The top Generals of the United States Military Academy joined several hundred West Point Jewish Cadets, officers and guests Sunday evening to recite the traditional Haggadah at a Passover seder held in the Thayer Hotel on the campus of the Academy.
Lt. Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster, superintendent of the Academy, who read several prayers himself, told the cadets that the “march for freedom” as expressed on Passover is a “driving force for all man kind,” The seder, he continued, adds “a wonderful dimension to the experience of West Point for our cadets and all our guests.”
Attending the seder were officers and members of the West Point Jewish Chapel Fund which is raising Funds to build the first Jewish Chapel in the 174 year history of the Academy, as well as officers and members of the Jewish War Veterans. Many non-Jewish cadets attended the festive seder. The West Point Jewish Cadet Choir sand Israeli and Passover songs at the services conducted by Rabbi Avraham Soltes, the Jewish Chaplain at the Academy.
Chaim H. Friend, executive director of the West Point Jewish Chapel Fund, which is located in New York City, said that “the seder was one example of the service and activities that one day soon would be held in the Jewish Chapel which will be built to perpetuate Jewish identity as well as foster greater understanding through inter-faith activities.”
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