William Sager and Herman Abady were close friends at the University of Virginia (UVA) before Pearl Harbor was attacked and the U.S. went to war.… Read More »Two Virginia Friends, Rosh Hashanah and Combat on Guadalcanal, 1942
A Jewish Army officer from Arkansas City, Kansas, a Baptist preacher from Kentucky, a single prayer book and a war-ravaged Pacific island: these are not the ingredients for most traditional Rosh Hashanah services. But in 1943, they came together to create an extraordinary experience. Captain Elliott Davis described the experience in a beautifully written “Dear Rabbi” letter.
To ease the burden on the postal system, V-mail was introduced during World War II for correspondence with service members stationed abroad. Stationery was photographed… Read More »L’shana Tova: Rosh Hashanah V-Mail from World War II
For Jewish service members at war, High Holiday services provided a respiter. The familiar ceremonies offered a refuge and the connection with the Jewish community in the… Read More »Rosh Hashanah in Charleroi, Belgium, 1944