Volume 40 Number 50
Produced: Fri Aug 29 5:26:51 US/Eastern 2003
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Administrivia
[Avi Feldblum]
Jewish Needs in the U.S. Military
[Yisrael and Batya Medad]
Kashrus in U.S. Military
[Sammy Finkelman]
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From: Avi Feldblum <mljewish@...>
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 2003 05:25:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Administrivia
Hello All,
These last several weeks have been somewhat interesting ( :-) )on the
internet email front. There have been a number of major worms and similar
items clogging up the mail system. Most (all?) of them only attack
Microsoft based systems, and tend to propogate by getting a copy of your
addressbook and forging From: addresses based on your saved addresses and
propogating to other people in your addressbook. Thus, I would not be
surprised that many of you might have gotten copies of the worm that said
they came from me.
I am managing this list on a Unix based system, and use a text-only email
client with no addressbook. So I am fairly confident that I am not sending
out any infected messages. [I had been recieving MANY of them at the
height of the attacks, since I tend to be in many of YOUR addressbooks].
In general, if you get a which is listed on your email client as being
from me, but is not plain text or is greater than about 18K in size, it is
likely a forged message.
The system admin group here is also excellent, so they have put in place
system level checks for the worms and examine messages at the server
level, so I no longer see any that come in, and all outgoing mail from
Shamash is also being checked to ensure that it is bug-free.
Avi Feldblum
mail-jewish Moderator
<mljewish@...>
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From: Yisrael and Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 22:05:06 +0200
Subject: Jewish Needs in the U.S. Military
I had forwarded the item of "Anonymous" on the issue of Army kosher food
to a serving Chaplain, Rabbi (Lt. Col., I think) Avi Weiss.
His wife has replied, with Avi's approval, and I send it on to
MailJewish.
Yisrael Medad
------------
It's definitely an important issue, and very relevant to what
Avi's doing. [I'm answering in the meantime, cause he's away at a
conference this week.] But I have a hunch he might make/support
the following comments: (I just read it to him on the phone, and
he supported everything I say below)
Kashrut in the military is definitely a legitimate issue, and a
legitimate problem to raise.
It is also a problem that Avi has had to deal with directly, on a
lot of different planes. Right now (August, 2003 - he has been
here just over a year), he is serving as a senior chaplain on one
of the largest training bases in the U.S. Army, and he has seen
trainees with a wide range of requests regarding kashrut and other
Jewish issues. In addition, other Jewish personnel have been
assigned here or passed through ("here" is Ft. Jackson, SC) with a
variety of needs/requests/interests and received responses of
various sorts. Responses are related not only to the nature of the
request but also to the training status of the requester, to
logistics and time issues, and to how the "system" perceives the
problem/sincerity of the requester/range of options in coming up
with a solution.
The writer raises a number of issues that require completely
separate treatments, and a few important caveats, including
a) From the perspective of the military (and maybe,
from any perspective) complaining about this issue 5-10 years
after the fact smacks of a poor-me attitude rather than a
sincere interest in trying to solve a problem.
Ditto for doing it anonymously.
Solving a problem is a different activity.
b) Although in your comment the presenting problem is "I'm
hungry, but there's no kosher food for me", the background problem
is really a rather large and looming one, for many, many of the
soldiers in today's U.S. Army of incentives and recruiter
quotas. It's better-know formulation is "My recruiter lied to me"
and it comes in all shapes, colors and sizes. There is an
inherent contradiction and tension between any special needs, and
the interest of the recruiter to fit any kind of peg he comes
across into the square hole he has to fill to make his quota and
retain his job/get his promotion. Although we see this problem in
Jewish terms, the recruiter will bulldoze over just about any
special need and assure the potential recruit that it won't be a
problem, especially something he knows nothing about (surely,
being a recruiter and a senior non-commissioned officer, he is
convinced he knows enough about everything to know that
much.....). Even clear medical problems. The looming need to make
his quota rides roughshod over every other consideration for the
recruiter. Just as an example - very fresh, this happened in the
past few weeks: A trainee approached Avi about problems with food,
Shabbat, and especially about making sure she got the appropriate
financial support for her dependents - husband and son - but was
stymied by the fact that she could only produce a ketuba, but no
American/English language document attesting to her married status
(apparently because in the country where she was married - not the
US - the ketuba was sufficient) ------ and, after working hard to
keep up and make the grade despite being a few years older than
most of the other trainees she was told the Army was discharging
her......... on the basis of a medical problem! Don't you think,
logically, that if the recruiter had been straight with her that
would have been picked up at the outset? So you see, it's hard to
call recruiter misrepresentation "a Jewish problem."
c) In the past year, we have yet to come across a trainee
who is fully observant to the extent that they refuse to eat
anything in the Dining Facility except uncooked fruits and
vegetables, or clearly marked packaged foods. There have been some
who choose to stay away from this or that (one young lady survived
on double starches, in order not to eat any of the meats, etc.).
