BY: Keith S. Shikowitz, Editor/Investigative Reporter
Jewish Americans have been in the nation’s military since the American Revolution though their numbers were small relative to the total population. They participated in the war disproportionately to their numbers and provided essential support, with some reaching officer ranks, which was rare for Jews in the colonies at the time. Prominent examples include Colonel Mordecai Sheftall, the highest-ranking Jewish officer, and financier Haym Salomon. Jewish men served in the Continental Army and militias, with estimates suggesting around 100 to 160 served on the Patriot side, many in support roles. In addition to combat, Jews contributed to the war effort by providing supplies, shipping goods, and raising funds.
The JWV (Jewish War Veterans of the United States) was begun by 63 Jewish Union veterans on March 15, 1896, in New York City as the Hebrew Union Veterans Association in response to anti-Semitic claims that Jews did not serve in the military. Over time, smaller groups consolidated, and the organization officially became the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America in 1929.
The JWV’s mission is to affirm that Jewish men and women serve honorably in the U.S. military, to defend the rights of all service members and veterans, and to fight anti-Semitism. Any local post, such as Post 425, is part of this larger national organization and would be involved in similar activities, such as supporting veterans, fighting anti-Semitism, and serving the community. Local posts typically engage in their community with veterans from their region, hold local events, and may work to recruit current veterans into the organization.
In the 25 years following its founding, there was a consolidation and expansion as other smaller Jewish veteran organizations merged with the Hebrew Union Veterans Association, and the group officially adopted the name “Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America” in 1929. In 1951, the JWV moved its national headquarters to Washington, D.C., to gain greater visibility and advocate for the needs of veterans. The U.S. Congress officially recognized the importance of the JWV by issuing it a Congressional charter in 1984.
After all protocols and prayers were completed, Post Commander (PC) Dave Levin introduced the Honorary Speaker, Congressman Mike Lawler
Honorary Speaker Congressman Mike Lawler
“Thank you David and good morning everyone. It’s nice to be here with all of you. I want to begin by thanking all of our veterans who are here today as well as our active-duty military, for the tremendous work that has been done, in service of our nation, in service of freedom, and in defense of the ideals that have been at the foundation of both the United States of America and the state of Israel. I want to thank the Jewish War Veterans Post 425 and Commander Levin. I want to thank Joel as well as Rabbi Berkman for opening up the new City Jewish Center for us today.”
“It is a remarkable moment in history that we are in right now. What we saw nearly 2 weeks ago was a positive step forward. After 2 long years, 738 days in which 20 living hostages who were held in captivity. Yet still many deceased hostages remain, including two Americans are being held. Their families are still waiting to receive their bodies so that they can be given a proper burial and find a level of closure.”
“Think about that.” He paused to let that statement sink in with the audience and then continued, “We fight or we die. It’s hard for Americans to imagine. that mentality. We don’t have missiles launching into the United States on a given day. We have challenges, yes. But our homeland is secure. The same is not true for Israel. Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, Iran, and its terror proxy network are hell bent on the destruction of the State of Israel for no other reason than it is a Jewish state. When some people say they’re anti-Zionists, but they’re not anti-Semitic. Let us be very clear, anti-Zionism IS anti-Semitism. I for one, as a member of Congress, as chair of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee on the Foreign Affairs Committee will not stand idly by.”
“As individuals here in America or around the globe pushed to dismantle the Jewish state. You never hear anybody saying, you know, There’s so many Arab states in the Middle East, we should get rid of all the Arab states. I don’t advocate for that. Yet you have people focused on the one Jewish state in the entire world constantly saying that they want to get rid of it. Why? There are real challenges ahead. The peace that was negotiated, the ceasefire that was negotiated by President Trump, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Marco Rubio was an important step forward. But it is fragile and it requires a unified front. Here in America, with our allies and with our Arab partners.”
Proponents of this agreement say that having the Arab nations in the region as a part of the peace process is important to maintaining it over the long term and agree that President Trump was right to bring our Arab partners to the table.
