(Copyright, ,I961, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)

By ALFRED H. PAUL
On Sunday, Sept. 8, 1961, Mi-
chael Mitchell Allen, 30-year-
old, Philadelphia-born cantor,
returned to his tent in the en-
campment of "Cameron's Dra-
goons," a Union Army outfit
known officially as the 65th
Regiment of the Fifth Pennsyl-
vania Cavalry. It was a cold day.
Allen rubbed his frozen hands,
took up his pen, opened his
diary, and wrote:

"Arose at 51/2 a.m. Very cool
and invigorating. 'Fast of Geda-
liah.' Did not fast, not feeling able
to do so. Had service at 8 o'clock.
Lectured on 'Peace and Harmony.'
All the officers and companies
were present under command of
Lieut. Col. Becker, and they all in
their uniform looked very well."

"Cameron's Dragbons" was a
regiment recruited and orga-
nized by Jews. Its commanding
officer was Col. Max Friedman,
of Philadelphia. Most of the
1,200 men and officers were
Jews. It was named in honor of
the Union's Secretary of War,

Anne Alpern Is First
Woman on Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania

Simon Cameron. When the
"Dragoons" went into encamp-
ment in Virgina, near Washing-
ton, they elected a chaplain—to
serve the entire regiment, non-
Jews and Jews alike. The cha-
plain was Michael Mitchell
Allen. He tried to teach the
soldiers a reasonable, ethical re-
spect and reverence for the
Deity, obedience to superiors,
letured'on the evils of camp life,
did not fear to mention such
subjects as sex and desertion,
comported himself as a man of
God setting an example to men
of all religions.
Two weeks after Allen's
"Feast of Gedaliah" entry in his
diary, the encampment was
visited by a YMCA worker. He
discovered that the Chaplain
was a Jew. He was horrified. He
wrote to the very Secretary of
War in whose honor the "Dra-
goons" were named. Secretary
of War Cameron passed the
matter on to George D. Ruggles,
Assistant Adjutant General of
the Army. Ruggles issued an
order, stating:

"Any person mustered into serv-
ice as a chaplain, who is not a reg-
ularly ordained clergyman of a
Christian denomination, will be at
once discharged without pay or
allowance."

tory, the Jewish community in
the United States had an issue
on which it could take a com-
mon stand. The Jew was a sol-
dier,_ the Jew was a tax-payer,
the Jew was officially a full
citizen with full rights. But
Chaplaincy in the very armed
services where Jews were fight-
ing and dying—that was denied
the American Jew by Act of
Congress.
The Jewish attitude on the
issue was firm, forthright and
expressed both loudly and with
good logic. Unfortunately, there
was not yet unity in. Jewish or-
ganization. The Jewish press
was voluble, but not all of it
supported Rabbi Fischel as the
individual who put himself out
on a limb to make a test case.
Many Jewish leaders derided
the newly formed Board of
Delegates of American Israel-
ites, insisting that the Board
was a narrow group, not repre-
sentative of the entire Jewish
community. But the Board went
ahead. It formally appointed
Rabbi Fischel as its lobbyist in
Washington to work for revis-
ion of the Volunteer Bill.
Petitions flooded Washington.
Not only Jews signed those peti-
tions. In Baltimore alone, 700
Christians signed a petition to
Congress circulated by a non-
JeWish member of the Mary-
land Legislature.
In Washington, Fischel pre-
sented his argumen
a virtually
change - in the
o inco
Cabi-
every
net.
was not given mueen-
riv
c
agement. Finally, he reached
raham Lincoln himself. On
ned
ec. 13,
a le
w
"Yours tru
c
ou
sent - fro
0
"Rev. Dr
e let-
ter read.

