The Jewish Chaplain and Freedom of the Pulpit BY ARYEH LEV Director, MB Commission on Jo ish Chaplaincy Mountingy opposition to the war in Vietnam and to the military draft, one of the causes of the campus rebellion, has also had a a major impact on students in the theological seminaries of all faiths, including those in the rabbinical seminaries. Since newly ordained rabbis have been the primary manpower pool for the recruiting of Jewish mil- itary chaplains, the anti-War senti- HOLIDAY GREETINGS KAR NUT CO. 1525 WANDA JO 4-6990 NEW YEAR GREETINGS Michigan Bag & Barrel Co., Inc. I ment among rabbinical students' has created a serious shortage of. Jewish military chaplains. Since 1950, most Jewish chap..; tains came into service through a'' voluntary draft of all newly or- dained rabbis imposed by the ma- jor rabbinical bodies. Adopted dur- ing the Korean War, the voluntary draft brought 475 rabbis into the chaplaincy. In the past two years. however, the resistance of the rabbinical students to the chaplaincy draft became so militant that it has been replaced by a voluntary system, thus seriously curtailing the manpower available for Jew- ish chaplaincy service. This in turn has created a sit- uation that puts the entire Jewish military chaplaincy in jeopardy. Yet the pressing need remains to provide religious. Jewish educa- tional and welfare services to the widely dispersed Jewish .. -.ilitary personnel, a traditional responsi- bility of rabbis in uniform. Two main thrusts have been mounted in the attack on the mil- itary chaplaincy. One is expressed as a concern that, since a chaplain is an officer in the military, his ! conscience may be violated be- cause, in any situation, he must relationship within the congre- give priority to the military view gation. and only secondary consideration to his own views as a clergyman. If the chaplain feels that the The second revolves around the Vietnam war is wrong. he may put question of "freedom of the pul- on his civilian clothes on his days pit" in the military. off and speak about it at denomi- Army, navy and air force man- national conferences, at rabbinic uals and regulations all treat the meetings, in civilian pulpits. mission and duties of chaplains. I However. when he is wearing quote here from the army manual: the uniform and he is speaking to "The chaplain is a clergyman military personnel who do not con- in uniform. He represents re- trol the situation and who cannot ligion in the army. The duties of take personal action, it seems to the chaplain as a religious and me that it would be poor judg- spiritual leader are established ment and improper use of the by law and by the ecclesiastical clerical role to speak on that sub- usages which pertain to his pro- ject. These GIs have problems. These fession as a clergyman. The mis- sion of the chaplain is to provide people have fears. These people for the religious and moral needs have concerns. It is the chaplain's of military personnel, their de- job to bring the insights of re pendents and authorized civili- ligion and morality to help see ans. He has a leading role in the them through their difficult situa- deliberate and systematic culti- tions. vation of moral a n d spiritual forces in the army. The chaplain stimulates and guides the growth of the spiritual and moral sense of obligation within the indi- vidual." One doesn't organize a fire de- partment when a fire is raging. It is then too late—except for the next fire. Similarly, you can't have a Jewish chaplaincy serv- ice for selected situations. Either you have a chaplaincy service or you do not. Even with chap- lains on duty, one still prays that the country and the world will remain at peace—and that. if there is a war, the country will be "moral" in pursuing it. Our problem is that Vietnam is THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 52—Friday, September 12, 1969 Happy New Year to Our Friends and Patrons CONTINENTAL HAIR FASHIONS 19191 Livernois UN 1-9100 Season's Most Cordial Greetings Detroit Mill Supply Co. 871-6011 i1595 Alger Mr. and Mrs. Abe Weisman L .