“Because the reality is if we are going to be able to hold Hamas to account. If we are going to be able to remove them from power, to establish a long-term peace and stability in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. It will require our Arab partners to be held to account. Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. They all need to be part of the conversation. They all need to be part of the solution. I can tell you, having met with the Saudi leadership, King Abdullah, Jordan and the ambassadors across the region and having traveled to Morocco and Tunisia in August. I’ll be going next year to Qatar and UAE and Bahrain and to Iraq and Syria and Lebanon. People want peace, they want stability. They want greater economic cooperation. They know the threat. They live it. They live with the extremism in their countries.
Two other US Presidents tried to broker peace in the Middle East. Jimmy Carter with the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, succeeded for two years until radicals in Egypt assassinated their president Anwar Sadat in 1981. Then Bill Clinton with the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization). Did not hold because of the rise of Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups supported by Iran.
Lawler says that this is a moment in time in which we can actually forge peace and actually forge normalization between Arab states and Israel. “The Abraham Accords were one of the most important advancements in foreign policy in decades. It was rooted in a mutual respect and understanding about the importance of shared economic prosperity. When you look across the Middle East, they want to be part of the global economy. They know they cannot achieve that without normalizing relations with Israel. We have an opportunity here. It is something that I am entirely focused on and committed to seeing through. Nobody wants to see death and destruction. Nobody wants to see innocent lives lost. Nobody wants to see a repeat of the Holocaust or October 7th. The actions taken over the last 2 years by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the IDF.”
Lawler explained how we’re eliminating the threat from Hamas and Hezbollah. “By taking out Iran’s air defense system and its ballistic missiles program and President Trump making the courageous and correct decision to take out Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Every president, Republican and Democrat, every member of Congress, Republican and Democrat, said Iran cannot get a nuke. Yet many were unwilling to take the necessary decision to eliminate that threat. The president making that decision and our military executing on it flawlessly speaks volumes to our commitment to protecting the Jewish state.”
He said he often gets attacked about his support for Israel and that many people will ask, why do you spend so much time focusing on that? “Number one, there are over 700,000 Americans living in Israel at any given time. Number 2, the values that are at the core of America are built on Judeo-Christian values. Our Constitution is rooted in Judeo-Christian values as are our laws. As is Israel. There are shared bonds that are vital and so from my vantage point, this is not just a policy consideration it is a moral obligation. When you look at what happened on October 7th. As I said, it was rooted in one fundamental thing. A hatred of Jews.
“Palestinian children are taught at a very young age to hate Jews, to want to kill Jews. The Palestinian Authority today is continuing to pay Palestinians to kill Jews. When people say there’s a genocide, yes, the genocide is at the hands of the Palestinians who want to kill Jews simply because they are Jews. The oppression in Gaza at the hands of Hamas who started executing innocent Palestinians in the streets.”
“The objective is to better define what anti-Semitism is and require these institutions to uphold federal law and require the Department of Education to enforce it. If we are going to root out this hatred it requires holding people to account. As a member of Congress, that is what I have sought to do and will continue to do so long as I have the honor of serving.”
He began his conclusion by apologizing about having to leave the event early. He had a pretty good reason for having to do so. “I’m going to have to leave. My daughter’s first birthday is Tuesday, so we’re having a birthday party today, and I told my wife I would be home at a reasonable time. I’ve already gotten 3 texts, so. I will be, be leaving, but I want to thank each of you for being here and I want to thank our veterans. I see, one of my colleagues in government, Phil Soskin, is here. Phil is a tremendous public servant, who has dedicated his life and career to serving our country, our state, and our community, and, and I want to thank Phil for his service, but I want to thank each and every one of you who have worn the uniform who have stood up not just for the Jewish community but for our nation.”
“We are the greatest nation on Earth. We have been the greatest force for good. We have freed more people from oppression and tyranny than anyone in history. It is precisely because of the men and women who have put on our uniform. Who have answered the call. Who have made the greatest sacrifice in defense of freedom and liberty. I want to thank each and every one of you for making that sacrifice, for answering that call, for being here today. God bless you all. God bless the United States.
In the interim between speakers, a list of the elected officials and other dignitaries was announced. Then The Keynote Speaker Gary Ginsburg who recently concluded his one-year term ad the 93rd National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, took to the podium.
