“The Brave” – Still Needed, Still Going Strong

USCJ Listserv continues to support families with members in the armed forces.

NEW YORK – After 9/11 and the ever-increasing deployment of US troops to “hot spots” around the world, the Jewish community received a wake-up call. Among those called to serve were Jews, and they needed our help.

One request – received by The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism – was for an online forum allowing families of service members to share experiences, seek advice and connect with others. Responding to that need, the USCJ created “TheBrave,” an interactive listserv hosted on the organization’s website.

In launching the forum, USCJ International President Judy Yudof noted that “Jewish families with members involved in the armed forces often have a hard time finding each other. TheBrave has given them an arena in which even just the commonality of the experience offers them the slightest bit of comfort.”

Emphasizing the continuing need for such a listserv, Rabbi Jerome Epstein, Executive Director of the organization, points out that “the value of this listserv becomes more apparent each day and the forum is needed now more than ever. The United Synagogue is committed to making a difference wherever we can.”

According to Debbie Astor -- Executive Director of Temple Israel in Sharon, Massachusetts, and the mother of a son who is now on his second Iraq deployment -- the listserv was conceived “to provide a safe place to share fear and information for families of active duty/activated Jewish military and to share the deep pride and admiration of our loved ones' patriotism and courage.”

Adds Astor, who was the driving force behind the project: “I thought that with enough publicity, we might gather 50 families. But within the first few weeks of the listserv’s existence, there were 80 families, then 250. While people have come and gone, subscriber numbers have never gone below 145.”

Since its inception, the listserv has brought together service members, Gulf War veterans, chaplains, parents, siblings, and spouses of soldiers, some whom are deployed and others who are still stateside. Also included among the subscribers have been military Jewish lay leaders around the world, news reporters, Jews in Europe who heard about the list and wanted to let list members know how they admired the American Jewish community for being able to provide this service, US rabbis with children in the military, as well as three synagogue executive directors with military children.

Issues discussed on the site are diverse, ranging from pragmatic to heart-wrenching. One parent writes that “having a son in the Army is difficult. Having such a Jewish son – one who takes his Jewish identity seriously – is even more difficult…Having access to TheBrave allowed us as his parents to find ways in which he could make sure that he could attend Shabbat and holiday services and make contact with Jewish chaplains and lay leaders…TheBrave helped create a cyber-community where real compassion and concern could be felt and given.”

Another parent writes that “when we have questions, there are many out there who have personally been through the same ordeal and can best give recommendations. Jewish friends and acquaintances try to understand but unless they personally know someone in the service, it is very difficult to empathize.”

The spouse of an Air Force veteran notes that the listserv has given her the opportunity to be helpful to others experiencing this for the first time. She believes she is “able to offer hope to other families that it will be possible for their family members to connect with other Jewish servicemen and women and quite possibly attend services as well.”

According to Debbie Astor, the average number of Jewish chaplains posted around the world is 27, and Jews comprise 2% of the military population. Says Astor: “Our Jewish military is so underserviced that we need to find ways to make a connection between them and their people.

Members of the listserv have tried to make these connections, creating relationships with chaplains, military Jewish lay leaders, and individual Jewish troops. Some subscribers – together with many synagogue groups and other organizations -- have engaged in efforts to provide service members with holiday food packages and personal care items as well as with books of Jewish content, Shabbat candles, menorot, etc. In addition, it is clear to the members of the listserv that they need to help educate the Jewish community about the existence of Jews in the military.  In furtherance of these efforts, last year Rabbi Harold Kushner was asked to create a new ceremony, “The Seder of Safe Return,” posted on the USCJ website.

Astor notes that the huge troop rotations which have been taking place for the past five months means that a whole new group of families “is experiencing what I did 15 months ago: panic, daily fear, little ‘on the ground’ information. The High Holy Days will only exacerbate the anxiety.”

Says Astor: “This is an important time to gather these new families to a place of comfort and understanding…where this awful loneliness dissipates.”

Those interested in subscribing to the listserv should send an e-mail message to listserv@uscj.org leaving the subject line blank and typing "subscribe thebrave Your Name" as the message. Or join the list via the web.