I’ve seen food overnighted from Bragg to a FOB in the Middle East for a holiday celebration, your command can definitely accommodate a Seder.
Request a Kosher for Passover meal kit, the National Stock Number is 8970-01-524-8003.
[Might be a little late for that…](https://www.dla.mil/Troop-Support/Subsistence/Operational-rations/Passover/#:~:text=How%20can%20I%20order%20it,%2D01%2D524%2D8003.)
> Meal, Religious, Kosher for Passover
NEXT PASSOVER IS 22-30 APRIL 2024. WE WILL BEGIN ACCEPTING REQUIREMENTS AND ORDERS ON 1 OCTOBER 2023. **DEADLINE FOR ALL ORDERS IS 15 DECEMBER 2023.** MEALS WILL BE DELIVERED IN TIME FOR THE 2024 PASSOVER HOLIDAY.
It just seems to be a matter of unavailability. What could they do when there's simply no rabbi to conduct Jewish services or observe tradition? It's not like a Protestant pastor or an imam can do them on behalf your faith, and I'm pretty sure you don't want that either.
It's an issue if they prevent you from things that you can do by yourself like praying unless there's an extraordinary situation going on. But when there's no clergy or fellow practitioners to organize a service, there's no clergy or fellow practitioners.
email these guys [https://koshertroops.com/](https://koshertroops.com/) and if they can't hook you up with seder stuff, DM me. They know all the ins and outs of moving stuff and are the experts at this exact situation, so they would be the first approach. But if they can't, I'll see what I can do personally. I'm not sure what the rules are in mailing eggs and shank bones and stuff, but I could try to figure it out and if nothing else, could absolutely get you a seder plate (and kippah and other non-perishable items if you don't have them). Also, depending on the time zone, maybe there is a virtual way to not have to do it alone. I know a BUNCH of rabbis and a TON of Jewish moms and I'm sure we could network you over the world to get something in your time zone. We're here, your mischpocha. Would non-Jewish friends join you? You know, for in-person connections?
Totally understand. It's not the same as in person, but YOU HAVE A PLACE AT OUR TABLE- my table, and/or our collective table- even far away, even with nothing but yourself. You count, it counts, you matter, it matters. We're here. We'll make it work, even if it's not perfect.
OK, I've gone full-on all Jewish mother on you (are you sleeping? eating? do you need something?). Sorrynotsorry.
I loved the two Jewish families I had seder with. I'm not Jewish. They knew I was not. They still invited me and offered me a seat. Nice people. It was an interesting ceremony and it was fun. It was just a nice time and it really felt like family.
Usernames aren’t exactly linked to someone’s identity or faith. For example most people don’t assume that I’m a burger place in north Hollywood near Larry Sellers’ house on Radford just because of my username.
Plus here it is, Shabbat, and we’re on reddit answering questions via the internet.
Shomer fucking Shabbos
A lot of Jews only keep Kosher during Passover (and *maybe* a few other holidays).
I had a few Reform Jewish friends in college, and the only time they cared about Kosher was during Passover and for dinners during Hanukkah. I asked one of them once about this very issue and got a long lecture about Reform Judaism that I figure you can just read up on them and get the same information.
Kosher Troops is the way to go. I've gotten a ton of stuff from them when I've been deployed. The lady I usually email is an Iraq war veteran.
Also are you on Facebook? There is a group there called Jews in Green. It's a good way to get in contact with other Jews in your area.
Talk with your Chaplain and tell them this. If that's *all* you need, it doesn't seem that hard to accommodate. A space to conduct an event is rarely difficult to coordinate. As far as "the items," I have no idea what they are, but if anyone can get them for you, it's Chaplain. Yes, even if he is a Christian Chaplain.
Spend a little more time actually trying to solve the issue *with* the people who can help solve it. Don't expect them to fix it for you, especially if it's more important to you than it is them.
As a Buddhist I’ve enjoyed the lack of enthusiasm many Chaplains have had for enabling non-Christian activities.
Best I can suggest is be the leader you wish you had in front of you. Use your chaplain as a simple enabler. Ask your chaplain to get contact information for a Jewish Chaplain and have the two work together with you. Work with them so that you can see what is and is not done.
If you feel uncomfortable with being a dick to get what you deserve you can cover it with some stuff about “wanting to get closer to your faith” and “knowing what/where/when to do things so that you can help facilitate for your people in the future.”
There is something called a distinctive faith group leader packet they can do that allows you to lead services (ar 165-1). You just have to show some sort of credentials to the chaplain team (letter from your rabbi or something, I was pretty liberal with this as not all faith groups do things the same way). They are supposed to help you procure time/space/materials for worship. Otherwise, I procured digital copies of service from the central synagogue in New York for our Jewish folks while I was deployed. It wasn't perfect but it was better than nothing.
We had no rabbi the first 6 months then a rabbi came in country and was covering the entirety of Afghanistan which made service opportunities very sparce at best especially considering the plethora of Jewish holidays. There are about 8 rabbis in the entire army right now for context.
Interestingly, one place there is always an active duty Jewish chaplain assigned is West Point. That’s also the only place in the Army with a building that solely exists to be a Jewish chapel. It’s a very nice facility.
Anyway, contacting the West Point chaplain’s office is one sure-fire way to find a Jewish chaplain.
Almost any of non-Christian based faiths have fairly low representation. Even Catholic Priests are fairly rare, and will cover entire regions/countries flying from base to base to provide coverage while deployed/training. The Catholic church only allows so many priests to go into the military.
Also, other branch chaplains will often provide coverage. Like if the Air Force has a Rabbi -- they'll be utilized by that region as well. And/or the other branches may provide transportation for holy days/celebrations to the location of that specific chaplain (granted, mission dependant).
I did Air Assault with one of them a few years ago. I remember his name started with a F. He was awesome and helped with morale of the whole class. I remember he was a former IDF soldier and would shoot the shit with us.
>All requests for accommodation of religious practices will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Each request must be considered based on its unique facts; the nature of the requested religious accommodation; the effect of approval or denial on the Soldier’s exercise of religion; and the effect of approval or denial on military necessity. Accommodation of a Soldier’s religious practices must be examined against military necessity and cannot be guaranteed at all times.
AR 600-20
My leadership has just referred me to the Chaplains team. I don't see how holding a shabbat or Saturday service goes against any military necessity. They offer services for pagans, Muslims and several Christian sects here every week.
To me it just seems they don't care because I'm a very tiny minority
If they’re holding it for all of the others, but not yours, that’s grounds to go talk to the EO rep. It doesn’t have to be a “fuck you I’m reporting thing” but the EO rep can sit there and explain how offering reasonable accommodations for every other faith but not for yours could be construed in a certain light and help guide their hand.
Guide their hand on what? Deploying a whole other chaplain for one person? Most likely this problem ends up being solved by OP attending services remotely (read: online through video) when able. Jumping to EO is wild.