Former 93rd National Commander of the JWV USA Gary Ginsburg
“I’m glad to be here in New City. It’s quite an experience already I must say to see so many members of the Jewish War Veterans, our nation’s oldest veteran’s organization, family members, ladies, auxiliary patrons, friends of the Jewish community, and supporters of Israel. Thank you for the invitation to Commander Dave Levin and everybody here in 425. I’m originally from Syracuse. I live over in Rochester now, so that’s upstate. No snow on the ground, by the way, but this post actually has quite a history. I think I counted at least 3 past national commanders and at least 1 past national president, so this is an extraordinary post, and I’m really thrilled to be here.”
“I do have some prepared comments as far as what was going on in the last 12 months and a little bit in terms of what’s happening going forward because I do stay in touch with the headquarters. I do want to briefly though, adjust my comments and just play off a little bit of the congressman’s comments because it is important what he said. You know, Israel’s facing all kinds of criticism before, during, and after October 7.”
“This is quite superior to what’s happened over the last 50 or 100 years, just something to keep in mind. Now I do want to comment briefly on what’s been going on in the last 12 months and then look into the future a little bit. When I testified before the Joint Senate and House Committee on Veteran Affairs February 26th, one of the big things going on with the new administration of course was the staffing cuts at the VA and as of May 6th when I met with the VA secretary, there were about 2000 people that were let go, not minimizing that.”
“Some of them were veterans, yes, the VA is an enterprise of over 400,000 people, so it’s less than 1%. If there was any impact on veterans, we didn’t hear about anything specifically. There are retirements taking effect or did take effect a few weeks ago October 1st, in the federal government they say Happy New Year in the fiscal year October 1st, and this year in the Jewish community of course our New Year was right around that time as well. Yes, there will be some more cutbacks. What we urge people to do, whether you’re in the JWV or another veteran service organization, is keep your eyes open and pay attention. If these staffing cutbacks are beginning to impact support to our veterans. You need to let us know the post here locally. Talk to your members in Congress, House or the Senate they have local offices. You have a representative here that seems quite concerned and interested, so get the details, get the summary, get the information if it has occurred, we’re not aware of anything.”
He said he’s not assuming that no news is good news because that’s not always the case, but that’s the situation right now. There’s a lapse in appropriations. That’s kind of a wonky phrase, but literally the government has not really shut down. Many agencies are continuing to operate air traffic controllers, VA hospitals. Unfortunately, thousands of Americans had their pay delayed and hopefully that situation gets corrected, but again, it’s important to understand that we are watching the situation very closely with the VA as it may or may not impact our veterans and family members, and there’s about 16 or 17 million veterans across the United States.
“We care about all of them regardless of race, gender, or religion. Now, there’s a couple of issues that have come up in the last year or two with the VA. Some of you may be aware there was some anti-Semitism in the VA itself right after October 7th. We addressed that. This occurred with the prior administration towards the end of their time in office. The prior VA secretary did put together a training and education package designed to mitigate, reduce hatred targeting Jewish people in that agency. We were trying to get a copy of it. Then the election occurred. The new administration comes into office January 20th.”
He then said that the veteran package got pushed aside. He’s not here to play partisan politics, but he said they do have to pay attention and maintain situational awareness when the winds change. They’re not partisan. They want to get along with the players regardless of which party, and the majority in Congress can sometimes change. Sometimes you do things as a private citizen, but no, they don’t, as an organization endorse candidates for governor, president or congress. They absolutely encourage American citizens to register and vote. Who you vote for is your business. They’re not and don’t have a political action committee and they are not about to have one.
“But again, what’s occurred now is on 6th May I did meet with the VA secretary of the, the current administration. This issue did come up and he’s looking into this matter, specifically what he said he will consider developing a training education package to mitigate reduce anti-Semitism in the VA. We followed up a few months later, and the decision is still pending. As some of you know, we have a Jewish war veterans post in Israel. It’s a small post, probably 15 – 20 people. We’ve stayed in touch with these individuals, and it turns out we estimate there’s 500 to 1000 American veterans living in Israel, not IDF, American veterans, and in fact for many of these individuals if they’re pursuing a service-connected disability, if you’re overseas. We brought this to the attention of senior officials in the VA, and it’s taken some time, but yes, we’re now making some progress.”
Former 1st Lieutenant Jeremy Glassman
The guest speaker Jeremy Glassman was the final speaker to address the event. “You can see everybody, you see some familiar faces I’ve spoken here before, I have some prepared remarks for today. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a pleasure to speak here again today. I just want to thank all our JWB veterans and members and guests who are able to attend here today in person.”
