Righteous Warriors

Outside, it was 103F in the shade. The car was speeding down and the arrow-straight highway from Oklahoma City to Dallas, where Breslev Israel’s general director Yosef Nechama and I were on our way to spend the July 4^th weekend as guests of the World Noahide Conference in Irving, Texas.

Our host in Oklahoma, Lazer Green, looked at his watch: “We have plenty of time before Shabbat. The base clergy at Fort Sill asked me several times to stop by the base on the way to Dallas.”

Yosef Nechama said, “Tell them we’re on the way.”

Fort Sill received us like visiting royalty. Captain (Rabbi) Boaz, a former paratrooper in Iraq who was then about to be deployed in Afghanistan, ushered us to a table (in Fort Sill!) with his wife’s home-baked challas, glatt-kosher milk products, and loads of fruits and veggies, just what Israelis like to eat. After hearing about the spiritual life of American Jewish soldiers from Rabbi Boaz, another officer arrived: Major Jimmy, the head chaplain at Fort Sill.
 

 
From left: Captain Boaz V., Jewish chaplain at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Rabbi Lazer Brody; Major Jimmy W., head chaplain, Fort Sill

 
Major Jimmy and his wife Elizabeth surprised us with their amazing knowledge of all our emuna books and CDs. Together, they’ve been on a spiritual journey that has brought them in the lap of “Moses’s Torah, with no new additions,” as Major Jimmy says.
 
“We’ve become complete Noahides, and then some. We’ve taken upon ourselves to refrain from eating forbidden foods – if it’s healthy for a Jewish soul, it’s certainly beneficial for us too.”
 
Major Jimmy then told us about the frightening day several months ago when killer tornadoes were ripping through Oklahoma. “One was heading straight for our house. Elizabeth and I wanted to do something fast – we decided that it’d be a good idea to get all the pork out of our house. We did – and fast. The tornado ripped our town apart but when it got our street, it took a sharp turn to the right. We didn’t even lose a shingle on the roof.”
 
I asked Major Jimmy what started his spiritual rethinking.
 
“The Garden of Emuna,” he answered emphatically. “Rabbi Arush’s teachings about having your own intimate relationship with G-d brought me to reevaluate everything I’ve been taught from childhood and Divinity School on up. So I tried personal prayer; today I can’t live without it. As a result, I left Christianity and became a Noahide.”
 
I asked Major Jimmy about the cross on his uniform – his chaplain’s insignia.
 
“I put in a formal request to my superiors, asking to remove the cross. But since I’m neither a Jewish nor an Islamic chaplain, I can’t wear their emblems. Also, since the Noahide movement has not yet been recognized by the US Military, we have no symbol. At any rate, I’ll be retiring from the military in a few months, so I won’t be wearing the cross anymore anyway.”
 
Imagine how much courage it required for the head military chaplain of a major US Army base to request that the cross be removed from his uniform…
 
Later in Dallas, we met Ray Pettersen, head of the World Noahide movement, and told him all about Major Jimmy of Fort Sill. And who knows how many other closet Noahides there are?
 
Ray was really moved. Now, the ball is rolling to get the US Military to recognize the Noahide movement, as well as to design a certification and ordination program for Noahide chaplains.
 
Major Jimmy has my vote for “Righteous Warrior” of the year. He put career and advancement aside to go full gusto for the truth. And his devoted wife Elizabeth is totally behind him.
 
And where did this all start, this dramatic change in the life of a military chaplain in charge of the spiritual well-being of 25,000 soldiers? The Garden of Emuna, and thanks to Captain Boaz who introduced Major Jimmy to the book.
 
Just think – the next time you give someone an emuna book or CD, you just might be changing the entire world.
 
 
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