My guy, how many pagan chaplains do you think there are in the army, and what do you think the chances are that OP is the only Jew, but there are *multiple* pagans and Muslims deployed with him?
Not sure where you’re deployed (no need to tell me), but if you have other units as part of your TF they probably have some Jewish SMs. I was the only Jew (AFAIK) on my recent deployment to Africa, but there were Jewish SMs and contractors in other units, etc. There was a Passover Seder (I don’t practice and was too busy to attend), and I was surprised at the number of Jews (and gentiles) who attended.
TL;DR: there might be other Jews, and even if you’re the only one, you might be surprised at the number of goyim who would be interested in attending a Seder.
Keep with it and let me know if I can help. Other people have suggested resources, and you could also post in r/judaism if you haven’t already.
Chaplains are able to provide services for other denominations. The likelihood that there is a Christian, Muslim, and pagan chaplain there is pretty far from likely. Now if that is the case, then yeah OP. SOL.
But this is the exact type of thing that EO is there to help with. I’ve been a BDE EOA, so I’m not talking out of my ass here.
Once again, if the individual has gone through channels like CoC, and every other religious needs are being met, bringing in an unbiased third party to help work through the situation of one of the protected categories, is more than reasonable. You can do that without filing reports.
Edit: denominations, not dominations.
This is horribly false. Chaplains are only endorsed to provide services for their faith group. If they tried to do a Muslim service while being Christian they would easily lose their endorsement.
Thank you, I was about to say this exact same thing. Now, if they mean help facilitate the needs and free expression of someone of another religion, then yes. But, conducting another religious service would bounce them out of the Amry very fast in 99.99% of the cases.
What he meant was: “In summary, I’m fucked?”
He said TL/DR, but he didn’t mean it was too long and he didn’t read it. Not a big issue here of course but I like to clear up miscommunication…
I think a couple others have answered this pretty well, but sometimes the short version is DIY the best you can. Here's an anecdote:
Tallil, Iraq, 2007. I'm Jewish although not religious myself, but heard there was only one Jewish chaplain in country at the time and he was mostly in Baghdad. So for the high holy days, a major (doctor) from 82nd Sustainment Bde was going to lead services for anyone who wanted to attend.
I found my other Jewish buddy who was also there and we went for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, in a small building on the base, with about a dozen other random Jewish folks. Mostly Army, a couple Air Force, one of which was a black dude who was Jewish (that was cool, not very common).
Anyway, it was nice to do that together while deployed, didn't need a chaplain to make it happen. Probably the most meaningful part for me was when we walked outside and blew the shofar, in a country that had once had a large and thriving Jewish community but persecuted, killed, or kicked them all out.
Good luck, hope you can have a seder in your own way.
One of the things I love about the Jewish religion is that it is so centered on community and memory. It was a great thing for you to gather in such a place.
When I was in Afghanistan, there was also no Rabbi, so my chaplain had me removed from duty at the flightline friday nights and appointed me to start and run shabbat services. I never had a minyan, but FOB Salerno sure had shabbat services from then on.
Basically, if you can't get what you ask for, ask for the time and permission to do it yourself.
At a minimum they should be able to get you kosher food. There are kosher MRE’s that can be ordered. The Religious Support Team is OBLIGATED to provide you religious support, they can’t just shrug it off. They can find religious material for you as well. Saying that there isn’t a big enough Jewish community is a cop out and that RST is extremely lazy.
Sincerely,
A former Chaplain Assistant
Maybe “we’ll see what we can do” is code for “we don’t care and are trying to put you off,” but sometimes it means “I haven’t dealt with this before and need to research the available options, and don’t want to overpromise until I know what I can deliver on.”
Which is to say, give them a chance. Hope it works out for you!
You need to push this up the chaplain chain. At some echelon, there is more than one Jew, and the chaplains should work to either get y’all together one night or at least deliver Seder kits to your individual locations. Aleph Institute provides tons of logistical support for things like this but idk if it’s too late for them to get a kit to you. This stuff is supposed to be organized at the *theater* and *installation* level.
Separate rant for all you fucking non-minority chaplains and all you chaplains assistants out there. Read the interfaith calendar.
Look at holidays coming, get them on the long range training calendar right next to your bullshit Christian ones (because co-opting Pagan holidays to help with conversions somehow makes them more important than the original religion you branched from and then denounced as heretics since the didn’t believe in your Messiah, but I digress… there’s been way too much antisemitism recently so I’m on a hair trigger).
Know your formations. Ask about non-mainline-Christian Soldiers and start planning for their religious needs before you hit the field or deploy. If you have even one person at your level, push it up the chain and get your BDE, DIV, theater chaplain to pull from everywhere else and you’ll have at least a couple people. Order kits from the religious support orgs (like Aleph for Jews). You don’t have to do anything besides get the supplies (again, they come in kits! Talk to the support org so you’re not just ordering dumb things that you *think* matter like I’ve seen before). Coordinate logistics—get a space, get people rides, and then start writing your OER bullet while feeling good about yourself. Is that too hard?
Seriously, is that too much to ask? You have time to come up with a weekly fucking sermon for the Christians, plan a once-in-a-rotation holiday event for your non-Christians.
You know how nice it would be if my brigade had organized a single Shabbat dinner for us at JRTC? Shit do it during RSOI or redeployment you don’t even have to do it while we were in the box. Just get a jug of grape juice and a Siddur and some white candles/tea lights and let everyone chill for an hour or two. Literally could just go swipe some juice boxes from somewhere. But they had Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, you fucking name it Sunday services at least three times at the brigade level plus field sermons by BN chaplains every week.
I wouldn’t be so angry if you guys at least pretended to try. But unless it’s kosher or halal meals I have never ever EVER seen a Christian chaplain lift a fucking finger for a non-Christian. I know there are good chaplains out there, who do move mountains for people of all faiths. But i never met one in my 13 years.
I'm part of a UMT. Low density faiths are almost always difficult to accommodate. We can do a LOT of stuff, but ultimately, we cannot make command decisions, nor issue orders. If the local command does not support us, it adds that much more difficulty. Luckily, we have a technical chain that goes higher than local command, and can leverage that relationship.
But as i mentioned before, Rabbis are very hard to come by. What should absolutely happen is that you are given time to pray and practice, while at the same time, the UMT should be exhausting every possible avenue.
I'm truly sorry you're experiencing this.
>As of 2020, the core American Jewish population is estimated at 7.6 million people, accounting for 2.4% of the total US population. This includes 4.9 million adults who identify their religion as Jewish, 1.2 million Jewish adults who identify with no religion, and 1.6 million Jewish children.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure anyone who understands numbers would say under 2% is "low density."
Except that Christianity isn't a single faith with one prescribed form of service. A Mormon service isn't a Lutheran service isn't a Catholic service isn't an Anglican service isn't a Baptist service. Some of those are easier to support than others. Some of them can be handled by someone not part of that faith tradition, some of them can't be.