“I remember during those long nights in the joint operation center in Syria, I’ll take you back there right now. Imagine a small command center in the middle of our base there. It’s held together by just a few cargo containers and sheet metal siding and concrete walls to protect against drone strikes. A wall of TV monitors with wiring hanging down and displaying everything from missile strikes to visiting dignitaries and distinguished guests like the President of the United States, but in that chaotic environment of meetings and missiles, my fellow soldiers and I would talk about home because that’s what America meant to us, the communities that we came from. Sometimes we’d be 14 hours in the middle of a 24-hour shift. 120-degree weather beating down on us in a full battle uniform and I write in LSAT question of the day full battle, law school test to get into law school and I did that to lighten the mood and to bring in perspective of why we were serving over there in the first place. Remember that service was not only the sacrifices to our time, remember the reason we were there, the lives we had back home here.”
He explained that that’s what they were fighting ISIS for. That if you’re part of a community like the JWV or any other organization that you’re serving through your everyday acts of duty, kindness, and responsibility to one another. That’s why service in any capacity is so important. When he sat down to think about what he was going to talk about that day, he knew it had to be about that kind of service, not just military service because that’s only one part of a larger duty the service to the local community.
“It’s this participation in the local community is the glue that holds America together. I can’t fully explain it, but service has always called to me. Maybe it started in 8th grade, and I don’t know if your 8th grade took you to a field trip to Washington DC, our nation’s capital, and that was a tradition here at Suffern Middle School. On that field trip to Washington DC, I remember a white t-shirt that had the US Army units that liberated the concentration camps during World War II. I remember that white t-shirt. That sense. That community. Those soldiers.”
“I remember 9/11 vividly, and although I was only in 2nd grade. People helping each other in the aftermath. The car washes, the flags waving. That is my memory of 9/11, people coming together, helping each other, the local community. That was America, that shared sense of purpose. That was the social contract to each other in action. Teachers, parents, kids. Suffern Mounty Friday night football games. Chabad Backyard barbecues. Synagogues, churches, community halls. People showing up, not when it’s just convenient but because it’s right. That’s our duty as an American to show up for one another. It doesn’t exist without people who are willing to serve.”
He added that the idea that our country’s strength is found in local communities is not a new one.
He pointed to French observer de Tocqueville in his 1835 classic Democracy in America who said, ‘Wherever at the head of some new undertaking, you would find the government in France, a man of rank in England. But in the United States, you will find an association.’
“What he meant was this, that when a need, when there’s a need in America, people get together. That’s how we’ve always solved problems. But lately that tradition of joining, connecting, and showing up, is fading.
“Sociologist Robert Putnam documented this in his book Bowling Alone. He noticed that while more Americans were bowling than ever before, membership in bowling leagues, community organization based around bowling, that membership was declining. He called it that decline of social capital. That trust in the American community. That connection to our family, to neighbors to each other it’s not just an optional extra that’s what makes democracy work that’s what makes America work and when those connections break down, so does the culture of that trust that the democracy here depends on. The regions where people trusted one another volunteered and showed up just like everyone showed up here today.”
“A former president in his inaugural address in 1989 said this, We are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. We must give hope to our children a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, neighborhood, and town better than he found it. That’s the mission of service. Leave it better than you found it. When we serve our neighborhoods, and we serve our neighbors, when we mentor, volunteer and ask a simple, how are you doing? We strengthen the moral fabric of our nation. Another president said our local organizations are falling by the wayside. The common bonds of community are badly frayed. He said that nearly 30 years ago, but it’s even truer now. But those bonds can be repaired one conversation at a time, one handshake at a time.”
He concluded, “So my message today is simple. Keep that flame of service in America alive because that flame is kept alive, not in a national abstract. That flame is kept alive by the people right here in this room.
That through every active service. You keep that flame bright, and as long as that fire burns, America will continue to shine as that proud, decent, and moral nation. That we know it to be. Thank you for your time. Thank you everyone here for your service.
The event ended with PC Levin gave his summation and acknowledgements to those who deserved it and District Commander Joel Hershkowitz giving a prayer for Israel and the closing prayer.