Synagogues: from Bnai Keflavik to Beth Nah V'nad
By JULIAN JABLIN
Would you like to attend a
Passover Seder this year at Con-
gregation Bnai Keflavik Or join
a minyan with Bnai Antietam?
Or attend a Jewish service at
Aloha Chapel?
The chances are that you'll
never have the opportunity to
become a member of any of
these congregations, although
you'd - be a most welcome visitor
at any of them. No, the mem-
bership is highly restricted, be-
ing limited to Jewish men and
women who wear the uniform
of the U.S. Armed Forces. These
are the "GI congregations"—
the groups of servicemen who
band together for religious
activities, social events and
communal service wherever
American troops are on duty
across the world.
In Case some of the "Hebrew"
in these names seems unfamil-
iar, an explanation is in order.
"Keflavik" is the name of an
American air base in Iceland,
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"Antietam" is a U.S. aircraft
carrier, and "Aloha" is a name
that means almost anything in
Hawaii. Some congregations
stick to pure Hebrew with spe-
cial meanings; Bnai Barzel,
"Sons of Iron," most appropriate
for an artillery outfit; Sehilla
lcdosha Okinawa, the "Holy
Community" of Okinawa; Bnai
Erev Ra,v, a "Mixed Multitude"
of men from • several different
military organizations.
These GI congregations escape
some of the problems facing
synagogues in American com-
munities. There are no dues, al-
though members generally con-
tribute to 1, "chapel fund" to
make necessary purchases for
the chapel, for charitable con-
tributions, or for other purposes.
There are never any building
campaigns, because the congre-
gation meets wherever the men
can get together. There are few
social distinctions; rank is care-
fully parked outside and the
measure of a congregant's im-
portance is the amount of serv-
ice that he gives. There are no
ritual problems, since the pray-
erbook provided by the National
Jewish Welfare Board is de-
signed to minister to the needs
of all men in service, and any
questions which do arise are
usually settled by the demo-
cratic" process of discussion by
the Congregation. Often, there
is no regular rabbi; where there
is a Jewish chaplain in the area,
he may serve a dozen Jewish
groups or more, and while he is
away one of the members fills
in to conduct services.
There is, however, a tremend-
ous enthusiasm, a love for tra-
dition, a desire to give to and
get from the service as much as
possible, and this spirit would
distinguish any congregation
anywhere.
What these GI congregations
do not have is the normal
sources of supply for religious
items, prayerbooks, kosher foods
and the like. They get these ne-
cessities from the National Jew-
ish Welfare Board as part of
JWB's year-round, world-wide
program of religious and morale
service to Jewish men and wo-
men in uniform. It is JWB's
Commission on Jewish Chap-
laincy which recruits, endorses
and serves the Jewish chaplains
who minister to these congrega-
tions.
So the reports that come back
to JWB from the congregations
with the strange names make
up an inspiring bit of the cur-
rent history of American Jewry.
It was a group of American
Jews who set up the "First He-
brew Congregation of the Arc-
tic," on a windy desert of ice
that was to become famous as
Thule, our northernmost out-
post. The first word from this
little synagogue was -a request to
JWB for Passover supplies. In
Pusan, Korea, Jewish GIs gath-
ered together to form Beth Nah
V'nad, the "House of the Wan-
derer,'' for they had been shift-
ing back and forth across the
Korean Peninsula. And while
the congregants wander, and re-
ceive new assignments in far-
off places, the congregations re-
main for those who arrive.
At times these GIs, with that
special humor that American
fighting men have become noted
for, have given their congrega-
tions names which might well
grace a B-29 or a heavy tank.
Thus there are the "Bayonet
Bentschers" daf the 7th Division,
and the "Lightning Litvaks" of
the 25th Division, not to men-
tion the "Mazeldike Medics" of
I Corps, all in Korea. And one
can note a bit of wishful think-
ing on the part of the "Kosher
QMs" whose supply lines of
kosher foods are frequently
badly strained. The very map of
Korea has been changed (albeit
unofficially) and now the town
of Wonju appears (in chapel
bulletins, at least) as "One Jew."
For simple dignity, though,
coupled with the traditional de-
sire of Jews to live in peace, one
must salute the Jewish men sta-
tioned on Guam, who have
named the but that serves as
their synagogue, "Chapel of
Shalom."
Friday, April 1, 1955
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-35
Season's Best Wishes
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Passover Greetings
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Printers for
THE JEWISH NEWS
S
Highland Park, Michigan
TO. 8-5072
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