Honoring Jewish American veterans
Teaneck shuls unite to remember the fallen and those who served
Three Teaneck shuls recently marked Veterans Day together.
The impetus for the program was a trip to France in May 2023 by Kenneth Hoffman, who chaired the effort and is a member of Congregation Rinat Yisrael. The trip he took was under the auspices of Operation Benjamin, an organization that identifies Jewish American soldiers who were killed in battle abroad and buried in United States military cemeteries under Latin crosses.
Jewish soldiers were not buried under crosses intentionally, Mr. Hoffman said. Records can get lost during a war, and the default grave marker was a cross. “And there are plenty of Jews who removed their Jewish identification, particularly in Europe, because they were afraid of being captured by the Germans,” he added.
Operation Benjamin looks for the families of these fallen soldiers and works with them to replace the headstone with a Star of David. The organization also brings groups to witness ceremonies where the grave markers are changed.
Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, another Rinat member, is the organization’s president. “He has a real sensitivity to this,” Mr. Hoffman said. “His dad volunteered as a chaplain in the Second World War and was with Patton when they liberated Buchenwald. He has a real appreciation for the U.S. military.” (JJ Schacter’s father was Rabbi Herschel Schacter.)
“This trip in particular was interesting because the organization was doing three grave marker changes, and two of the families were coming over from the United States to be there and to speak,” Mr. Hoffman added. “It was a rather moving several days in France.”
Mr. Hoffman was inspired by the trip. “I realized that so much of what we focus on in a shul like Rinat is about Israelis and Israeli soldiers, for all the right reasons, but we seem to forget about American soldiers,” he said. “There is no longer a draft, so there are not that many people currently in the military. So it’s not front and center for us as Americans as it would have been say during the period of the Second World War.”
Rabbi Schacter had similar feelings. “When we came back, we realized that of course our community pays an enormous amount of attention and respect to Israeli soldiers, as we should and as we must, but we also need to recognize that there were many Americans who made tremendous sacrifices, some of them to the point of giving up their lives, so that America can be free and that America can be a democracy and that Jews are able to live in freedom in America. And so the idea was born that we need to do something to recognize and place at the forefront of our awareness the contribution made by American soldiers.”
Mr. Hoffman and Rabbi Schacter thought that Veterans Day Shabbat would be the appropriate time to do that, and they organized a program at Rinat. They invited congregants to submit pictures and short bios of family members who served or now serve in the U.S. armed forces. About 100 listings were submitted and compiled into a booklet, producing “an outpouring of enthusiasm to honor family members,” Mr. Hoffman said.
Veterans Day coincided with Shabbat last year. The booklets were placed outside the main sanctuary, and people were invited to take one. The program began following services with Rinat members who have served in the military reciting prayers for the armed forces. Then Mike Yasenchak, who supervised several of the United States military cemeteries in Europe, spoke.
But Veterans Day did not coincide with Shabbat this year, so the program was held on the Shabbat before the holiday. The featured speaker was Jacob Freedman, chief of staff to Secretary of the Army, Christine Wormuth.
After the success of last year’s event, organizers invited two nearby shuls, Congregations Beth Sholom and Bnai Yeshurun, to join the program. (Bnai Yeshurun, like Rinat, is modern Orthodox; Beth Sholom is Conservative.) Members submitted pictures and bios of veterans and people now serving, and this year’s booklet contained 175 listings. The bios and pictures were displayed on the television screens in the Rinat lobby.
“We take the American military for granted, and our way of life for granted,” Mr. Hoffman said. “The military is providing us with the benefit of ensuring the freedoms that we have, which nobody should take for granted.” Next year he’s hoping to invite more local synagogues to join.
Rabbi Chaim Strauchler, who leads Rinat, sees the new program as an opportunity to “appreciate the contribution of our community to America through armed service,” he said. “We had success the first year, doing it on our own. We speak to our friends, and they expressed interest as well.
“We heard a lot of discussions about the program. After looking through the booklet, people said, ‘I didn’t know about that type of armed service, or that element of Jewish involvement, in World War II or in Vietnam or Korea.’ The kiddush was filled with people reflecting on what was shared at the program and just telling their stories. It was really an invitation to conversation.
“Contributing is something that we see as being very core to what it means to be American,” he added. “We need to value those contributions, and regularize and celebrate those contributions, and encourage those contributions. The military is one avenue, but I think the military is just one example of how as a Jewish community we see ourselves as part of American society, and we recognize that we have what it takes to contribute and we have a responsibility to contribute.”
Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky, who leads Beth Sholom, went to Rinat with some of his congregants after Beth Sholom’s services. “We were really honored to be asked by Rabbi JJ Schacter and Kenny Hoffman to be involved with the Veterans Shabbat program,” Rabbi Pitkowsky said. “We’re really happy to be involved in activities with other synagogues whenever possible. I think honoring veterans is very important, and it’s great to have the shul involved in that.
“There is far too much division within the culture at the moment, and I think anything we can do to focus on those areas of agreement, or areas that we can come together as a community, I think is a really good idea.
“And veterans, I would say especially in the Jewish community, do not get enough attention,” Rabbi Pitkowsky continued. “Without a draft, I think there is some distance between the American Jewish community and the American military that I think is not particularly healthy in terms of our knowledge of, commitment to, or just understanding of American history. I think bringing us together is very important because we have really wonderful history and present of American Jews serving in the U.S. military.
“I think that’s something we should celebrate and honor.”
He and members of his community who were at the program “were really touched by the speaker and by the connections that we have with members of Rinat and Bnai Yeshurun.
Rabbi Pitkowsky was a chaplain candidate in the air force when he was in rabbinical school, and he has brother-in-law who is a recently retired career Air Force officer. He feels “a deep connection to the U.S. military,” he said, and he was “really personally honored to support the event.” And he is grateful to Rabbi Schacter and Mr. Hoffman for organizing the program. “It’s just a beautiful way to honor veterans and those American Jews who have died defending our country,” Rabbi Pitkowsky said. “I think that remembering the people who provide us the opportunity to live these lives of freedom and opportunity is a never-ending job of gratitude and thanks and remembering them on Veterans Day is really a powerful way to come together as a community.”
Rabbi Elliot Schrier leads Bnai Yeshurun. “I think as American Jews we are extraordinarily proud of our American identity,” he said. “We have strong patriotic feelings towards this country. This country is a total aberration in Jewish history in terms of the way it has welcomed and embraced the Jewish people, and we feel an immense debt of gratitude toward this country and deep patriotism toward this country. And that’s perhaps most acutely and dramatically been expressed by the many Jewish service men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces. That’s something that we take immense pride in, especially in a time when we see antisemitism rising in this country, reminding ourselves of this country’s core values and the way that we as a people have benefited from it, and have contributed.
“On a very personal note, it was a point of pride for me,” Rabbi Schrier added. “My grandfather, who I am named for, served this nation in World War II. He was injured in combat, his Purple Heart is one of my family’s most cherished possessions. And on a personal level, in addition to a communal level, I was really honored to participate.”
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