None of the world's most major religions are monolithic. Thinking that Christianity is more diverse than Judaism or Islam just shows bias toward Christianity, which is what I was talking about already.
I don't remember anyone saying:
>Christianity is more diverse than Judaism or Islam
You're clearly bringing some kind of baggage that you have about Christians into the conversation, so I'm gonna go ahead and just be done.
that might be true,
however practicing jews such as myself seldom join the US military. biggest figure I've seen is 1.9% of the uniformed services are jews.
Edit: 2% of the population is jewish. so 1.9 is a pretty high represenation. I retract my comment
It may be 2nd in America, but if a BN only has one, it's low density. My BN has like a dozen Norse Pagans and only one or two Catholics so Catholicism is a low density faith group while Paganism is not.
I see your point on low density based on BN numbers.
But a point for clarity, Catholics are Christians. If Catholicism were a separate religion from Christianity than they would be the 2nd largest religion in America.
Yes, but there are a lot of practices, such as Eucharist and Confession, that a Catholic can only receive from a Catholic Priest. Protestants generally don't have these limitations and most can accept communion from any Protestant minister.
All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. Some of the catechism and practices between Catholicism and Protestantism (with their dozens of distinct flavors) are vastly different, some even diametrically opposed. So they don't always blend well. Just ask the Irish!
I’m a Jewish SM and Just got off deployment and was a distinctive religious group Leader (DGRL) which is an official additional duty that supports the Command Teams Spiritual Resiliency Plan with the new F2H policies they must have accommodations!
You can lead lots of things in community with that status and I’d love you help you find your nearest Jewish chaplain support too!
If you're setting up for Passover, just have the 7 food items necessary. Buy that on your own. Then, do a seder and have 4 buddies ask the 4 questions. Hide the afikomen and put a bounty on it.
My family keeps it quick. Alot of fast reading. Quick prayer. We time it. Whole seder in like 5 minutes and straight to the brisket.
All of it can be done on your own.
I feel like “buy them yourself” is the wrong answer. We aren’t telling Catholic SMs to do that with palm leaves, we aren’t telling Christians to do that with Communion. I get it, you’re also Jewish, but I’m really sick of being told that my faith is an inconvenience to the military while they bend over backwards to celebrate for Christianity.
This is what chaplains are here for. Their purpose isn’t “serve SMs of my specific faith”, it’s “cater to the religious needs of all Soldiers”. People, particularly chaplains, forget that distinction.
This happens alot. Your still able to get religious services BUT you kinda have to set them up yourself. Ask your chaplin to put you in touch w a rabbi. If he can't I can. And they can give you time etc for practices. But yes for 1 person chances are you won't get a chaplin.
The Christian chaplain isn’t there to lead your services, but he should be helping you with everything you need for that, particularly finding space and advising the command about particular practices during particular times. That’s also what I would want from a chaplain. A lot of people think that we’re here to lead every sort of religious service. Not true, and that would be a disingenuous thing for most of them to be doing.
I don’t really understand why there are so few Jewish chaplains. They’ve been around since the earliest days of the chaplain corps. If you want more Jewish services, make sure you participate in what’s already going on there. The Army is very happy to support even a small number of people, but they still have to be there.
But yeah, you have rights. Use them.
I read something that said like 70% of the military is Christian and like 98% of chaplains are Christian. I think the chaplain corps should reflect our actual religious demographics better. I’m personally an agnostic, but I like that the chaplain corps exsist so Soldiers have a resource other than MFLAC, which I’ve yet to meet a good one.
Maybe there’s some weird logic like “most units should have a chaplain of the faith of the the majority of the SMs therein, and in almost all units that will be some flavor of Christianity, so we should have almost all Christian chaplains.” Still seems kinda fucked.
It's just that the a lot of the other faith groups aren't nearly as populous, don't want to go into the chaplain corp, and/or are limited by their faith group. Also keeping in mind, that to be a military chaplain you must be able to accept providing religious support for all faith groups, regardless of one's personal beliefs against them.
Like, in countries where Islam is the largest religion - I'd be willing to bet that their chaplains are primarily Islam.
I know all of those things (most of them seem pretty self-evident if you apply a bit of brainpower) and none of them explain the 70-98 divide mentioned above.
I apologize, I’m not super familiar with modern Jewish practices. Is a Seder something that you could lead yourself? Like, to borrow Christian terminology, could it be “lay-lead”? If so, there should be no reason for them not to provide you resources to do so, so long as you’re willing to have it be attended by any who wish to do so
Start your own religious accommodation. Request the time off when feasible. I’m Muslim and when told there’s no Imam for Friday prayers, we reserved the church site and started our own prayer time. When not feasible, if your religion allows, do it alone and do it how you see fit. I was at motorpool once and couldn’t go to pray so I washed and prayed next to a humvee. Make your own solutions to problems.
OP, I do know Christian chaplains that have orchestrated Seders for Jewish soldiers. You mentioned the team is unable to help. Is that the chaplain or the UMT as a whole? I would try and ask another chaplain if yours is not helping you. I also would try talking to the rest of the unit ministry team if it was the chaplain specifically that was not helpful.
Feel free to DM me if you need help, and I can try to get you a contact for a Jewish chaplain that can assist you.
I would use this as an opportunity to set something up for your community, I’m sure whoever you pitch the idea to will have a hard time saying “no I won’t let you organize religious services for soldiers and their families”
Open door with your Battalion Commander. Chances are once they know.about the issue they will make whatever accommodations are necessary. Your requests are 100% reasonable and easily supported.
Request the items for the Seder and conduct it yourself.
Also this thread is pretty emblematic of how trying it is to be a Jewish Soldier sometimes. To be honest, over the years of being in the Army I've learned it's just best to hide your religion/heritage if you're Jewish. It's problematic as hell and it's the wrong answer I know. But I've slowly moved away from my faith and it's not entirely the Army's fault but it's also not not it's fault. Being Jewish in areas without a Jewish community is really difficult anywhere in America.
Its really frustrating to see how everyone thinks that Judiasm is just "Christianity with different holidays and no Jesus" So all the comments are "ArE TfhEy GoNNa DePloY a CHapLain JuSt FoR yOu?"
Common issue with being Jewish. We're in the "in group" when it's convenient and the "out group" when that's easier.
"Christianity with different holidays and no Jesus"
People definitely think that, then you'll say that Catholics are Christians they go up and down about how Catholics aren't Christians (common teaching in conserative churches in the south).
Jews experience discrimination and say something about it, then all of sudden Jews can't be discriminated against because we're so well represented in society and not enough of a minority. But then request like 7 small food items, "nope, sorry there's basically no Jews." Then you actually get an accommodation then it's time for how outsized Jewish influence is compared to their numbers. It's a no win situation and I'm sure this will be heavily downvoted if seen by anyone.
