In the midst of the Gulf War in 1991, United States Army Colonel Jack Lichtenstein celebrated Passover in the Middle East. He will tell this story and more about his military experience at Fort Belvoir Jewish Congregation’s annual Veterans Day Erev Shabbat on Nov. 15.
When FBJC’s lay leader Seth Cohen heard this fellow veteran’s story, he knew Lichtenstein would be an impactful guest speaker for the annual service. The Shabbat service and deli dinner at the Belvoir Chapel is a longtime tradition celebrating the community’s Jewish veterans.
“This [service] recognizes our veterans, who mostly make up the congregation,” Cohen said. “We like to celebrate the fact that we are veterans [and] recognize our service to the nation.”
Cohen, who is retired after 20 years in the U.S. Army, will lead the abbreviated service, then hand off the microphone to Lichtenstein, who will speak to his experience as a Jewish-American veteran.
Attendees take part in a community prayer for service members, which Cohen said comes from the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council’s 2022 Siddur Prayer Book for Jewish Personnel in the Armed Forces of the U.S., and participate in a mourner’s kaddish in honor of fallen soldiers.
He added that whether congregants are active duty or veterans, they typically attend this annual service in uniform.
“Personally, I like seeing all the American Jewish soldiers in uniform because it shows the sacrifice of our community we’ve given back to the nation that has given us the opportunity [and] the right to pursue our religious freedom,” Cohen said. “The congregation pews are filled with American service members.”
The uniforms, which represent all six branches of the military, are reminders of unity for congregants of FBJC.
“Sometimes it takes a sense of seeing other people in uniform to remind [service members] that they haven’t served in isolation, and that there’s connections that they can make with others, not just being a service member, but other Jews,” Cohen said. “That’s a connection that we have with each other.”
Jewish participation in the military is also celebrated due to the misconception that Jewish Americans don’t serve their country, something author Mark Twain claimed in his essay “Concerning the Jews,” then later recanted.
“We’re breaking stereotypes,” Cohen said of FBJC congregants.
He added that some congregants regularly attend the Veterans Day Shabbat services after many years of retirement.
Cohen hopes the Veterans Day Shabbat service strengthens the FBJC community by bringing Jewish service members and their families together: “They just keep coming.”
An atomic veteran — one who was exposed to radiation during their military service — spoke at FBJC’s Veterans Day Shabbat in 2023.
Only about 400 atomic veterans are estimated to still be alive, according to the National Association of Atomic Veterans. The Virginia chapter of NAAV had close to 100 members about 20 years ago — that number is now down to “20 at most,” the group’s director of state commanders told NBC News.
It’s important to hear these firsthand experiences rather than read about them, Cohen said.
“It’s not secondhand; it’s not hearsay,” Cohen said. “You get somebody who was there to explain exactly what happened. It’s very similar to having a Holocaust survivor come and speak to any kind of group about their experiences in the Holocaust.”
He looks forward to hearing from Lichtenstein this year, as FBJC congregants share a unique common background.
“Hearing from the guest speaker is good because it allows us to hear their story and commiserate with them,” Cohen said. “Everybody has a story and some of the stories are similar — some of the stories are a little bit different — but we find community in similar stories. And building that community and maintaining that community I think is an important part of our identity.”
And, of course, another highlight of the night is the deli dinner. The congregation will serve a variety of sandwiches — corned beef, turkey, pastrami — coleslaw and a cake thanking veterans for their service.
“With any [of our] events, [our goal] is to continue to have a strengthened community by members of the congregation coming together, establishing our bonds as service members and Americans and Jews and congregation members, rekindling old friendships, making new friendships, being together, and celebrating who we are and what we’ve done for the U.S.,” Cohen said.
He said he hopes attendees leave with “a sense of pride and a sense of fulfillment, a sense of belonging to the community and a full belly of deli.”