—•------ HOLIDAY GREETIAJGS Edith Eckstat, and Albert Wolgin, R.E. Hair Removed Forever WO 3 - 3047 WO 3 - 0922 1309 David Broderick Tower This language is repeated again Season's Greetings and again throughout the entire Field Manual, which deals only Family and J. Berkowitz with the subject of "The Chap- TE 1-3755 4825 Russell lain." Throughout the document. no mission other than what is stat- Louis Eder ed in this paragraph is .ever re- DU 1-1940 1751 FORT ferred to. Lincoln Pork Clearly, this paragraph protects in our craw. We are all trying to Happy Holiday the chaplain's right to be essen- dislodge it. tially a clergyman and to serve However, to use the chaplaincy. New Year Greetings practically in the same manner as the one really free service in the he would in a civilian community. military, as the "expectorant" to Like most regulations, this one dislodge it, is like using a cap gun 1431 TIMES SQUARE too is subject to personal inter- to explode an iceberg. misinterpretation, or - pretation, If the rabbinate opposes the got . ernment's policies on Vietnam. let CUUTQ_OtU)Q_OCULd7 cut.suri o os even violation. The mission itself ..p1000000000440000001)004Q04QP LO 7-6950 is clearly stated and can be fol- it intensify its actions beyond all Gratiot lowed by any chaplain of any faith the resolutions passed till now. Ci- Holiday Greetings without doing violence to his re- vilians can be effective. a ligious convictions or his moral In the military millieu, ihowever, New Year Greetings a a sensitivity. the one place where the delicate a OAKMAN Had there been any intention soul can come to seek consolation. a Jacobsen Lawn Mowers - John Deere Lawn and Garden Tractors to put the clergyman in the po- without saluting and cringing and I! HARDWARE CO. a Phone 532-3265 sition of acting as an officer standing at attention. is the chapel. a 26221 Grand River D. KATZ. Prop. first (with the implication that To remove chapels and chaplains i; Whole•ale - Retail he passes on the command of from the service is to take from Plumbitt-Electrical Suing..., Etc. his superiors without question) the GI-a very important source of DI 1-3724 2561 Puritan and a chaplain second, that comfort, self-expression and hope. Sincerest New Year Greetings 1914 Established BERMAN'S CHOP HOUSE ti EDER FURNITURE CO. Famous Plumbing & Heating Supply HARTOM POWER TOOL SALES thought would have permeated almost every page and para- graph of the manual. HOA KOW INN Chinese and American Restaurant Specialiiing in Cantonese Foods 13715 West 9 Mile, West of Coolidge, Oak Park LI 7-4663 INTERNATIONAL METAL PRODUCTS CORP. Coils, Stops. Sheets — Galvanized, Electrolytic LI 8-8111 Oak Park New Year Best Wishes JEFFERSON STEEL CO. WAREHOUSE 23250 SHERWOOD Warren, Michigan 539-3700 Happy New Year to .411 Our Friends and Patrons KOW KOW INN Specializing in American Food Famous for All Chinese Native Foods Real Cantonese Family Dinners CARRY-OUT SERVICE TO 8-7550 322 W. McNichols Beest Wishes for A Happy New Year to Our Friends and Patrons Mr. and Mrs. Irving A. Steinberg & Family THE FABULOUS STAR BAKERY UN 4-6600 EL 7-1291 Mi. at Greenfield 10 New Orleans Mall • • • • •. • • • • • • • c • • • • • • • • • ***** • • • • 00000 o • • . • • • 13505 W. 7 Mile at Hartwell • • • • • SUPERIOR OLDS *. New Year Greetings 10621 Capital New Year Greetings A chaplain is a clergyman first. He works within the administra tion of the military, just as a rabbi in the civilian community is a rah- - bi first, but works within the ad- 15000 W. 7 Mile Road 342-7000 ministrative structure of his con- gregation or his denomination. ***********444-"4 The boards of ecclesiastical en- dorsing agencies of all denomina- Holiday Greetings to Our Patrons and Friends tions, including JW13's commission on Jewish chaplaincy. keep an alert eye for any infringement on this policy. Luncheon: — Dinners — Cocktails They consider their chaplains on 18211 John R TO 9-5674 loan to the military and subject to Free Parking withdrawal whenever the military. in general, or some commander, in particular, violates this understand- ing. sr Happy New Year I know of no civilian rabbi who sr to Our Friends and Patrons does not "hold his tongue" on vari- ous subjects, at various times, in spite of the fact that his conscience may bother him because of his Designers and Manufacturers of Fine Jewelry DIAMONDS silence. He may enjoy "freedom of the 19384 James Couzens Hwy., car. Vassar Dr. VINCENZO'S RESTAURANT DAVID WACHLER & SONS pulpit" but he also claims the freedom to use his good judg- meat, to deal with matters at the proper time, to maintain his REMEMBER THE BLOOD BANK CLAWSON CONCRETE COMPANY SUBSIDIARY OF EDW. C. LEVY CO. Wishes .tiools000aciooisooci0000ciocie THE JEWISH COMMUNITY HAPPY NEW YEAR A HEALTHY AND HAPPY GEORGE W. GRAY INSURANCE 18326 Woodward, Detroit 883-1900 ROSH HASHANA — YOM KIPPUR A YONTIFF WITH SHALOM