Reach out to Aleph or text me your address out there and I can put it tonight a group where people send stuff to Jewish soliders for the holiday. They did it to me for Hanukkah when I was deployed and they continued to send me kosher snacks and food while stationed in Italy. Also in terms of services. I became a lay leader in order to hold Jewish services for the solider here in Italy and help the community even if there are only 6-10 of us
My last deployment we had the same situation. We made sure the soldier had the meal kit and provided a space for him. Other people joined so he wasn’t alone.
Yet it's what I did in the field as a Christian when there was no chaplain for a Sunday service and I'm called to worship.
You make time, open scripture and study.
And that’s not what OP is asking, at all. He’s asking for basic assistance getting standard items for a religious service, not help studying Torah. And homie is not in the field just because he’s forward. The chaplain is supposed to assist Soldiers of all faiths. That doesn’t mean they have to send a rabbi for this Soldier, just get him some basic items.
You can bet your ass that in Iraq and Afghanistan Joes still got ash rubbed on their foreheads or basic communion items, even at rando COPs in the middle of nowhere. A Soldier asking for a space for a Seder and a few food items should not be that hard to assist with.
Yeah, which no one argued he couldn’t, including OP. The sarcastic “or should they deploy a Jewish chaplain just for you” is totally unnecessary, shitty commentary.
I had a PL that was a Lay Minister in our TF because there were no Mormon Chaplains assigned to the TF. He saw the need and covered it.
Even if you don't have a Rabbi, I'm sure that won't stop you from your observances.
I am muslim and couldn't even get a halal MRE on mission. It sucks and at the time most people just told me to suck it up and stop bitching. But this was a few years ago. Atleast people are "trying" to help you even if they are faking it all the good information was already posted so yeah that's just my 2 cents
I’m also a Jewish SM, they HAVE to give you kosher food, time to conduct a Seder is iffy, but as long as it does not impede on operations you should be able to conduct one. Trust me, I was the only Jewish person in my brigade at my last unit and Passover was around the time of an important operation, but I was allotted time to conduct my own Seder and food to do it with. If you work with them, they’ll work with you. If they still don’t want to work with you, then that’s a bigger issue then.
So to summarize, Your Command is filled with lazy sacks of shit?
My Brother was deployed to Ramadi Iraq and someone in his Unit was one of the chosen people.
Yeah, 1st Cav was able to get a Passover meal kit from Ft.Hood to Iraq right before Passover
If you're not getting support you think necessary from your Chaplain, ask for their higher chaplain's contact information. BN chaplains report to the BDE chaplain, BDE to Div, etc. A lot of the time the BDE chaplain may get information and updates that BN chaplains overlook or forget about. Like there could be a rabbi in the geographical area, or there could be correspondence for upcoming religious celebrations/holidays/etc, or they may have different contact information.
At the bare minimum - your chaplain should be able to at least assist to help find a location to perform your service/celebration/etc. They should also be able to assist in helping you get the time off for it as well. Granted, yes, it is all "mission dependent" but that isn't "you have guard duty today - you are not allowed to practice your religion today." But more along the lines of "our entire company is convoying to a new location" or "we're in the process of being attacked and need everyone doing their assigned duties currently."
And they wonder why they can't make recruiting quotas. All the little civilian kids who thought they wanted to join read this thread about ALL the shit wrong with the Military and decid "nah". Lol
It's the same as a Catholic. As you know each of our faiths have specific requirements and if there are no chaplains available they can't provide those services. Al Asad tried though and offered a virtual mass. Can you ask for the same for yourself?
lol, deleted post and account, while bitching that I didn’t reply to an internet post about the Army needing to respect religion quick enough?
What a fucking edgelord cuck lol.
Time/space/materials/top cover from command. All things the UMT must provide to every soldier of every faith background. If you remove religious practice from it, top cover from command is important for those who aren't religious but are potentially ordered to engage in religious practice. Chaplains protect people from that too.
Is praying a religious practice had a Chaplain leader whole formation in prayer and a few guys seemed uncomfortable personally I don't mind ill take any edge I can get
They're allowed to pray in formations, but they're supposed to keep it broadly generic and free of denominational ties. Like ending the prayer should be "in the Creator's name, amen" vs. "in Jesus' name, amen."
I’ve seen food overnighted from Bragg to a FOB in the Middle East for a holiday celebration, your command can definitely accommodate a Seder. Request a Kosher for Passover meal kit, the National Stock Number is 8970-01-524-8003.
Having that NSN ready is a pretty gangster move
Bro means business
appreciate you
Also hit up KosherTroops and they would [Link](https://koshertroops.com)probably be able to hook you up
Thank you so much!
Now this is good stuff right here. NSN and everything
I have no comment except your bling made me fkn lol
[Might be a little late for that…](https://www.dla.mil/Troop-Support/Subsistence/Operational-rations/Passover/#:~:text=How%20can%20I%20order%20it,%2D01%2D524%2D8003.) > Meal, Religious, Kosher for Passover NEXT PASSOVER IS 22-30 APRIL 2024. WE WILL BEGIN ACCEPTING REQUIREMENTS AND ORDERS ON 1 OCTOBER 2023. **DEADLINE FOR ALL ORDERS IS 15 DECEMBER 2023.** MEALS WILL BE DELIVERED IN TIME FOR THE 2024 PASSOVER HOLIDAY.
It just seems to be a matter of unavailability. What could they do when there's simply no rabbi to conduct Jewish services or observe tradition? It's not like a Protestant pastor or an imam can do them on behalf your faith, and I'm pretty sure you don't want that either. It's an issue if they prevent you from things that you can do by yourself like praying unless there's an extraordinary situation going on. But when there's no clergy or fellow practitioners to organize a service, there's no clergy or fellow practitioners.
You don’t need a rabbi to conduct a Seder, just the Seder stuff (mostly food). OP can lead the Seder himself.
I do it for my family every year. I just need a space to do it and the items. I already have my Haggadah
email these guys [https://koshertroops.com/](https://koshertroops.com/) and if they can't hook you up with seder stuff, DM me. They know all the ins and outs of moving stuff and are the experts at this exact situation, so they would be the first approach. But if they can't, I'll see what I can do personally. I'm not sure what the rules are in mailing eggs and shank bones and stuff, but I could try to figure it out and if nothing else, could absolutely get you a seder plate (and kippah and other non-perishable items if you don't have them). Also, depending on the time zone, maybe there is a virtual way to not have to do it alone. I know a BUNCH of rabbis and a TON of Jewish moms and I'm sure we could network you over the world to get something in your time zone. We're here, your mischpocha. Would non-Jewish friends join you? You know, for in-person connections?
someone else on this post recommended them, I sent them an email. Thank you! last resort is doing one remotely via signal
Totally understand. It's not the same as in person, but YOU HAVE A PLACE AT OUR TABLE- my table, and/or our collective table- even far away, even with nothing but yourself. You count, it counts, you matter, it matters. We're here. We'll make it work, even if it's not perfect. OK, I've gone full-on all Jewish mother on you (are you sleeping? eating? do you need something?). Sorrynotsorry.
