Hadassah Magazine Profile of Jewish Chaplain Irving Elson

I highly recommend taking the time to read the Hadassah Magazine profile by author Alison Buckholtz of Navy Jewish chaplain Irving Elson (see link to article below).

Before you do, I want to emphasize this one paragraph from the article:

The ranks of Jewish chaplains have thinned out since the abolition of the draft in 1973, and there are now 30 active-duty chaplains and 30 reserve chaplains across all of the military services—about one-third of the Jewish chaplains corps population of the past. This crisis in Jewish chaplaincy means that fewer Jewish troops receive spiritually oriented resources, and fewer non-Jewish chaplains become educated about and sensitized to Jewish needs. According to rough Defense Department estimates, there are currently 4,000 Jews in all of the services combined.

It is because of this severe shortage of Jewish chaplains that this site was begun.

Now click here to read about this 50-year-old Conservative rabbi who is the highest-ranking Jewish chaplain in the Navy and Marine Corps.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a former military spouse as well as the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including the military fiction MRS. LIEUTENANT: A Sharon Gold Novel.

Click here to visit her Amazon author page at amazon.com/author/phylliszimblermiller