The Fighting Rabbis: Jewish Military Chaplains and American History

Preface

ix Preface The mission involved danger, possibly death. The U.S. First Division expected to attack in the morning. The most likely battle area required a nighttime reconnaissance. Three officers led the patrol. Throughout the night they sent back messages by runners. Occasionally they came close to machine-gun battles. As dawn approached they returned, tired, muddy, and exhausted, having accomplished their goal of gathering invaluable information for the upcoming attack. One of the officers in this First World War mission was the Seventy -seventh Division chaplain, Rabbi Elkan Voorsanger. For his participation in the patrol and for other acts of bravery and devotion to his soldiers, Chaplain Voorsanger received a number of medals. His troops named him ‘‘The Fighting Rabbi.’’ The story of this fighting rabbi and hundreds of other Jewish chaplains like him is an unknown and untold saga in American-Jewish history. In Irving Howe’s social and cultural history of New York Jewry, World of Our Fathers, no reference is made to the new immigrants and their children who entered the military in relatively large numbers prior to the First World War. Moses Rischin’s The Promised City meticulously details the search for community by first- and second-generation Jews in New York City. No mention, however, is made of the armed forces as a possible means of assimilation for a new American-Jewish community. Deborah D. Moore’s focus on the second generation of New York City Jews in At Home in America suggests no linkage between the emerging values of a new generation and the notion of patriotism and service to the country that certainly existed. Other scholars, such as Naomi Cohen, who so extensively chronicled the early years of twentieth-century Jewish community growth, have not fully x | Preface considered the concerns the Jewish community expressed for their coreligionists in the military. The significance of this omission by major historians cannot be overstated. Most American Jews are unaware of the long tradition of military service to their country. There is an unfounded belief that, except at times of national emergency, Jews have not had a place in the armed forces. In fact, while many Jews are justifiably proud of Israeli military war heroes, they are oblivious of their own AmericanJewish heroes, who also deserve recognition, study, and admiration. This paucity of scholarship is not absolute. There have been some attempts made to record the history of Jews and their rabbis in the armed forces. Rabbi Bertram Korn, a rear admiral in the Naval reserves , wrote a scholarly record of Jews in the Civil War. One chapter dealt with the chaplaincy issues of the period. Other works about the Jewish chaplaincy have been written by former rabbis in uniform. Rabbis Lee Levinger and Louis Barish wrote and edited personal and anecdotal accounts of their experiences. The problem with the existing scholarship is that it is fragmented and not compiled in a systematic manner. Similar difficulties have become apparent as other faith traditions have begun exploring their military histories. Recently, Father Donald Crosby authored Battlefield Chaplains: Catholic Priests in World War II, a book that offers anecdotal accounts of priests in the Second World War. Broader historical issues regarding Catholic service in the military have not yet been addressed. This book seeks to remedy this situation within American-Jewish military history. First, it demonstrates the long-standing ties and concerns between the broader Jewish community and Jews in the military. For over three centuries, Jews have been actively articulating and pursuing their rights to participate in the defense of their country and to have military rabbis with them. The strength of this relationship has been reflected in the development and growth of the Jewish Welfare Board into the single agency responsible for the spiritual and welfare needs of all Jewish military members. The intrafaith composition and longevity of the organization make it unique in American-Jewish history . Preface | xi A second area of consideration concerns anti-Semitism. When contemporary society was infused with anti-Semitism, the military functioned as an institutional force representing equity and religious sensitivity . This notion is contrary to what many American Jews think. They believe erroneously, in a view often expressed to me, that the armed forces represented yet another segment of American society tainted with anti-Semitism. The truth, borne out by numerous primary documents and countless personal experiences, indicates that...