Today is National Hug-a-GI day, started in 1996 by Adrienne Koopersmith to appreciate active duty members of the Armed Services.* As we show gratitude for American service members, we also have an opportunity to revisit the enduring theme of our upcoming festival of Purim. Remarkably, the evolution of the Jewish military chaplaincy represents an inspiring application of the guidance we receive from the Book of Esther for navigating the balance between being a part of and apart from the society in which we live.
Until the Civil War, the United States offered no provision for the spiritual support of its soldiers. The Volunteer Act, enacted by Congress on July 22, 1861 in the wake of the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, prescribed the commission of military chaplains but initially specified that chaplains constituted ordained ministers of, “some Christian faith.” However, the Fifth Pennsylvania Calvary, organized by Jewish Colonel Max Friedman, contained a high number of Jewish volunteers, so Friedman selected a Jew, Captain Michael Meir Allen, to serve as the nondenominational chaplain.
When a YMCA representative demanded the captain’s resignation on the basis that the captain wasn’t ordained, Colonel Friedman contacted Rabbi Arnold Fischel, who pressed for an egalitarian chaplaincy. Fischel began immediate discussions with the War Department, but when his efforts were stymied by the military’s bureaucracy, he curtailed sympathy from national newspaper editors, who published editorials on his behalf, ultimately leading to a meeting with President Lincoln and an emendation of the Volunteer Act in July 1862, which prescribed chaplains come from, “some authorized ecclesiastical body.” By September, Rabbi Jacob Frankel became the first Jewish chaplain in U.S. military history, enabling Jews to receive equal spiritual support while fighting for our country.
Like the heroes from the Book of Esther, American Jews of the Civil War Era achieved positions of prominence and used their influence to safeguard the emerging needs of the Jewish people, illustrating the enduring significance of Purim’s principal lesson—that the Jewish people’s survival and success depends upon successfully navigating the tension between being a part of and apart from the society in which we live.
—Rabbi Josh Knobel
* Though it is no longer observed as such, technically, Veterans Day honors war veterans only, as outlined in President Eisenhower’s 1954 proclamation that retitled Armistice Day as Veterans Day: “Let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom…”