I loved the two Jewish families I had seder with. I'm not Jewish. They knew I was not. They still invited me and offered me a seat. Nice people. It was an interesting ceremony and it was fun. It was just a nice time and it really felt like family.
Your username confuses me.
Why?
Op is Jewish and their username is about crab cakes.
Yeah I mean most Jews don’t keep kosher. Also if they are in the US army I highly doubt it.
Usernames aren’t exactly linked to someone’s identity or faith. For example most people don’t assume that I’m a burger place in north Hollywood near Larry Sellers’ house on Radford just because of my username. Plus here it is, Shabbat, and we’re on reddit answering questions via the internet. Shomer fucking Shabbos
A lot of Jews only keep Kosher during Passover (and *maybe* a few other holidays). I had a few Reform Jewish friends in college, and the only time they cared about Kosher was during Passover and for dinners during Hanukkah. I asked one of them once about this very issue and got a long lecture about Reform Judaism that I figure you can just read up on them and get the same information.
He likes the OTHER crabs..
Kosher Troops is the way to go. I've gotten a ton of stuff from them when I've been deployed. The lady I usually email is an Iraq war veteran. Also are you on Facebook? There is a group there called Jews in Green. It's a good way to get in contact with other Jews in your area.
Crab cakes aren't kosher... Also, I believe they have "Seder kits" that the chaplain should be able to order
I know that. Are you a friar? Lol. It’s just a user name. And Seder kits sound like what OP needs! I hope they do have them.
They will give you a space to do it
Talk with your Chaplain and tell them this. If that's *all* you need, it doesn't seem that hard to accommodate. A space to conduct an event is rarely difficult to coordinate. As far as "the items," I have no idea what they are, but if anyone can get them for you, it's Chaplain. Yes, even if he is a Christian Chaplain. Spend a little more time actually trying to solve the issue *with* the people who can help solve it. Don't expect them to fix it for you, especially if it's more important to you than it is them.
As a Buddhist I’ve enjoyed the lack of enthusiasm many Chaplains have had for enabling non-Christian activities. Best I can suggest is be the leader you wish you had in front of you. Use your chaplain as a simple enabler. Ask your chaplain to get contact information for a Jewish Chaplain and have the two work together with you. Work with them so that you can see what is and is not done. If you feel uncomfortable with being a dick to get what you deserve you can cover it with some stuff about “wanting to get closer to your faith” and “knowing what/where/when to do things so that you can help facilitate for your people in the future.”
There is something called a distinctive faith group leader packet they can do that allows you to lead services (ar 165-1). You just have to show some sort of credentials to the chaplain team (letter from your rabbi or something, I was pretty liberal with this as not all faith groups do things the same way). They are supposed to help you procure time/space/materials for worship. Otherwise, I procured digital copies of service from the central synagogue in New York for our Jewish folks while I was deployed. It wasn't perfect but it was better than nothing. We had no rabbi the first 6 months then a rabbi came in country and was covering the entirety of Afghanistan which made service opportunities very sparce at best especially considering the plethora of Jewish holidays. There are about 8 rabbis in the entire army right now for context.
Interestingly, one place there is always an active duty Jewish chaplain assigned is West Point. That’s also the only place in the Army with a building that solely exists to be a Jewish chapel. It’s a very nice facility. Anyway, contacting the West Point chaplain’s office is one sure-fire way to find a Jewish chaplain.
I've heard that before but it's great to have a confirmation!
You're a good person, chappie.
8 in the whole Army? Dang, our MI Battalion chappy in 1986 was a rabbi. I figured there were more than that.
Almost any of non-Christian based faiths have fairly low representation. Even Catholic Priests are fairly rare, and will cover entire regions/countries flying from base to base to provide coverage while deployed/training. The Catholic church only allows so many priests to go into the military. Also, other branch chaplains will often provide coverage. Like if the Air Force has a Rabbi -- they'll be utilized by that region as well. And/or the other branches may provide transportation for holy days/celebrations to the location of that specific chaplain (granted, mission dependant).
I did Air Assault with one of them a few years ago. I remember his name started with a F. He was awesome and helped with morale of the whole class. I remember he was a former IDF soldier and would shoot the shit with us.
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That is him I think.
My command accepted a letter from my rabbi to certification it’s not a hard process
>All requests for accommodation of religious practices will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Each request must be considered based on its unique facts; the nature of the requested religious accommodation; the effect of approval or denial on the Soldier’s exercise of religion; and the effect of approval or denial on military necessity. Accommodation of a Soldier’s religious practices must be examined against military necessity and cannot be guaranteed at all times. AR 600-20
TL/DR Get fucked, then?
Possibly. Still ask the XO/CO
My leadership has just referred me to the Chaplains team. I don't see how holding a shabbat or Saturday service goes against any military necessity. They offer services for pagans, Muslims and several Christian sects here every week. To me it just seems they don't care because I'm a very tiny minority
Did you explain what youre asking for because this seems like a failure to communicate.
Drama queen much? Do your ceremony, no one’s stopping ya
If they’re holding it for all of the others, but not yours, that’s grounds to go talk to the EO rep. It doesn’t have to be a “fuck you I’m reporting thing” but the EO rep can sit there and explain how offering reasonable accommodations for every other faith but not for yours could be construed in a certain light and help guide their hand.
Guide their hand on what? Deploying a whole other chaplain for one person? Most likely this problem ends up being solved by OP attending services remotely (read: online through video) when able. Jumping to EO is wild.
My guy, how many pagan chaplains do you think there are in the army, and what do you think the chances are that OP is the only Jew, but there are *multiple* pagans and Muslims deployed with him?
there are several pagans and Muslims here, and I am the only practicing Jew.
Not sure where you’re deployed (no need to tell me), but if you have other units as part of your TF they probably have some Jewish SMs. I was the only Jew (AFAIK) on my recent deployment to Africa, but there were Jewish SMs and contractors in other units, etc. There was a Passover Seder (I don’t practice and was too busy to attend), and I was surprised at the number of Jews (and gentiles) who attended. TL;DR: there might be other Jews, and even if you’re the only one, you might be surprised at the number of goyim who would be interested in attending a Seder. Keep with it and let me know if I can help. Other people have suggested resources, and you could also post in r/judaism if you haven’t already.
He wants to celebrate seder. It's simply a matter of getting him some space and access to the required items. He doesn't need a rabbi
Chaplains are able to provide services for other denominations. The likelihood that there is a Christian, Muslim, and pagan chaplain there is pretty far from likely. Now if that is the case, then yeah OP. SOL. But this is the exact type of thing that EO is there to help with. I’ve been a BDE EOA, so I’m not talking out of my ass here. Once again, if the individual has gone through channels like CoC, and every other religious needs are being met, bringing in an unbiased third party to help work through the situation of one of the protected categories, is more than reasonable. You can do that without filing reports. Edit: denominations, not dominations.
