Chabad rabbi joins Canadian army

July 26, 2010

(JTA) -- A Chabad rabbi has become the first rabbi since World War II to join the Canadian armed forces full time.

Rabbi Lazer Danzinger, 54, transferred last Friday from the reserves to full-time service.

The rabbi has been assigned to one of the Toronto-area bases, where he will minister to students in one of the training facilities.

“I find the work so rewarding, so fulfilling," Danzinger told the Canadian Jewish Chronicle. "I decided to go full time because of the need that I see in the forces. As a reservist, there was no way I could meet that need.”

Danzinger tends to all soldiers regardless of religion.

“Soldiers do not often care that I am Jewish. They are in need," he told Chabad.org. "They might need help after they get home from the war, or they need help with their families. They might have nightmares after Afghanistan. They are trying to cope; they have issues. Some might need psychiatric, and I can help arrange that.”

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Chabad rabbi joins Canadian army

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