Joel Poznansky often hears the words, “I didn’t know there were any Jews in the military,” even from fellow Jewish community members.
Poznansky, a former captain in the British Army, said that misconception is so widely spread because of antisemitic tropes that view Jewish people as businessmen, lawyers and doctors rather than service members. In reality, he clarified, 500,000 Jewish American soldiers fought in World War II and one out of 11 Jewish Americans served in the Civil War.
“Jews have been serving in the American military since the 1660s, or even in colonial forces,” Poznansky said.
The mischaracterization of the Jewish community is what led Poznansky, an adjutant of Jewish War Veterans Post 692, to coordinate the Bender JCC of Greater Washington’s annual Veterans Day program, now in its ninth year.
On Nov. 10, community members gathered on the rainy, gray day to commend Jewish veterans for their service to the United States.
Ross Cohen, the deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families, gave the keynote speech based on his experience as a “lone Jew” in Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004. A Rockville native, Cohen joined the Jewish War Veterans in April and was inducted by Sheldon Goldberg, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and founder of the Bender JCC’s annual Veterans Day event.
“On this Veterans Day, we come together not just as veterans, but as a community with shared bonds that stretch across generations,” Cohen addressed the crowd. “Today, especially, I stand here with a deep sense of gratitude and pride. Pride, not only for what we as veterans accomplished, but for the values that led us to serve. For many of us, that call to serve was shaped by our Jewish heritage.”
He added that stories of strength, survival and sacrifice are fundamental to the Jewish identity.
Cohen also addressed the challenges associated with returning home from combat: “I’ve found that the strength of our veteran community, along with the values of our Jewish faith, help us make that transition.”
Rabbi Moishe Kavka led a prayer for veterans, America and Israel. Voices of Vets, a nonprofit musical group, performed the original song “More Than Pictures” as event organizers showed a slideshow of Jewish American service members who had died since Sept. 11, 2001 in service. “It’s very moving,” Poznansky said.
He said it is important to recognize Jewish veterans in particular due to how underrepresented the community is.
“It is extraordinary the persistence of antisemitic stereotypes and the belief that Jewish Americans did not serve and have not served patriotically,” Poznansky said. “It’s a stereotype and one that we can fight by recognizing the amazing contribution of Jewish Americans in the military.”
Rabbi Sanford Shudnow, a retired Navy chaplain of 22 years, added that from the earliest years of U.S. history, Jewish Americans have been “very, very interested” in patriotism.
“We need to honor Jewish American veterans today to make sure that there is recognition that Jewish Americans contributed across all aspects of American society, and were every bit as patriotic as any other group of Americans,” Poznansky said.
Shudnow and other members of Jewish War Veterans Post 360 at Kemp Mill’s Young Israel Shomrai Emunah Congregation came together at Wheaton Veterans Park for a Veterans Day ceremony. JWV Post 360 joined with The American Legion Post 268, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2562 and the local community — both Jewish and non-Jewish — to pay tribute to the country’s veterans.
“I just like people being there,” Shudnow said. “You could see that all of those people present were patriotic and very involved.”
About 100 attendees showed up to the ceremony, which involved a presentation of wreath-laying — one for each post or organization present.
The keynote speaker, J.R. Neubeiser, a former Vietnam Marine and member of the Society of the Honor Guard in Arlington, told the story of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier: how the casket lying in the tomb was selected, its tumultuous journey to Washington, D.C. and the attention it got from service members along the way. His speech brought tears to many eyes. After the ceremony, attendees went to The American Legion’s lounge to eat and have coffee together.
“We’re all like brothers, sisters,” Shudnow said of his fellow Jewish veterans. “We’re people that know that we’re special because of what we have done. … I, as an active-duty officer, was always in uniform, so the other people were more civilian until they had their two weeks [of reserve duty] or were called up to do something.
“But we still all know that we were together and special. We do feel a special closeness.”
