Jewish Floridian deploying to A-stan

This medical professional signed up for a special program, open to medical professionals, to be part of the military. He participated in the Aleph conference in Florida a couple of months back. He is a really nice guy, and we should all wish him well.

The role of the soldier in Jewish history month

"President Obama emphasized Jewish military service in his proclamation naming May as Jewish American History Month." JTS Story here.

Bill to honor Jewish Chaplains

A story about honoring Jewish Chaplains at Arlington.

Obituary for a Jewish WWII vet

WWII vet who took part in the liberation of Nordhausen passed away. Obituary here.

Beards in the Army

Kirsten Gillibrand weighs in, in favor of beards in the Army. The OU is pleased.

Jewish survivor of the Bataan death march

. . . dies at age 92. Obituary here.

Jewish voices on war

I came across this interesting review of this book about Jewish voices on war and national security. Notably, the review points out that there is an essay in the book by Joe Kashnow, and ordinary Jewish soldier (featured here) who wrote a moving piece.

Jewish war veterans

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has noted the passing of a number of Jewish war veterans (and a tap-dancer).

Rabbi at Chaplain conference

A Chabad rabbi will be the speaker at a senior chaplains conference. Story here.

Shabbaton

Here is the write-up of the Aleph institute shabbaton. I will have a more detailed report soon. Overall though, it was a really interesting weekend. I met some great people and heard some great talks.

Update: some photos here.

Canadian Jewish Air Force guy

The guy in this story in the Canadian Air Force is having problems both with the Canadian Forces and with the Israeli government. However, I am told there is a significant back story to this whose details are missing from the Ha'aretz piece.

Our fallen

The Forward has a great set of profiles of Jews who were KIA in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afgahanistan. Here are the profiles and the accompanying editorial.

Jewish Chaplains at Arlington

Surprisingly, this issue, of memorializing Jewish chaplains at Arlington did not come up in the weekend I spend with a whole lot of Jewish chaplains.

In Miami

The Army has sent me to Miami to attend the Aleph Institute Military training conference and Shabbaton. It promises to be an interesting event. I'll keep you posted.

Another Jewish chaplain deploying

. . . . this one from the New York National Guard.