Maryland Defense Force Discovers Another Way to Serve the Maryland National Guard and the State Defense Force

摘要

At present, the U.S. Military is experiencing a shortage of chaplains in both its active and reserve components. The shortage in this critical MOS is greatest in the Reserves and National Guard, particularly for units in home quarters. The reason for this seems to be the urgent need for chaplains in units mobilized for combat, such that few chaplains are left behind to minister to the troops remaining at home. The rationale for mobilizing so many chaplains is that soldiers in home quarters and their families have civilian ministers to provide them with spiritual and social support. But the problem with this 'solution' is that civilian ministers who have never served in the military do not fully understand the problems faced by soldiers and their families who are regularly separated from each other for long periods of time. Because of this lack of understanding on the part of civilian ministers, many soldiers prefer military chaplains to service their needs. The shortage is critical in the case of Jewish chaplains. There is a group of Rabbis who are committed to providing spiritual and social guidance for individuals who live in isolation from family and friends. This group, known as the Aleph Institute, consists of Rabbis and other members of the Chasidic (Pious) group known as the Lubavitch community. These Rabbis have often volunteered for service as chaplains in the military and have just as often been rejected, for one reason: facial hair. These rabbis have beards, which they are forbidden by religious law to shave, and because of Army Regulation 600-20, the military has deprived itself of a ready resource of Jewish chaplains. This article describes how the Maryland Defense Force (MDDF) addressed the problem of the ban on facial hair on its uniformed members through a request for a modified grooming standard, and how the MDDF commissioned the first Chasidic Rabbi into a State Defense Force.