On Sunday, the rabbi at Beth El Congregation in Winchester was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army National Guard after more than two decades of military service. He was honored at a ceremony at Shenandoah University, where his wife and mother-in-law pinned on his new rank insignia.

A lieutenant colonel is a senior military officer responsible for commanding units and overseeing operations, training and personnel management.

But Rabbi Aaron Stucker-Rozovsky insists that he was the “least important guy in the room.”

“I could not have gotten to this rank without the love, understanding and support of both Beth El as well as my wife,” he said. “Knowing that they’re there for me, knowing that they’re supporting me, that’s what allowed me to get to the rank of lieutenant colonel.”

The rabbi became Beth El’s spiritual leader in 2020 right as he was promoted to the rank of major. During his tenure, he’s been mobilized twice — once domestically and once overseas. Stucker-Rozovsky also studied at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, a graduate-level professional military school that includes more than a year of training.

Then, he served as a chaplain for the 29th Division Artillery, an infantry division of the U.S. Army based in Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
He did this all while continuing as a part-time rabbi — leading services twice a month and during major Jewish holidays, providing pastoral care, b’nai mitzvah tutoring and officiating lifecycle events.

For the first of his two mobilizations while at Beth El, to Washington D.C., Stucker-Rozovsky received 12 hours of notice: “‘Grab your gear and show up at the armory,’” he recalled hearing. “[I had] no idea how long we were going to be mobilized for or anything like that.”

The rabbi was grateful to know more information the next time he was mobilized, this time to Kuwait.

Both times, the Beth El community didn’t ask, “How long are you going to be gone?” or “What are we going to do without you?” It instead inquired, “How can we support you and your wife?”

“I think that is so patriotic, that is so emblematic of what it means to be both American and Jewish,” Stucker-Rozovsky said.

Having served in the military for 20 years, he’s known “a lot” of Jewish and Christian clergy members in the National Guard or Reserve who had to give up their military careers “because there wasn’t this understanding, this compassion, this flexibility.”

“So to have a congregation that is so supportive of me being in the military … I tell people Beth El is about as American as apple pie,” Stucker-Rozovsky said.

The small Reform synagogue is home to 92 member families, with at least a dozen other veterans. These congregants step up to lead when Stucker-Rozovsky is away.

“Because I’m on the bimah two weekends a month, we have a rather robust cohort of lay leaders the rest of the month,” he explained.

Beth El also partners with neighboring rabbis to fill in for Stucker-Rozovsky if he’s deployed or on a training exercise. Member volunteers pull the weight for nearly everything else, something the rabbi has noticed is a fixture of small synagogues.

Stucker-Rozovsky drew parallels between this approach and his time in the Army.

“When I was a platoon leader, it wasn’t just sit back,” he said. “The guys are cleaning up, you clean up with them. If they’re handling a rucksack or a duffel bag, [you form] a line and pass them down. So I really love that spirit of ‘all hands on deck.’”

Even when he’s not deployed, the Beth El community has shown its kindness — providing home-cooked meals after the passing of the rabbi’s father-in-law, showing up in droves to the shiva or being involved in “every facet of the community.” They’re active in sponsoring a yearly blood drive, clothing drives, Judaica donations to areas hit by natural disasters and other efforts.

“Beth El would not be successful if it wasn’t for all of our volunteers, people using all their talents and their time to make the congregation what it is,” he added. “So I’m very impressed with our lay leaders.”

Stucker-Rozovsky said he remains committed to the Beth El community no matter his military rank, and has no plans of leaving anytime soon.

“Every second I have for the congregation, I give them everything I’ve got,” Stucker-Rozovsky said. “I don’t have a Magic [8] Ball for what the world [will] look like, but as long as I’m their rabbi, I give them everything I have.”

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com