Reaching out to the military families of Jewish personnel
The following ideas may be helpful as you continue developing your supportive and caring community:
Identify and then approach the families in need and recommend the services of the temple's Caring Community Committee. Identify those members who will be directly impacted by hostilities in Iraq and those returning from active duty, including those who are serving in the military, their spouses, parents, and close friends. This is also an opportunity to establish or nurture a consistent relationship with a key member of the congregation.
Designate committee members or recruit volunteers to regularly check-in by phone or in person on the families you have identified. When money gets tight, members may disappear from a congregation or children may “drop out” of Hebrew school, rather than deal with the humiliation of admitting their inability to pay. Propose assistance such as rides, companionship or meals. Show these congregants the synagogue community understands they are in need and the synagogue will not desert them at this time.
Offer therapeutic programming in conjunction with other Jewish organizations or with other faith communities. Inform your families of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's listserv and archives designed to help family members of Jewish personnel feel connected to people facing similar challenges and uncertainties. This resource allows information exchange and suggestions of how to communicate with loved ones better, how to help service members live Jewish lives while in uniform, and how to cope with the stress of return to civilian life. Be sure your synagogue's Caring Community Committee and military families know about this resource located at http://uscj.org/archives/thebrave.html
If you have a quorum of members interested, establish discussion groups for young people and adults to share feelings about events in Iraq, loss, and separation. If possible, ask a professional mental health worker to facilitate, and include discussions about Jewish values regarding the war, loss and separation etc. (See the Educational Responses materials as well as materials prepared by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.)
Offer prayers of support to personnel and military families during your Shabbat services or designate a special event to educate your synagogue community about the challenges of Jewish military life. You may offer an adult text-study class using biblical, classical and current Jewish perspectives on war. Explore what rabbinic and Talmudic sources say about Jewish rules of warfare and compare the military guidelines of the Israel Defense Forces and the American Armed Forces.
For texts to help teach Jewish perspectives on war, download Reacting to a World at War*, a compilation of Jewish texts that recognize the tension between the love of peace and the need to use force at times in order for good to triumph over evil.
*Please note this is in PDF file format, in order to view you must have Acrobat Reader. To download Acrobat Reader for free, please click here.
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