Jewish
Chaplains Spread Out for the High Holidays
JWB Jewish Chaplains Council Sends Support Materials and Holiday
Treats
 As
the holiest time in the Jewish calendar approaches, Jewish
chaplains are flying to the Middle East to provide spiritual
support to the approximately 600 Jewish military personnel
deployed there. The chaplains will conduct services for Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur in different locations in Iraq, bringing
to the tired soldiers a sense of the awe and transcendence
of these days of reflection and renewal. JCC Association’s
JWB Jewish Chaplains Council has already shipped pocket calendars
for 5765, High Holiday prayer books, taleisim and yarmulkes,
along with pamphlet literature, as requested by the chaplains.
JWB has also sent traditional holiday treats of apple-flavored
popcorn, which doesn’t spoil in the heat, and jars of
honey.
Chaplain Irving A. Elson, USN, on deployment from Marine Air
Corps Station, CA, joins three Army chaplains in Iraq in time
for the High Holydays. Chaplain Elson, who was the first Jewish
chaplain in Iraq, is returning for the second time. On the
ground are Army Chaplains Shmuel Felzenberg, and Mordechai
Schwab. Army Reservist Howard Fields has also been called
up. Chaplain Mitchell Schranz with the Sixth Fleet in the
Mediterranean Sea, based in Italy, is being deployed for the
High Holidays with the Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf.
Celebration of Rosh Hashanah, which commences on Wednesday
evening, September 15, and continues until sundown on Friday,
September 17, will take place at military installations around
the globe, as well as on ships at sea, and in Veterans Affairs
Health Care Centers throughout the US. Yom Kippur services
will commence with the traditional Kol Nidre chant on Friday
evening, September 24, and conclude on Saturday night, September
25.
An additional four Jewish chaplains are serving overseas,
Chaplains Donald Levy, USAF, at Ramstein AB, Germany, Chaplain
Jeremy Steinberg, USAR, at Wiesbaden, Germany, Chaplain Joshua
Narrowe at RAF Mildenhall, UK , and Chaplain Brett Oxman,
USAF, in Korea. In addition, approximately 15 Jewish military
lay leaders, certified by the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council,
are serving at locations overseas where no Jewish chaplain
is present, with an additional 50 certified to serve at locations
within the United States.
###
JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
15 E. 26 St., NY, NY 10010
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
send an e-mail
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