Chaplain Barry Baron Discusses Jews in the U.S. Military Today

Photo from http://www.jcca.org/JWB/ Answering the Call: Commencement exercises at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, NY included two graduates entering service in the U.S. Armed Forces. Steve Rein, left, is accepting a commission in the USAF (reserve component) and will serve as assistant rabbi at Park Avenue Synagogue. Josh Sherwin, right, is accepting a commission in the USN (active component) beginning in the fall. JWB Jewish Chaplains Council Director, Rabbi Harold L. Robinson (RADM CHC USN Ret.), center, attended to welcome them as rabbinic colleagues.

On the BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com we interviewed Rabbi Barry Baron, deputy director of the Jewish Welfare Board’s Jewish Chaplains Council.

Rabbi Baron is also a chaplain and a LTC in the U.S Army reserves, and he talked about the outreach undertaken by national organization the Jewish Welfare Board to support Jewish servicemen and women in the U.S. armed forces.

In his U.S. Army chaplain role Rabbi Baron has been to Iraq once and Afghanistan twice for important Jewish holiday periods.

He described to us that after 9/11 there has been an upsurge in Jews volunteering to serve in the U.S. military, and now there is a shortage of Jewish chaplains for the Jewish men and women who serve in numerous military capacities.

Listen to Rabbi Baron’s interview to learn more about Jews serving in the U.S. armed forces today.