Article in Jewish Post
Benjamin Nadler has penned an in interesting article, titled “The Few, The Proud, The Jewish” in the Jewish Post.
You may read the article here.
Interestingly, a bigot author recently used the same statistic of 1500 self-identified Jewish service members to claim we don’t do our share. I still argue that there’s no way to garner an honest statistic for Jewish service.
Many don’t affiliate or identify as Jewish, and as I recently found in my unit, there are a number of soldiers with matrilineal Jewish heritage that would count to us. Those that recognize patrilineal heritage might find similar situations. On the whole, I think it’s more important to weigh our contribution over the ambiguity of our numbers. I’d like to see a stronger call to military service in our synagogues and other institutions in our community, but we do what we can. As I’ve observed in my own congregation (and amongst my religious school students), there’s no lack of love for service members in our community.
I’d take the quality Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines that this site has the privilege to write about over plain numbers every day!
My son is serving in the United States Army and is currently deployed in a war zone. He does not identify, publish on the Internet or do anything else that would create a public presence for himself. He has met others who he works with who are also Jewish who do the same. This past Rosh Ha’Shanah he participated in well attended services in his theater of operations. There are more Jews out there serving than many people think.