — is found in five of the world’s major religions.

Shocking, isn’t it?  A slideshow on ethics gives Christian Read more

Jews in the Military

The Algemeiner, a self-described Jewish newspaper, recently had an interesting article chronicling the military service of Jews in the world’s and the US military.

The reason for the article was to address a historical meme:

Throughout history, a common anti-Semitic method of incitement has been to accuse Jews of being unpatriotic. This was often largely expressed in the accusation that Jews were unwilling to join their military.

After a bit of history, the article explains the demographics of the military Read more

US Military Chaplains Meet with Tanzanian Religious Leaders

US Navy Chaplain (CAPT) Jon Cutler is the director of Religious Affairs for CJTF – Horn of Africa.  In late July, he met with religious leaders in Tanzania to communicate the US military’s religious freedom and coordinate for future cooperation.

Cutler highlighted the US military’s religious plurality and freedom to his hosts in East Africa:

“My close friend and Muslim Imam, Shakur Ali, Africa command chaplain [U.S. Air Force Colonel] Jerry Lewis, and I are visiting Dar es Salaam from August 10 to 15 [during Ramadan],” Cutler told the religious leaders. “It’s unheard of for a Jew, Christian and Muslim to be friends Read more

Air Force Pulls Nuke Training over Religion Complaint

A variety of news sources are now reporting the US Air Force ended a training class after an internet article belittled its religious content.  Contrary to some assertions, this is actually not a big deal.

This much has been accurately reported:  The Air Force training slides had Bible verses, and the course was led by a Chaplain.  There was a public article.  The Air Force pulled the course to “review it.”

Beyond that, much of the other reporting has been misrepresented or inaccurate.

The Washington Post said

The Air Force has suspended a training course for nuclear missile launch officers that used Bible passages and religious imagery to teach them about the ethics of war.

Unfortunately, that’s essentially a misrepresentation, likely because the conclusion was drawn solely from a copy of the slides used in the brief — sans notes or context.  The course did not use Biblical citations to teach ethics.  The ~40-slide PowerPoint presentation was an ethical discussion on the conduct of war, with emphasis on the application of nuclear weapons.  (The title of the first seven slides is “Ethics;” the second section is “Nuclear Ethics and Nuclear Warfare.”)

The course’s focus was to address common Read more

Marines Honor Fallen Jewish Heroes

Chaplain (COL) Jacob Goldstein and General Robert Magnus, USMC Retired, former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, recently gathered with 50 Marines at the Jewish Center in Manhattan to honor fallen Jews in the US military service.

“In front of the Torah, we pay tribute to those who served our country,” said Rabbi Yosie Levine of the Jewish Center, in Manhattan, which hosted the May 30 Jewish Community Memorial Day Event, “An Appreciation of America’s Service Members.” With a U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard on the bimah, Levine told the guests: “Each Shabbat we pray and say todah [thank you]…May God bless America.”

General Magnus was a former helo pilot who carried the callsign “Heeb” for more than 30 years.

The Memorial Day event was steeped in Jewish ceremony Read more

Military Chief Faces Criticism over Role of God in Military Funerals

The head of the armed forces is embroiled in a controversy over the proper place of “God” in military funeral rites — but its likely not the problem you think.

The Israeli military is embroiled in a public battle over whether God ought to be mentioned at memorial rites for fallen soldiers…

The controversy is over whether Yizkor, the Hebrew prayer of remembrance, should begin at military ceremonies with the words “May God remember” or “May the people of Israel remember.”

Military policy calls for the version mentioning God to be used, but enforcement has been patchy in an apparent nod to the sentiments of the Jewish state’s secular majority.

It is a seemingly odd controversy for a nation that is often assumed to be religious in some form.

Back home in the US, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in Texas is Read more

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