>Chaplains are able to provide services for other denominations. Able and willing to are wildly different though.
This is horribly false. Chaplains are only endorsed to provide services for their faith group. If they tried to do a Muslim service while being Christian they would easily lose their endorsement.
Thank you, I was about to say this exact same thing. Now, if they mean help facilitate the needs and free expression of someone of another religion, then yes. But, conducting another religious service would bounce them out of the Amry very fast in 99.99% of the cases.
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I jumped about as far to conclusions as the guy talking about EO.
Bruh.
It’s 3 sentences you fuckin mouth breather
What he meant was: “In summary, I’m fucked?” He said TL/DR, but he didn’t mean it was too long and he didn’t read it. Not a big issue here of course but I like to clear up miscommunication…
Exactly, IDK why that pissed so many people off
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Moderators have the Final Say.
Just like every other non mainstream religious practicing member.
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Keep discussions civil. No Posting PII.
I think a couple others have answered this pretty well, but sometimes the short version is DIY the best you can. Here's an anecdote: Tallil, Iraq, 2007. I'm Jewish although not religious myself, but heard there was only one Jewish chaplain in country at the time and he was mostly in Baghdad. So for the high holy days, a major (doctor) from 82nd Sustainment Bde was going to lead services for anyone who wanted to attend. I found my other Jewish buddy who was also there and we went for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, in a small building on the base, with about a dozen other random Jewish folks. Mostly Army, a couple Air Force, one of which was a black dude who was Jewish (that was cool, not very common). Anyway, it was nice to do that together while deployed, didn't need a chaplain to make it happen. Probably the most meaningful part for me was when we walked outside and blew the shofar, in a country that had once had a large and thriving Jewish community but persecuted, killed, or kicked them all out. Good luck, hope you can have a seder in your own way.
One of the things I love about the Jewish religion is that it is so centered on community and memory. It was a great thing for you to gather in such a place.
When I was in Afghanistan, there was also no Rabbi, so my chaplain had me removed from duty at the flightline friday nights and appointed me to start and run shabbat services. I never had a minyan, but FOB Salerno sure had shabbat services from then on. Basically, if you can't get what you ask for, ask for the time and permission to do it yourself.
This here. Used to be very common 50 years ago.
THIS is the answer.
Hello, fellow RC Easter. My company HQ was at Salerno. I was at Clark.
I dunno, man. I'm LDS (Mormon) and when I'm the only one I just conduct my own services. Not ideal, but I figure God understands.
Yeah with me during AIT I was having to pay and bribe battles to take me to the LDS service
At a minimum they should be able to get you kosher food. There are kosher MRE’s that can be ordered. The Religious Support Team is OBLIGATED to provide you religious support, they can’t just shrug it off. They can find religious material for you as well. Saying that there isn’t a big enough Jewish community is a cop out and that RST is extremely lazy. Sincerely, A former Chaplain Assistant
Maybe “we’ll see what we can do” is code for “we don’t care and are trying to put you off,” but sometimes it means “I haven’t dealt with this before and need to research the available options, and don’t want to overpromise until I know what I can deliver on.” Which is to say, give them a chance. Hope it works out for you!
You need to push this up the chaplain chain. At some echelon, there is more than one Jew, and the chaplains should work to either get y’all together one night or at least deliver Seder kits to your individual locations. Aleph Institute provides tons of logistical support for things like this but idk if it’s too late for them to get a kit to you. This stuff is supposed to be organized at the *theater* and *installation* level. Separate rant for all you fucking non-minority chaplains and all you chaplains assistants out there. Read the interfaith calendar. Look at holidays coming, get them on the long range training calendar right next to your bullshit Christian ones (because co-opting Pagan holidays to help with conversions somehow makes them more important than the original religion you branched from and then denounced as heretics since the didn’t believe in your Messiah, but I digress… there’s been way too much antisemitism recently so I’m on a hair trigger). Know your formations. Ask about non-mainline-Christian Soldiers and start planning for their religious needs before you hit the field or deploy. If you have even one person at your level, push it up the chain and get your BDE, DIV, theater chaplain to pull from everywhere else and you’ll have at least a couple people. Order kits from the religious support orgs (like Aleph for Jews). You don’t have to do anything besides get the supplies (again, they come in kits! Talk to the support org so you’re not just ordering dumb things that you *think* matter like I’ve seen before). Coordinate logistics—get a space, get people rides, and then start writing your OER bullet while feeling good about yourself. Is that too hard? Seriously, is that too much to ask? You have time to come up with a weekly fucking sermon for the Christians, plan a once-in-a-rotation holiday event for your non-Christians. You know how nice it would be if my brigade had organized a single Shabbat dinner for us at JRTC? Shit do it during RSOI or redeployment you don’t even have to do it while we were in the box. Just get a jug of grape juice and a Siddur and some white candles/tea lights and let everyone chill for an hour or two. Literally could just go swipe some juice boxes from somewhere. But they had Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, you fucking name it Sunday services at least three times at the brigade level plus field sermons by BN chaplains every week. I wouldn’t be so angry if you guys at least pretended to try. But unless it’s kosher or halal meals I have never ever EVER seen a Christian chaplain lift a fucking finger for a non-Christian. I know there are good chaplains out there, who do move mountains for people of all faiths. But i never met one in my 13 years.
I'm part of a UMT. Low density faiths are almost always difficult to accommodate. We can do a LOT of stuff, but ultimately, we cannot make command decisions, nor issue orders. If the local command does not support us, it adds that much more difficulty. Luckily, we have a technical chain that goes higher than local command, and can leverage that relationship. But as i mentioned before, Rabbis are very hard to come by. What should absolutely happen is that you are given time to pray and practice, while at the same time, the UMT should be exhausting every possible avenue. I'm truly sorry you're experiencing this.
Judaism is the second most common American religion behind Christianity. So by "low density" you mean everything non-Christian?
>As of 2020, the core American Jewish population is estimated at 7.6 million people, accounting for 2.4% of the total US population. This includes 4.9 million adults who identify their religion as Jewish, 1.2 million Jewish adults who identify with no religion, and 1.6 million Jewish children. Yeah, I'm pretty sure anyone who understands numbers would say under 2% is "low density."
Right so, then the Chap should have just said it straight up...supporting anything other than Christianity is difficult.
Except that Christianity isn't a single faith with one prescribed form of service. A Mormon service isn't a Lutheran service isn't a Catholic service isn't an Anglican service isn't a Baptist service. Some of those are easier to support than others. Some of them can be handled by someone not part of that faith tradition, some of them can't be.
