Shalom Chaverim,
Dinner and Shabbat Celebration this evening. A great time to come and meet your fellow Or Amians and become an important part of our Shabbat community. Share your joys and your voices as we embrace each other. Learn more about our worship, carry the Torah, sing and pray.
We're still collecting dry goods or canned goods for the Central Virginia Food Bank.
Torah Study Brunch tomorrow at 10:30 am. This year our focus is on the Haftarah reading that accompanies the Torah Parashah. Always an open discussion. No prior experience necessary.
Earlier this month we learned about several Marines urinating on the bodies of Taliban fighters they had killed in combat. Pictures and video included. There has been a considerable amount of back on forth about what they did. From "boys will be boys" to moral outrage. As a soldier, an American and a Jew I can arrive at only one position. What these men did was morally and ethically reprehensible and they should be held accountable through the Military Code of Justice. It is morally wrong to desecrate any body. The military's position on this is crystal clear. There is no excusing their actions. And then to take pictures? Gevalt! American military personnel should never do any of this! No excuses can be offered. This is not the way of the American warrior.
At the end of the battle phase of Operation Desert Storm, members of my Division were responsible for the recovery of Iraqi war dead. We had the body bags and were the unit that handled graves registration. So about 20 male and female soldiers drove out onto the road to begin this grim detail. Knowing how traumatic this can be I got into my vehicle with my Chaplain Assistant and we joined them. Over the course of a very long day they recovered dozens of Iraqi war dead. Carefully, with honor and compassion they placed each body within the bags. They recorded their personal belongings and placed them in a smaller container next to the soldier. I said the appropriate Islamic religious prayers (in transliteration and English). These young men and women, with grace and concern brought each body to a place of burial and informed the International Red Cross which informed the Iraqi Red Crescent of the location, along with the detailed information.
At one point in time during our sacred work, my soldiers encountered several soldiers from a different Division posing next to several Iraqi casualties. I thought there would be a fight right there. My soldiers were so angry and outraged by the disrespect being shown to the Iraqi fallen they had to be restrained. We persuaded the other soldiers to leave...quickly.
That's how it is done the right way.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ben

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