PASSOVER

Kashrut Conflict
Continues In The Gulf

JAY LECHTMAN

Special to The Jewish News

I

t would seem that the
spiritual life of some
2,000 Jewish servicemen
has been little affected by
the war in the Persian Gulf.
Despite living, working,
and fighting in Moslem
lands hostile to Jews and
Judaism, soldiers had
candles and dreidels for
Chanukah, groggers and
hamantashen for Purim,
even lulavim and etrogim
for Sukkot.
On the eve of Passover,
more than 400 Jewish per-
sonnel are preparing for
sedarim aboard a Cunard
Line luxury cruise ship, an-
chored off the coast of
Bahrain, and individual
seder meals have been sent
to soldiers serving in areas
too remote to reach the ship
for Passover.
But appearances aside,
there are those who feel that
the JWB Chaplains Council,
the U.S. government-
accredited agency that pro-
vides for the religious needs
of Jewish military per-
sonnel, was a major disap-
pointment during the last
eight months, unable or un-
willing to provide for all re-
ligious needs.
The council has taken
credit as the "primary
catalyst" that "rallied the
American Jewish commun-
ity" to action, but critics
contend that the organiza-
tion was more of a hindrance
than a help in serving the
needs of Jewish servicemen.
Jewish chaplains, families
of soldiers and Orthodox
Jewish organizations have
charged that:
• The council has stood in
the way of individual at-
tempts to help, and then has
taken credit for the result of
those efforts.
• The council questioned
the existence of full-time,
kashrut-observant ser-
vicemen in the Persian Gulf
conflict, despite contrary in-
formatio-ii from its own
chaplains.
• The council has stated

Jay Lechtman is a staff
reporter for the Baltimore Jew-
ish Times.

24

FRIDAY, MARCH 29 1991

The Cunard Princess prepares to receive more than 400 Jewish soldiers,
who will spend part of Passover on board.

Rabbi Maurice S. Kaprow, a Navy chaplain stationed on the USS Saratoga,
uses the "Holy Helo" to visit Jewish sailors on other ships.

Chaplains and
Orthodox groups say
the JWB has not done
enough to meet the
religious needs of
Jewish soldiers.

The JWB Chaplains Council presents a 'Solo Seder Kit' for troops in the Gulf to 011ie Pino, a
JCCA shipping clerk. From left, Nathan M. Landman, David Lapp, Mr. Pino, Barry H. Greene,
Matthew Simon, Abraham Avrech.

publicly that any kashrut-
observant servicemen "could
get by" on non-kosher stan-
dard issue.
"The overwhelming con-
sensus is the Chaplains
Council isn't doing enough,"
said a Jewish chaplain, one
of several who spoke only on
the condition that they not
be identified. (Several
chaplains said they feared
reprisals from the council if
publicly identified with
criticism. The council ac-
credits Jewish chaplains for
the military and at least one
who has spoken out on this
issue has been threatened
with having his credentials
pulled, those chaplains have
said.)
Orthodox groups were par-
ticularly upset with the
JWB's rationale for not pro-
vi ding kosher food. Rabbi
David Lapp, the council's di-
rector, and Rabbi Nathan

Landman, part-time deputy
director, said that kashrut-
observant servicemen didn't
need kosher food on a daily
basis because they were
allowed by Jewish law to
break those commandments

"A soldier's
sincerely-held
religious belief
should be
,respected."

— Abba Cohen

if starvation was the alter-
native.
"You do the most you can
do," Rabbi Landman said in
an interview. "If it's in-
jurious to health, modifica-
tions are possible."
While that statement is
correct under Jewish law,
this attitude disturbs many.

"A soldier's sincerely-held
religious belief should be
respected," said Abba
Cohen, Washington director
of Agudath Israel of
America, an Orthodox
organization. "The first mis-
sion of the JWB is to meet
the religious needs of the
soldiers, not necessarily to
determine what those re-
ligious needs are."

Many in the Jewish
chaplaincy concur.
"I think they should have
been championing the cause
for kosher food," said one.
"They did more to hinder
that mission than anything."
Added Mr. Cohen: 'As far
as we were told, certain ac-
tivities were being under-
taken (by the council), but
kosher food was not on the
agenda. The JWB might be
well advised to try accom-
modating soldiers in the full

scope of religious observa-
tion, not just in Chanukah
candles."

Proud History

The Chaplain's Council,
once known as the Jewish
Welfare Board, has been
serving the needs of Jews in
the armed forces since 1917.
Originally one of the
United Service Organiza-
tions (USO), the council
—now part of the Jewish
Community Centers of
America —was instrumental
in providing for kosher food
and other necessities to Jew-
ish servicemen in both world
wars, and the Korea and
Vietnam conflicts.
Jewish presence in the
military has waned con-
siderably since 1973, the end
of the Vietnam conflict, and
the end of the draft.

