Jewish Marine from Pittsburgh to Blog from Iraq
Stiebel to stay in touch with ‘Burgh, study Torah, via Internet
From the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh
By Susan Jacobs
Associate Editor
Pittsburgh resident Victor Stiebel recently reported for active duty with a reserve unit of the Marine Corps. Soon, he will ship out from Camp Lejeune, N.C., to serve in Iraq.
But even though Stiebel, 49, is trading the hills of Pittsburgh for the sands of Iraq, he won’t be incommunicado. He plans to stay in touch with Jewish Pittsburgh through a blog (Internet diary) that he is writing about his military experiences.
The blog is available through the Web site for the Pittsburgh eruv (pittsburgheruv.org/blog/). Members of the Jewish community check the Web site weekly to make sure that the eruv – the symbolic fence that makes it permissible to carry on Shabbat – is functioning.
Now, in addition to updates about the eruv and candlelighting times for Shabbat, visitors to the Web site will also get updates about Stiebel and other local Jews on active military duty.
Stiebel, a physician and psychiatrist and a Navy Captain, is not the only member of the Jewish community who will soon be in Iraq. Rabbi Nosson Sachs, a lieutenant colonel, will also be in Iraq for several weeks tending to the religious needs of Jewish servicemen during the High Holidays. Last year, Sachs was stationed in Afghanistan for the same reason. Sachs also plans to blog about his experiences, said Sue Fuhrman, chairman of the Eruv Committee.
“So many people want to know what’s going on, how they’re doing,” she said. “People care.”
For Stiebel, the decision to blog about his experiences came at the urging of his family.
“My wife said I should have a blog,” he said. His four children also encouraged him.
Fuhrman, who was already considering hosting a blog link for local Jewish servicemen at the eruv Web site, offered to host Stiebel’s blog when she heard he would write one.
“There is an outpouring of interest and concern within the community for our men in uniform,” Fuhrman said, “and I saw this as a mechanism to meet this need.” While Sachs and Stiebel will likely be sent to different parts of Iraq, the long-time Torah study partners hope their paths will cross while they are there. But if not, they will be able to keep in touch through the blog.
Even with just a couple of posts so far, the blog is already popular.
“Judging by the number of unique hits, the response has been very good,” said Furhman. “We doubled our number of unique hits in the first week alone.” Rather than offering general observations about military life, Stiebel, who is Orthodox, plans to provide specifically Jewish content. In his early posts from Camp Lejeune, he wrote about attending Shabbat services and meals at the base and finding a Torah study partner.
Stiebel, who wears a yarmulke with his uniform, said he does not know of other Orthodox Jews serving with combat units. Even though the military is good about providing kosher meals and giving him Shabbat as a day off, observing the rest of the mitzvot can be challenging. “It’s very hard to be a frum Jew in the military,” he said.
In addition to posting updates on the eruv blog, Stiebel also keeps his family updated through a personal blog.
And, he can call home by telephone or by using Skype, an Internet phone service. “Phones are ubiquitous,” he said. “It’s not like it used to be in the old days.” Years ago, while stationed in Antarctica, Stiebel used a ham radio to reach his family. When he finally got a signal that allowed him to place a call, no one was home to receive it.
His current military assignment is to last seven months, and though his long absence from Pittsburgh forced him to close his medical practice, he’s not resentful about making personal sacrifices.
“I have no regrets being in the military,” Stiebel said. “I’m very happy to be serving our country.”
Great story. I hope he sends JIG an article of his experiences there and some great pictures.
As always, let me just tell you that there are loads of jewish items available to deploying service men–check them out on warfighter.
http://warfighter.dla.mil/special/mig49/items/jewish_items1.jsp
Dee
Jewish Prime Vendor
Why is it that jews are under represented in the the US military as compared to their population in this country?(per capita) especially in front line units ie. U.S. Marime Corps etc.
is it a cultural issue or that jews feel their lives are worth more than Christians etc.?
