Photo By Staff Sgt. John Mateja | U.S. Army Maj. Aaron Gaber, a Jewish chaplain with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat...... read more read more
GRAFENWOEHR, Germany – U.S. Army Maj. Aaron Gaber, a Jewish chaplain serving with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, answered the call to provide Jewish High Holidays support overseas this holiday season from Oct. 2–15, 2024.
Gaber, who deployed to Germany in support of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine mission in late August, responded to a U.S. Army request for rabbis serving in the National Guard or U.S. Army Reserve to visit Soldiers in multiple locations across Europe, including Poland and Lithuania, for the Jewish High Holidays.
According to Gaber, Judaism is considered a low-density faith group, along with Muslim, Pagan, Buddhist and other faiths, which are represented by a smaller number of Soldiers identifying with these faiths. Similarly, these low-density faith groups have less active duty chaplains serving in them, so chaplains from across the entire force answer the call to support missions like the Jewish High Holidays. Thus, the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps maintains its commitment to providing religious and pastoral support to all members, allowing them to practice their religion in meaningful ways.
For Gaber, supporting the Jewish High Holidays mission afforded him the opportunity to serve Jewish Soldiers across Europe at a time when these Soldiers often do not get to interact with a rabbi within their faith denomination.
“It was incredible to me that Soldiers drove three hours each way, and their NCOs brought them, to be able to spend some time with the rabbi,” said Gaber. “That just shows how needed it is for clergy and for chaplains to be in the [area of operations] and to what lengths the military will go to ensure that Soldiers are able to observe or engage with the holidays in a way that’s appropriate.”
During his tour, Gaber, accompanied by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. John Mateja, a religious affairs specialist with the 56th SBCT, visited five different U.S. Army installations across Poland to provide religious support to Jewish Soldiers. Some of this support included meeting one-on-one with individual Soldiers, delivering religious services, teaching about the Jewish faith, providing time for fellowship with others and answering questions about the faith. During the Jewish High Holidays mission, Gaber led the Soldiers in celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement; and began preparations for the holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles.
“To me, that was really impactful that Soldiers took that time,” said Gaber. “They really appreciated having that connection because they don’t see someone from their faith group very much.”
Additionally, Gaber’s itinerary to provide holiday support to Jewish Soldiers in Lithuania opened the door for him to connect with the Lithuanian military chaplaincy, thus reaffirming the state partnership that the Pennsylvania National Guard has had with the country of Lithuania since 1993. Gaber, Mateja and a Military Ordinariate of Lithuania met for a long lunch and shared successes and challenges that they face as chaplains within their respective armed services.
“[This meeting] was really good. It’s really one of the first times that the Lithuanian military chaplaincy and our chaplaincy have met each other.”
Gaber explained that the interaction between partners, including the Pennsylvania National Guard’s State Partnership Program with Lithuania, often centers around military exercises and units, not necessarily one-on-one contacts to share experiences in their profession. This meeting, however, allowed them to share their best practices to reach soldiers in their formations.
When asked what the Jewish High Holidays mission meant to him, and the overall mission of carrying out the military chaplaincy, Gaber said, “This is sacred work. 25 years ago, I made a decision to leave the military chaplaincy because of my work circumstances, my home circumstances. I came back in March 2020. The work that I am doing is incredibly important.”
Providing for the spiritual needs of the Soldier, as well as just offering a listening ear to understand what the Soldiers face on a day-to-day basis, makes for better people and a stronger formation overall.
“Soldiers need help. We can’t do this all by ourselves. I really see my role as very important to help Soldiers be better people for themselves and do the most that they can.”
More information about the 56th SBCT’s support of the JMTG-U mission can be found here.
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2024 11:05 |
| Story ID: | 484659 |
| Location: | GRAFENWOEHR, BAYERN, DE |
| Web Views: | 192 |
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