Debra Nussbaum Cohen, in the Forward:
When Benjamin Sklaver was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan on October 2, he was just 32 years old but had already made a remarkable impact on the world. Sklaver, a U.S. Army captain, was a dedicated soldier motivated by a desire to help others, which grew from his commitment to Judaism.
“He was a combatant for peace,” said Jake Herrle, a friend. “He wasn’t a warrior, he was there to spread peace in the world.”
He was also one of the relatively small number of members of the armed forces who identify as Jewish. The scarcity extends to the chaplaincy, where there are very few rabbis to serve Jewish members, leading to an even greater isolation. As a result, as America debates the wisdom and strategy of military engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan, the stories of Jewish soldiers like Benjamin Sklaver are often overlooked. …
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