On that basis, it's hard to turn the system upside down (to the
standards you might expect for yourself in an established Jewish
community) for someone who sees their own personal standards
differently.
d) Anyone entering military service [and this applies to
the IDF, and probably any army in the world] needs to recognize
that they are entering a SYSTEM which is geared and built and
well-oiled to work exactly like a machine. There can be no loose
parts, no colored streamers, no individual expression like hair an
unusual color or bright-colored nail polish. Standards and
standardization is taken very seriously, and nowhere more
seriously than in basic training. So what may be available later
- switching to cover Sunday for Saturday duty, covering your
buddy's holiday to be free for yours, and being able to live
off-post so you're getting a stipend for food rather than relying
on the Dining Facility (once you've reached the rank where that's
allowed) - the program and training schedule during the Basic
Training and Advanced Individual Training is very tight and
doesn't always allow for these. The recruiter IS CORRECT that no
one will be denied the right to practice their faith. But a) the
needs of the Army will always be counted as coming first, and b)
the results of that equation may lead to the conclusion that "you
are incompatible with army service" and they'll kindly (or not so
kindly) show you the door marked OUT.
All that said, we have seen and heard and experienced some
very positive episodes during the past year.
a) The opportunity to attend Jewish chapel services has
strengthened lots of trainees in the idea that yes, it is possible
to be proudly (if not necessarily loudly) Jewish in this
overwhelmingly Christian environment. Having a Jewish prayer book
to take on with you to your next duty station, being able to hear
kiddush and have a taste of challah on Friday night, remembering
that you once learned Hebrew and wouldn't it be nice to remember
it........ all these are Jewish sparks that can be rekindled under
crisis and - hopefully - fanned to a larger flame in the more
comfortable environment of a permanent duty station where there
will be broader opportunities, maybe a Jewish chaplain or at least
an active Jewish lay leader, and maybe even a civilian community
nearby that makes overtures to Jews in uniform [hint, hint].
b) Patience, perseverance and especially a SMILE and
willingness to work inside the system can do wonders. We are still
in awe of the young lady (with many more years of experience as a
soldier and reservist than as a frum Jew, but suddenly catapulted
from Brooklyn back into uniform and eventually overseas) who was
able to pass through three military bases before shipping out and
not compromise a single time on Shabbat or Kashrut issues [to the
extent that, when she was our guest, she was still waiting for a
teshuva on the Cholov Yisrael issue]. She diligently pushed all
the right buttons to arrange for Kosher MRE's ("meals
ready-to-eat", better known as field rations) to be acquired by
the dining halls. She realized that making friends (really,
sincerely, honestly making friends) with the right people would
let her go behind the counter to get the first scoop out of an
industrial-sized can of kosher tuna fish. We get regular reports
of her excitement over preparing Oneg Shabbat treats of a candy
bar and dried fruit for the soldiers she shares Shabbat Zemirot
with, or the non-Jewish friends who worry about her meager diet
and have learned to recognize the kosher symbols on treats that
occasionally reach their remote location.
c) And, being a soldier isn't for everyone. Just last
week, Avi spoke to someone who was contemplating enlisting, but
thought he might eventually want to be a chaplain. Well - then go
study first, figure out if you want to become a rabbi, if you want
to enter the chaplaincy - and you'll land in a whole different
environment. Officers (this includes not only chaplains but
doctors, nurses, veterinarians, psychologists and social workers,
lawyers) have a whole different set of circumstances and will also
be subjected to only a very shortened taste of the Basic Training
experience.
To sum up:
1. Recruiters lie to EVERYONE. It's not a "Jewish problem."
2. A Jewish solution, though, is "who do you know?" If you
really want answers, then before you sign on anyone's dotted
line,
- Talk to a Jewish soldier who is IN THE MILITARY
NOW.
- Talk to a Jewish chaplain on active duty or in
reserves NOW - or any chaplain, any denomination, who is in
active or reserve status.
- Better yet, contact the Jewish Welfare Board at
http://www.jcca.org/jwb for all sorts of information as well
as a contact link to send email for further inquiries. They
can answer your questions, as well as pass them along to
someone in the field.
3. The military will NOT tell anyone that they CANNOT observe
their faith. BUT, a) the needs of the Army will always come first,
b) they may conclude that you are "incompatible with military
service", and c) the style and attitude in which you present your
needs may make a big difference in how those needs are perceived
and handled.
4. In this, as in every situation in life, there's a world of
difference between a cry-baby attitude and a sincere effort to
solve a sincere problem.
I hope this helps.
Feel free to respond to me directly.
Elcya Weiss
<elcya@...>
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From: Sammy Finkelman <sammy.finkelman@...>
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 03 16:38:00 -0400
Subject: Kashrus in U.S. Military
This happened to the son of someone I know from my shul. He enlisted in
the Marines this past July. He was promised he would be allowed to be
religious in the military, but indeed he is being forced to eat
non-Kosher food. They watch him to make sure he is eating, so he can't
just not eat. Nobody can send him any food, nor any money, although they
can write letters. For Shabbos they make Kiddush on orange juice on
Sunday morning. Evidentally, they have Sunday morninbg as a time for all
religions. The chaplain is a Conservative Rabbi and he told him since he
is in the military he doesn't have to do things and so on like that and
as long as the chaplain is satisfied, whoeever is in charge of Parris
Island is happy. He is thinking about flunking out in something in order
to get discharged. I found Senator Schumer's New York City office (as a
possible place to contact) and also printed out that Privacy Act notice
and asked him to mail it to his son so he could sign it because
Schumer's website said they won't do anything about anything unless the
Privacy Act waiver is signed, and I also mentioned Agudath Israel. I do
not know whjat happened since.
I am glad to hear that the problem is bigger than just this one case.
Military recruiters are evidentally still lying or telling half-truths.
I suppose things may depend a little bit on exactly where someone is
assigned. I would appreciate finding out how I can put his father in
contact with other people.
[I think the previous submission should give you some good information
and an excellent contact. Mod]
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End of Volume 40 Issue 50