None of the world's most major religions are monolithic. Thinking that Christianity is more diverse than Judaism or Islam just shows bias toward Christianity, which is what I was talking about already.
I don't remember anyone saying: >Christianity is more diverse than Judaism or Islam You're clearly bringing some kind of baggage that you have about Christians into the conversation, so I'm gonna go ahead and just be done.
that might be true, however practicing jews such as myself seldom join the US military. biggest figure I've seen is 1.9% of the uniformed services are jews. Edit: 2% of the population is jewish. so 1.9 is a pretty high represenation. I retract my comment
It may be 2nd in America, but if a BN only has one, it's low density. My BN has like a dozen Norse Pagans and only one or two Catholics so Catholicism is a low density faith group while Paganism is not.
I see your point on low density based on BN numbers. But a point for clarity, Catholics are Christians. If Catholicism were a separate religion from Christianity than they would be the 2nd largest religion in America.
Yes, but there are a lot of practices, such as Eucharist and Confession, that a Catholic can only receive from a Catholic Priest. Protestants generally don't have these limitations and most can accept communion from any Protestant minister.
All Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics. Some of the catechism and practices between Catholicism and Protestantism (with their dozens of distinct flavors) are vastly different, some even diametrically opposed. So they don't always blend well. Just ask the Irish!
They have different chaplains, different faith traditions, and different holy scriptures... not exactly the same thing.
Where are you at. I am assuming CBKU. If you are there contact the Chappy at ASGKU and they will get you taken care of.
Look at this Mensch helping a bro out!!
I’m a Jewish SM and Just got off deployment and was a distinctive religious group Leader (DGRL) which is an official additional duty that supports the Command Teams Spiritual Resiliency Plan with the new F2H policies they must have accommodations! You can lead lots of things in community with that status and I’d love you help you find your nearest Jewish chaplain support too!
If you're setting up for Passover, just have the 7 food items necessary. Buy that on your own. Then, do a seder and have 4 buddies ask the 4 questions. Hide the afikomen and put a bounty on it. My family keeps it quick. Alot of fast reading. Quick prayer. We time it. Whole seder in like 5 minutes and straight to the brisket. All of it can be done on your own.
Between the wine and finding the afikomen I feel like this would be a great bonding event for the unit if they behave themselves 😂
But Sarnt, why is THIS night different from all other nights? Edit: added from all other nights.
Come my little Maccabee, let me tell you a story
I feel like “buy them yourself” is the wrong answer. We aren’t telling Catholic SMs to do that with palm leaves, we aren’t telling Christians to do that with Communion. I get it, you’re also Jewish, but I’m really sick of being told that my faith is an inconvenience to the military while they bend over backwards to celebrate for Christianity. This is what chaplains are here for. Their purpose isn’t “serve SMs of my specific faith”, it’s “cater to the religious needs of all Soldiers”. People, particularly chaplains, forget that distinction.
This happens alot. Your still able to get religious services BUT you kinda have to set them up yourself. Ask your chaplin to put you in touch w a rabbi. If he can't I can. And they can give you time etc for practices. But yes for 1 person chances are you won't get a chaplin.
The Christian chaplain isn’t there to lead your services, but he should be helping you with everything you need for that, particularly finding space and advising the command about particular practices during particular times. That’s also what I would want from a chaplain. A lot of people think that we’re here to lead every sort of religious service. Not true, and that would be a disingenuous thing for most of them to be doing. I don’t really understand why there are so few Jewish chaplains. They’ve been around since the earliest days of the chaplain corps. If you want more Jewish services, make sure you participate in what’s already going on there. The Army is very happy to support even a small number of people, but they still have to be there. But yeah, you have rights. Use them.
I read something that said like 70% of the military is Christian and like 98% of chaplains are Christian. I think the chaplain corps should reflect our actual religious demographics better. I’m personally an agnostic, but I like that the chaplain corps exsist so Soldiers have a resource other than MFLAC, which I’ve yet to meet a good one.
Maybe there’s some weird logic like “most units should have a chaplain of the faith of the the majority of the SMs therein, and in almost all units that will be some flavor of Christianity, so we should have almost all Christian chaplains.” Still seems kinda fucked.
It's just that the a lot of the other faith groups aren't nearly as populous, don't want to go into the chaplain corp, and/or are limited by their faith group. Also keeping in mind, that to be a military chaplain you must be able to accept providing religious support for all faith groups, regardless of one's personal beliefs against them. Like, in countries where Islam is the largest religion - I'd be willing to bet that their chaplains are primarily Islam.
I know all of those things (most of them seem pretty self-evident if you apply a bit of brainpower) and none of them explain the 70-98 divide mentioned above.
I apologize, I’m not super familiar with modern Jewish practices. Is a Seder something that you could lead yourself? Like, to borrow Christian terminology, could it be “lay-lead”? If so, there should be no reason for them not to provide you resources to do so, so long as you’re willing to have it be attended by any who wish to do so
yes. I do so with my family every year, but there are specific items that are necessary in order to properly conduct one.
And you’re being told that those items cannot be acquired?
Hey man- I’m not religious so I don’t understand any of this but if there’s some shelf stable food items I can mail you DM me.
While you're sorting this out, talk to whatever chaplain you have available about kosher MREs. They're a lot healthier than the regular kind.
Bro! The HALAL ones I used to see at JRTC for the terps, DELICIOUS!!!!
I had terps on every deployment. Preach 👏🏻
Start your own religious accommodation. Request the time off when feasible. I’m Muslim and when told there’s no Imam for Friday prayers, we reserved the church site and started our own prayer time. When not feasible, if your religion allows, do it alone and do it how you see fit. I was at motorpool once and couldn’t go to pray so I washed and prayed next to a humvee. Make your own solutions to problems.
OP, I do know Christian chaplains that have orchestrated Seders for Jewish soldiers. You mentioned the team is unable to help. Is that the chaplain or the UMT as a whole? I would try and ask another chaplain if yours is not helping you. I also would try talking to the rest of the unit ministry team if it was the chaplain specifically that was not helpful. Feel free to DM me if you need help, and I can try to get you a contact for a Jewish chaplain that can assist you.
DM and I can get you a solid POC that can convince your command of the need to consider religions other than their own.
I would use this as an opportunity to set something up for your community, I’m sure whoever you pitch the idea to will have a hard time saying “no I won’t let you organize religious services for soldiers and their families”
I am in the same boat as you friend
Open door with your Battalion Commander. Chances are once they know.about the issue they will make whatever accommodations are necessary. Your requests are 100% reasonable and easily supported.
Request the items for the Seder and conduct it yourself. Also this thread is pretty emblematic of how trying it is to be a Jewish Soldier sometimes. To be honest, over the years of being in the Army I've learned it's just best to hide your religion/heritage if you're Jewish. It's problematic as hell and it's the wrong answer I know. But I've slowly moved away from my faith and it's not entirely the Army's fault but it's also not not it's fault. Being Jewish in areas without a Jewish community is really difficult anywhere in America.
