A Jewish Chaplain in FranceLevinger, Lee J. (Lee Joseph)
Religion
A Jewish Chaplain in France
Levinger, Lee J. (Lee Joseph)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Jews
On the whole, the field workers of the Jewish Welfare Board made an
enviable record in France. In this respect a minor organization had the
advantage in being able to choose its representatives so much more
carefully than in the enormous machine of the Y. M. C. A. The women
workers were especially conspicuous for their steady, uncomplaining
service. Their work was anything but romantic; it was driving, wearing
labor. They tended canteen all day and danced almost every evening, a
regime that was hard physically and exhausting mentally. Only those in
the larger cities could enjoy the luxuries which are so commonplace in
America--electric lights, a bath tub, and the other conveniences of
civilization. I have marveled to see them living for months in tiny
French villages or in army camps, giving devoted service to the men in
uniform, without distinction of rank or creed.
Through these workers the Jewish Welfare Board was able to render the
personal touch which was missing in much of the war work overseas. This
applied especially to the Jewish man, who felt overjoyed to meet a
Jewish girl from America, to attend a Seder, to write home on the J. W.
B. letterhead. He had found a touch of home in a foreign land; his
personal needs could be understood and satisfied so much more easily and
directly now. But many men of many creeds found themselves at home in
the J. W. B. huts. Men learned to know Jews, to respect Judaism in the
army who had been ignorant of both at home. They often attended a Jewish
service, met a Jewish chaplain, or simply preferred the home-like
atmosphere to that of other welfare organizations. For one thing, the J.
W. B. was run according to the tastes of the soldiers; there was no
charge for anything, even a nominal one; there was no condescension and
no dictation, none of the things which the soldiers hated. In the Le
Mans area, which was typical, from 56 to 60 per cent of the men
patronizing the J. W. B. building were non-Jews. This constituted a
return for the thousands of Jews who patronized Y. M. C. A. and K. of C.
huts, as well as our contribution to the morale of the forces.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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