It’s impossible to put a figure on the exact number of Jews serving in the uniform at any given time these days. There is no means of tracking it aside from religious preference, and there are a good number of service members who may not identify their religious preference.
But such a telling rhetorical question at the end of your comment! As this site documents, being identifiably or even just culturally Jewish in the service comes with a set of challenges. I personally call it the “Evangelical Get-a-Jew Afterlife Bonus Program.” There’s nothing that puts a fire in the belly of your armchair evangelist than the presence of a Jew. Who can blame the prospective enlistee or future officer who would opt out because they’d find the cultural climate of the military to be extremely uncomfortable?
I say, measure us by our significant military achievement regardless of the figures. Numbers belie our patriotism, our contribution does not.
Less than 3,000 Jews serve in the U.S. military. Of this number there are very few in Combat Arms (I estimate they are underrepresented there by a factor of 30.). Over 4,000 Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. How many have been Jewish?
Contributions? Nimitz. Beyond that? And no, neo-cons pumping for a war they and their children won’t fight in don’t count.
Hopefully you’ll come back safe. But please remind me again why you or anyone else has to go over there in the first place.
(You don’t have the stones to publish this, but that doesn’t change the facts.)
“Facts.”
Stones come with a set of jump or pilot wings, buddy. Stones also are in short supply with anonymous comments, “Joe.”
I love you racist trolls who have apparently no understanding of statistics or combat. It’s sort of like flipping a coin. It’s possible it can land on either side, but you could have a run of 4,000 coin flips and land “heads” 90% of the time. Insurgents, IEDs, etc., don’t ensure they measure up to a quota. How many of those 4,000 Americans have been Mormons or Seventh Day Adventists? No, the sole reason people question Jewish participation is because of despicable racism and all too familiar canards, including the unverifiable number of Jewish soldiers.
There is no block for “Jewish” upon entry to the service. There is only identifying one’s religious preference, and there are many unaffiliated Jews who specify “no religious preference” for a variety of reasons, some including the same racist, however couched, nonsense from trolls like you. Your number is not useful.
This site is chock-full of contributions by Jewish service members. History, too, speaks for itself. But the best part of the bliss afforded by ignorance is the willingness of the benighted fools who swallow your swill to go to great lengths to remain uninformed. Follow some links or read the stories on this site if the truth means anything to you.
You can say you hope we come back safe, but the bottom line is that your “facts”, which are unsupported by any evidence that affirms or disproves, and your statement about neo-cons reveals you for what you are.
So back to stones, please do us all a favor and crawl back under yours.
I have recently come back from a tour in Iraq. I do consider myself orthodox it is how I was raised. since high school I had difted away from the traditions of the religion, however since my time in Iraq and my vists to the holy land I had begun to practice the religion more faithfully. I wore my kipa in Iraq, and blew the sofar and was allowed time off during Yom Kippour. What shocked me was that my own battalion back home in NY denied me the right to wear my kipa, and began to systematically go against me. I am trying to fight for my rights, I was told that I dont have the same rights as everyone else, and that the constitution doesnt apply to the millitay. I feel like they are looking for some reason … any reason to demote me and keep me silent. I recieved a 4.7, 4.7 by my 1st sgt. and then the staff sgt. requested i get a 4.5, 4.4. after fighting for several months i got the 1st sgt to bring it back up to a 4.6, 4.6. I am a hard worker. and since i requested for an accomedation to wear a kipa I have been roadblocked. There is a reason Jews dont make themselves known…
After speaking to a well known Jewish Col. Chalain I have some facts. Jews have a representation of about 1% in the military–and about 1/2% of the total US population. So….I wouldn’t consider that grossly underrepresented.
As far as the Yarmulke/kippa goes–we make them specifically for the military in all camouflage fabrics–so I don’t think that it’s not allowed at all. There might be some regulations involved–talk to your chaplain. There are some more knowledgeable people reading these blogs-maybe they can give you specifics.
Dee
Jewish Prime Vendor