Allen, heart-sick because he
knew such an order would come
forth after the YMCA man's
complaint, had already resigned
by the time the Ruggles order
had come down through chan-
nels. His • excuse: "ill health."
The courageous young hazan
from Philadelphia knew he had
no chance because, in fact, Con-
gress had closed the doors to
any Jewish Chaplaincy in the
Union Army. When Abe Lin-
coln's Congress had passed th
Volunteer Bill, for raising t
Union Army, that measure
eluded a clause on Chaplain
"I find t
several particu-
But the clause requiring th
the present law in
naming of regimental chaplains r
to Chaplains is supposed to
deficient, all of which I now
stated clearly that such a cha- be.
design presenting to the appro-
plain must be a "regularly or- priate Committee of -.Congress. I
try to have a law broad
dained minister of some Chris- shall
enough to cover what is - desired by
tian denomination."
you in behalf of the Israelites!
.* * *
The President made good on
JUSTICE ALPERN
As of this writing, there are his pledge. It took man
aw
HARRISBURG, Pa., (JTA)- 87 fulltime Jewish Chaplains in months, however
any protestant
Miss Anne X. Alpern, the first the armed services of the United was amend
pposed an amend-
woman attorney g e n e r al of States of America. All have clergym
d many" members of
Pennsylvania, became the first been trained and ordained as ment
ouses of Congress were
woman appointee to the Penn- rabbis by the seminaries of the hot
three American Jewish denom-
r lukewar stil
sylvania Supreme Court.
ir attitude 's
Miss Alpern, in private life inations—Reform, Conservative
the widow of Irwin A. Swiss, and Orthodox. The Jewish Chap uly 17, 1862,
a Pittsburgh lawyer, was named plains are under the supery resolved fin
preted its
to the state's highest court by sion of the Commission on Cha
laincy of the National Jew
clause to
Gov. David A. Lawrence.
shall be
a m
After serving as Pittsburgh's Welfare Board. During Wo
in the Un
my that
first woman city solicitor for 11 War II, 311 Jewish rab
is not a
r y ordained
years, Miss Alpern won both served as full time Chaplains
some religious de-
the Republican and Democratic our armed services under the
nominations to the Allegheny supervision of the JWB Chap- nomination."
The back of officially . sanc-
(Pittsburgh) Common Pleas laincy_ Commision. In all, since
the beginning of World War II, tioned religious discrimination
Court in 1953.
Elected, she served five years 700 American - trained, Ameri- in the United States had been
of a 10 year term, resigning to can-ordained rabbis have served broken. Jews were eligible for
become Gov. Lawrence's attor- as full time Chaplains in the appointment as Chaplains — if
their qualifications as rabbis
ney general when he took office U. S. armed services.
We take the Jewish Chaplain were otherwise in order.
Jan. 20, 1959. She received her
- * * .*
law degree from the Pittsburgh for granted now. But it took a
good deal of doing to reverse
Dr. Ber
a ace
rn,
University Law School.
the Congressional Act of 1861 author ,
e •
•ist.
before Jews became eligible to cal
rican 'Jewr , n•
Israel Develops New serve
as Chaplains.
Civil . ar" has written th ,
When Allen quit the "Dr
or the American Jew, the Civ
Method for LOcatiiig goons,"
Col_ Friedman saw .
War years "compres the ex
would have to take a
periences and les a ain
Brain Tumors Orally tack
to get a Jewish C
aM. of generation
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire to
Legally, Allen was unfit cause
The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM — A new tech- he was neither a Ch ri
n nor
ad
en
nique for pinpointing the loca- an ordained clergyma Compli- cho
nd
uncer n
tions of brain tumors, developed eating his case was t
act that of s eed and unsure
its
jointly by the Weizmann Insti= he had been comm
oned an stre • • , almost compl
y un-
tute and the Israel Atomic En- officer by his re
ent and, pr fired to solve t •
ost el&
ergy Commission, was announced thereby, subjected
military mentary of its
ems." "But,
Wednesday.
discipline. Col. F dman se- during the
ears, American
The new method involves the lected as his regi
tal chap- Jewry
ed—and it grew to
use of fluorine-18 isotope. It is lain a Dutch-born
acher at
y. As the great American
claimed to be more safe and Shearith Israel Syn ... •
istorian, Allan Nevins, stated
more sure than methods used in New York—the Spanish-Portu- in his introduction to the mag-
the United States and Europe in- guese Synagogue—Rabbi Arnold nificent Korn study:
volving radioactive arsenic or Fischel. Being a civilian, Rabbi
"It was primarily because of
copper tracers.
Fischel had to apply directly to their own determined energy
Officials said that because the the Secretary of War for his that the Jewish group emerged
fluorine tracer can be taken oral- commission. He did. Cameron from the war with their rights
ly, instead of by injection, and turned him down. A campaign and immunities fortified and
also because it has a shorter life- was launched to amend the acknowledged; and, in battling
span than arsenic, a patient can Volunteer Bill so that Jewish for their own due place in the
undergo several checkups within chaplains would be permitted to American democracy, they had
a short period without substan- serve.
performed an important service
tial radiation dangers.
For the first time in its his- to all Americans."

4g

'

Susan Simons Will
Wed Monte Nagler

First Israeli Sub
Crews Graduated
Crafts Have Torahs

TEL AVIV, (JTA) — Israel's
submarine flotilla participated
in dual ceremonies here mark-
ing the graduation from training
courses of the first submarine
crews and the presentation of a
Torah scroll to each of the two
Israeli undersea vessels, and the
setting up of the first under-
water synagogues.
The scrolls, which were pre-
rine crews
sented to
Be vi,
by Pre
were c.
sels
n, com-
by Alu
nd
mande
Rabbi
e f
Chaplain
while N
ing white • ms eld aloft
MISS SUSAN SIMONS
p y . The tract'
red c
r t y
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard N. whistle welcomed
were then
aboard. Th •
Simons of Parkside Ave. an- place
ecial compartments
nounce the engagement of their
ich
daughter, Susan, to
TS.
Nagler, son of Mr. an •
Isaac Nagler of Ann Arbor.
Miss Simons graduated fr
Kingswood School, Cran
and now attends the Uri'
of Michigan. Mr. Nag
attends the University o
gan, and is a member o
Epsilon Pi and Triangles
orary engineering fraternity.

In 1884, the first private
bath was introduced in an
American hotel. In 1958 ho-
tels and resorts invested over
19,000,000 in daily news-
11. • ers to inform the public of
t ir luxurious .accommoda-
ti

FRED DAVID

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American Jewry's Successful Battle
for Chaplain Rights During Civil War