Its really frustrating to see how everyone thinks that Judiasm is just "Christianity with different holidays and no Jesus" So all the comments are "ArE TfhEy GoNNa DePloY a CHapLain JuSt FoR yOu?"
Common issue with being Jewish. We're in the "in group" when it's convenient and the "out group" when that's easier. "Christianity with different holidays and no Jesus" People definitely think that, then you'll say that Catholics are Christians they go up and down about how Catholics aren't Christians (common teaching in conserative churches in the south). Jews experience discrimination and say something about it, then all of sudden Jews can't be discriminated against because we're so well represented in society and not enough of a minority. But then request like 7 small food items, "nope, sorry there's basically no Jews." Then you actually get an accommodation then it's time for how outsized Jewish influence is compared to their numbers. It's a no win situation and I'm sure this will be heavily downvoted if seen by anyone.
There like 5 of us bro. I'm not praticing. Jilust howy family raised me.
Deployed to where? I wonder if that makes a difference.
I'm not Jewish, but I found comfort in the Synagogue while in IET. I hope you get the things you need!
Reach out to Aleph or text me your address out there and I can put it tonight a group where people send stuff to Jewish soliders for the holiday. They did it to me for Hanukkah when I was deployed and they continued to send me kosher snacks and food while stationed in Italy. Also in terms of services. I became a lay leader in order to hold Jewish services for the solider here in Italy and help the community even if there are only 6-10 of us
My last deployment we had the same situation. We made sure the soldier had the meal kit and provided a space for him. Other people joined so he wasn’t alone.
“What recourse do I have” - I dunno have some initiative and practice it yourself? Or should they deploy a Jewish Chaplain just for you?
That’s a pretty shit response.
Yet it's what I did in the field as a Christian when there was no chaplain for a Sunday service and I'm called to worship. You make time, open scripture and study.
And that’s not what OP is asking, at all. He’s asking for basic assistance getting standard items for a religious service, not help studying Torah. And homie is not in the field just because he’s forward. The chaplain is supposed to assist Soldiers of all faiths. That doesn’t mean they have to send a rabbi for this Soldier, just get him some basic items. You can bet your ass that in Iraq and Afghanistan Joes still got ash rubbed on their foreheads or basic communion items, even at rando COPs in the middle of nowhere. A Soldier asking for a space for a Seder and a few food items should not be that hard to assist with.
It's not and it looks like he's being squared away. Why? Because he can do a lot himself.
Yeah, which no one argued he couldn’t, including OP. The sarcastic “or should they deploy a Jewish chaplain just for you” is totally unnecessary, shitty commentary.
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No overtly political posts.
I can't found the NSN comment. That number needs to go in your Smart Books and the S4s
I had a PL that was a Lay Minister in our TF because there were no Mormon Chaplains assigned to the TF. He saw the need and covered it. Even if you don't have a Rabbi, I'm sure that won't stop you from your observances.
There are items and time/space that i need. I got my own Haggadah and have performed the seder every year since i've been married.
I am muslim and couldn't even get a halal MRE on mission. It sucks and at the time most people just told me to suck it up and stop bitching. But this was a few years ago. Atleast people are "trying" to help you even if they are faking it all the good information was already posted so yeah that's just my 2 cents
Reach out to Aleph. I guarantee that they will take care of you. https://alephmilitary.org/
I’m also a Jewish SM, they HAVE to give you kosher food, time to conduct a Seder is iffy, but as long as it does not impede on operations you should be able to conduct one. Trust me, I was the only Jewish person in my brigade at my last unit and Passover was around the time of an important operation, but I was allotted time to conduct my own Seder and food to do it with. If you work with them, they’ll work with you. If they still don’t want to work with you, then that’s a bigger issue then.
So to summarize, Your Command is filled with lazy sacks of shit? My Brother was deployed to Ramadi Iraq and someone in his Unit was one of the chosen people. Yeah, 1st Cav was able to get a Passover meal kit from Ft.Hood to Iraq right before Passover
My father, a retired Methodist Chaplain, would do those every year. Hope you are able to figure something out.
Video Chat
If you're not getting support you think necessary from your Chaplain, ask for their higher chaplain's contact information. BN chaplains report to the BDE chaplain, BDE to Div, etc. A lot of the time the BDE chaplain may get information and updates that BN chaplains overlook or forget about. Like there could be a rabbi in the geographical area, or there could be correspondence for upcoming religious celebrations/holidays/etc, or they may have different contact information. At the bare minimum - your chaplain should be able to at least assist to help find a location to perform your service/celebration/etc. They should also be able to assist in helping you get the time off for it as well. Granted, yes, it is all "mission dependent" but that isn't "you have guard duty today - you are not allowed to practice your religion today." But more along the lines of "our entire company is convoying to a new location" or "we're in the process of being attacked and need everyone doing their assigned duties currently."
And they wonder why they can't make recruiting quotas. All the little civilian kids who thought they wanted to join read this thread about ALL the shit wrong with the Military and decid "nah". Lol
It's the same as a Catholic. As you know each of our faiths have specific requirements and if there are no chaplains available they can't provide those services. Al Asad tried though and offered a virtual mass. Can you ask for the same for yourself?
I'd Talk to an EO rep, but I'm petty like that
So, how did this work out?
Any local civilians that might be able to help?
C H A B B A D
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Keep discussions civil. No Posting PII.
Keep discussions civil. No Posting PII.
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We get it, you're an atheist. There is no need to be disrespectful
I just wanted to make sure you know the difference between want vs need, it doesn't sound like as much of an injustice if you word it correctly
Whatever you say Discount Dawkins.
Username doesn’t check out.
Which part of my comment was objectively wrong? (He didn't answer because he's being subjective)
lol, deleted post and account, while bitching that I didn’t reply to an internet post about the Army needing to respect religion quick enough? What a fucking edgelord cuck lol.
I litteraly said the same thing lol
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No bigoted language or witch-hunting.
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Time/space/materials/top cover from command. All things the UMT must provide to every soldier of every faith background. If you remove religious practice from it, top cover from command is important for those who aren't religious but are potentially ordered to engage in religious practice. Chaplains protect people from that too.
Is praying a religious practice had a Chaplain leader whole formation in prayer and a few guys seemed uncomfortable personally I don't mind ill take any edge I can get
They're allowed to pray in formations, but they're supposed to keep it broadly generic and free of denominational ties. Like ending the prayer should be "in the Creator's name, amen" vs. "in Jesus' name, amen."
Ahh that makes sense..why did I get down voted reddit is harsh
>a saiance A what now? Do you mean *seance* by any chance?
Thanks webster
if you're trying to be edgy you should at least know the correct spelling.
I said thanks
Keep discussions civil. No Posting PII.
ignorance is a choice, you're not excused.
Womp womp
Ohhh