| The American Jewish community
must regard as a top priority its responsibility to meet the
religious and spiritual needs of Jewish soldiers serving in
the United States military, Rear Admiral Harold Robinson maintains.
Last week, Robinson completed 36 years of
service as the chief military rabbi of the U.S. Marines. In
a recent conversation he said "though public interest
in the U.S. military increased since September 11, it has
become increasingly challenging for Jewish soldiers to maintain
a close connection with their heritage."
Robinson estimates that of the upwards
of one million soldiers currently serving in the army, approximately
1 percent are Jewish. This estimate, according to Robinson,
includes those soldiers who do not divulge their ethnic background
and do not utilize religious services offered to Jews in the
military.
Robinson shies away from the title "military
rabbi." He prefers the title "chaplain," a
term that refers to those responsible for providing religious
services to soldiers of all faiths. "Chief Rabbi is a
term with a divisive connotation, as it serves to the spiritual
needs of Jewish soldiers only. The job of the chaplain has
a connective connotation because a chaplain is responsible
for soldiers of all religions serving in the unit," he
said.
"For a long time I searched for a Hebrew
word that could convey the meaning of the English word 'chaplain.'
Finally I chose the term 'mesharet dati' (religious servant)
as the most suitable. That is exactly the job of the chaplain
in the U.S. army," Robinson added.
Robinson was awarded a Distinguished Service
Medal upon his departure from the force, the highest honor
granted to non-combat servicemen in the Navy. A ceremony was
held in his honor at the Navy headquarters in Washington.
Robinson is proud to display his fluent Hebrew,
which he acquired during his studies at Jerusalem's Hebrew
University in the 1960's. When NASA needed a senior Navy officer
to host the memorial service for fallen Israeli astronaut
Ilan Ramon, Robinson was summoned. He surprised the audience
when he conducted his part of the ceremony entirely in Hebrew.
He read excerpts from the book of Psalms and read a poem by
Haim Nahman Bialik, Israel's national poet. "The ceremony
was broadcast in Israel," Robinson said, "my voice
was heard in Israel but no one knew who I was."
Over the last two years, Robinson has made
a special effort to visit Navy ships and Marines stationed
in the Middle East. He celebrated Rosh Hashana this year on
the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. Some 40 Jewish men and
women, from other ships in the Persian Gulf as well as the
Eterprise, came to the service he led.
"Thanks to the Jewish soldiers, thousands
of sailors received sweet challah, and the ship's cook baked
a huge cake and decorated it with a greeting for Rosh Hashana,"
he said.
Robinson reminisces about the last Shavuot
holiday, which he celebrated in Afghanistan with U.S. Marines.
The 60-year-old Rear Admiral proudly
states that the U.S. Army does not differentiate between the
three main movements within Judaism (Reform, Conservative
and Orthodox). "When you conduct a service in some god
forsaken base and you have 16 Jewish soldiers, you can't differentiate
between them," Robinson said. "A religious servant
who is Reform is responsible for Orthodox and Conservative
soldiers as well. Everyone has to relinquish something. A
Reform military rabbi prays wearing a kippah, and a male Orthodox
soldier prays while sitting next to a female."
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