JCC Association’s JWB
Jewish Chaplains Council Facilitates Passover Observance for
Jewish Troops
NEW YORK, NY, MARCH 26, 2007 – Passover, the most widely
celebrated of all festivals on the Jewish calendar, begins
this year at sundown on Monday, April 2. While Jews worldwide
gather around Seder tables, the holiday can be a trying time
for thousands of U.S. servicemen and women unable to join
their families and loved ones. Reaching out to these isolated
Jews stationed at bases at home and overseas, JCC Association,
through the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, has shipped 600
individual Seder kits and made travel arrangements for the
military chaplains who will lead communal Seders, alleviating
the loneliness, particularly acute during holiday seasons,
that accompanies active combat duty.
The Seder kits have been expanded this year, said Rabbi Harold
Robinson, director of the JWB Chaplains Council. They now
each have an extra box of matzah, horseradish, gefilte fish,
and canned tuna, in addition to the traditional kosher grape
juice, two cans of kosher-for-Passover matzah ball soup, Haggadah,
and a camouflage yarmulke. Also included is a phone card with
an hour’s worth of free calling time. “The Chaplains
Council is again grateful to Manischewitz, the kosher food
purveyor, for donating supplies,” said Robinson, a Rear
Admiral who will be leading Seders on the base in Guam this
year.
Representing the spectrum of Jewish denominations, the rabbis
deployed this year include both reservists and active duty
officers throughout the branches of the U.S. Armed Forces:
• In the Middle East/Southeast Asia:
Shmuel Felzenberg (Army, Afghanistan); Sarah Schechter (Air
Force, undisclosed location); Jeremy Steinberg (Army, Baghdad);
Daniella Kolodny, (Navy, Fifth Fleet);Joel Newman (Navy, Iraq)
• In the U.K.: Henry Soussan (Army, Leeds, England)
• In the European Theater: Donald Levy (Air Force, Ramstein,
Germany); Seth Philips (Navy, Naples, Italy)
• In the Far East: Avi Weiss (Army, Korea)
Sarah Schechter, who has been in the
chaplaincy since 2003, is looking forward to conducting her
first military Seder abroad (her first two were at the Air
Force base in Los Angeles). While she noted that non-Jews
in uniform typically enjoy the Seder and that “although
it is always challenging to lead a service for those who might
not be accustomed to worshipping together, Passover is a beloved
tradition, and it is critical for people to feel welcomed
and not alone for the holidays.”
Schechter anticipates that the “re-enactment of this
timeless freedom rite with a community that not only shares
a spiritual/historic heritage and a commitment to the Constitution,
but a wartime deployment as well is bound to make for an amazing
experience,” particularly in her desert location. “We
are especially grateful for the simple things in life that
at home we often take for granted, so to be able to celebrate
Passover in the desert in the first place – dayeinu!”
Lay leaders will fill in the gaps, conducting Seders at another
100 locations all over the world where Jewish professionals
can’t be present, said Robinson.
JCC Association welcomes donations from the public to defray
the costs of the services it provides to Jewish military personnel.
For more information or to make a donation, people may log
onto http://online.jcca.org/soloSederkits or mail contributions
to JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, 520 Eighth Avenue, New York,
NY 10018.
###
JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
15 E. 26 St., NY, NY 10010
212-786-5092
grounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also a U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
The NFL Youth Football Fund (YFF) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization
founded by the National Football League and NFL Players Association
in 1998 to use football as a catalyst to promote positive
youth development. Through the YFF, hundreds of thousands
of youngsters have been given the opportunity to learn the
game of football, get physically fit, and stay involved in
productive after-school activities with adult mentors. The
YFF also provides youth football participants with safe and
accessible places to play, as well as programs and initiatives
that address the importance of proper coaching, academics,
health and safety, and life skills development.
fax: 212-481-4174
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