Jewish Outreach at Fort Lewis, Washington
The News Tribune reports on the efforts of Army Chaplain LTC Avi Weiss to assist Jewish troops stationed at Fort Lewis.
Rabbi Weiss has been on and off active duty and even spent some time in Jerusalem in-between his tours. Evidently a Jewish chaplain is a very welcome sight for the Jewish community on and off base. This will be the first time in three years that they will have a rabbi to lead services.
LTC Weiss also leads weekly Shabbat services and is putting a great deal of work into the construction of a brand new $8 million chapel for North Fort Lewis. Read the the full story for more info.
My daughter and son-in-law enjoy the Friday night services at Ft. Lewis with Rabbi Weiss. (My son-in-law, SPC C.R. Mathison, recently returned from a year in Iraq.)
She tells me the Jewish Chapel (Chapel 5) is beautifully appointed and very comfortable. The onegs are nice, too. Also, the Ft. Lewis Commissary is now selling challah as well as many other kosher foods.
Thank you for your site, Jews in Green. I am an AF veteran and sure would have loved Internet with such a resource in my day! (I served actively from Aug 1973-Aug 1982.)