If you're interested in sending any care packages, the most requested items are:

lip balm with high SPF
liquid soap
lotion with high SPF
face wipes
gummy candies

there was also a great deal of interest in "seasonal" goodie bags- ziploc bags filled with items for, say, mother's day, father's day, 4th of july, etc.

any of this can be sent to:

CH (LTC) Rachel Coggins
653d RSG
1st TSC
APO AE 09366

the jewish congregation is also desperate for shabbat candles
there are 3 left and they have little stubby stubs that they hoard from week to week
don't want to over load them, though
if you're willing to send a few boxes, let me know and i'll send you the mailing info.

thanks so much for your support!
shalom and blessings, rbk

Hoped to sleep through breakfast again, but when I found myself awake in the wee hours, I decided to get up and join a small group of chaplains who have breakfast together on Wednesday mornings.  It was great fellowship, as they say, and fun shop-talk.  Of course, they are all busy preparing for Easter.  I am hoping to attend Chaplain Landon’s “Maundy Thursday” service tomorrow night:  when we walked home together Monday night we talked about his theme and it sounds interesting.

Had an hour to read the Stars and Stripes, our daily newspaper, before heading out with CH Collins and her assistant to Ali Al Salem Air Base.  She has some personnel assigned to her unit who work at this location, about an hour away, so she visits once a week.  I chatted with a long term colleague there while she checked in on her folks and followed up on some issues.  After lunch, she walked me through the various tents and introduced me to people while reflecting on many of her experiences as the chaplain there during the deployment she chronicled in her book.  This is THE location for everyone transiting from Iraq and Afghanistan to go home, and she continues to be moved by the variety of stories, especially those who are traveling on emergency leave for a broad variety of reasons. 

I DID get to see some camels on the drive, but they were too far away to photograph well from a moving car. Am told there will be more camel sightings on my way to Camp Buehring on Friday.   I was able to snap a few of the many mosques along the route- attaching one example.

Forgot to mention my favorite comment on the seder, from our Sabra sailor- she grew up very frum but has not participated in Jewish life for a number of years.  She told me this was the most fun seder she had ever attended.

Today was Temple Chai shopping day- found nice souvenirs for the staff, as well as a table for my office.  I’ve been needing someplace to strategically place tissues in my sitting area, and I found something that I think will work really well in that space.

When we returned to Camp Arifjan, I spent almost two hours cleaning out and organizing the wall locker that contains the Jewish supplies.  It was a disaster area; I’m sorry I didn’t get before and after photos.  Threw out matza from last year (or earlier?), consolidated the Hanukka supplies and books and put away all the leftover seder food for use at upcoming ongei Shabbat.  There is now one shelf that contains all the stuff for Shabbat, which should make the setup MUCH easier.

Spoke to David on the phone- he was with my parents so I got to wish my Dad a happy birthday too!

Back from the second seder, which included 17 participants and was super fun, once again.  SPC Fahey helped me set up this morning, and we had a little time afterward to study some brachot, at her request.  I'm sending two photos with this email, and two more to follow- there are LOTS on Facebook.

Spent the afternoon pursuing the usual avocations- shopping and working out.  There is a chaplain here, CH (LTC) Rachel Coggins, who I know from Phoenix, and she invited to visit with her at her office today and meet some of her folks.  She introduced me to  two Sergeants Major who are also from an old unit with which I served.  One of them reminded me that when we first met, I was a Captain- he was a SGM back then!  Their unit's job here is to coordinate support for all units deploying and redeploying, trying to ensure the smoothest transition possible.

CH Coggins wrote a book about her previous experience in Kuwait- Gateway to Iraq.  This evening she showed me her POD, which is spectacularly decorated, and she told me the book has a whole chapter about it!

Food update:  We were blessed to find some cans of gefilte fish in a care package generously donated by some patriotic Americans, and thus spared from the box of gefilte fish.  Another great score was a nice, hard salami, which we divided among us.

Our lone sailor, who, BTW, is from Israel, was celebrating her birthday today, so we stuck a Shabbas candle stub into some Pesadich cake and that added to the festivities.  Once again people shared war stories, and tonight they also spoke about personal moments of liberation.

I included in the Haggada some questions about Pesach, Matzah and Maror- the focus of the Pesach conversation was- What sacrifice would you make for freedom today?  Clearly, it was important to acknowledge that everyone in that room was making a sacrifice for freedom.  There were two other participants who joined the Army the same year I did, 1978, (and one smart aleck who HAD to mention that he was not even born yet!).  We talked about how much we appreciate the evolution of the American public's attitude towards the military during the span of our careers.  From a time when we were not permitted to wear uniforms in public due to safety concerns, to now, when we can't walk through an airport without people stopping to thank us for our service.  It is quite welcome and heartwarming.

When we spoke of the four children, I asked for a show of hands as to how many people had children back home.  Many, many hands were raised.  We sent blessings to them and acknowledged this sacrifice as well.

I will conduct one more seder at northern Camp Buehring this weekend, for those who were not able to make it to Camp Arifjan.

Full day planned for tomorrow- hopefully to include laundry.  Hope no one is keeping track of how many days I have been wearing my ONE uniform.  I DO change the socks and t-shirts every day!

I'm feeling kind of tired and I thought it might be a post-seder thing, and then I remembered that I woke up at 0330.  Was at the DFAC as soon as it opened, 0500, and then had time to call David, Jessie and Sarah before my 0730 pickup.  If you're on FB you can see the photo of the sunrise, which was actually beautiful; I'm attaching a few seder shots. 

Sat at the "rehearsal" for the Women's History Month luncheon, which consisted of chit chatting with Ch. Landon while sitting in my assigned chair.  I stopped at the PX to buy a pair of shorts- I was told that civilian clothes are acceptable in the gym so that's what I brought with me to work out, only to discover that that excludes spandex and sleeveless shirts.  This describes my entire PT wardrobe.  I have been wearing the spandex bottoms with a uniform t-shirt, but I am in dread of getting kicked out, and decided to buy a pair of shorts so i don't have to worry about it.

Seder setup took much of the day.  It is hard to explain how everything takes SO long in the military.  Each item has to be formally requested and arranged for and approved- from the tables and tablecloths to the eggs to the salt packets and bowls in which to mix the salt water.  I unpacked all the seder kits and found a lot of the contents to be mysteriously sticky.  Enough so to mention in the After Action Review.  I decided to consolidate all the food into one central location and organized by category.  The room looked really nice when I was done and I heard that it was much nicer than previous years.   We received a lot of care packages and were able to supplement the government provided dessert of fruit cup with lots of macaroon and Pesadich cake.  We had a bunch of personal hygiene kits from the Jewish War Veterans, CD's and books and shmura matza from Rabbi Ayla Grafstein; the Greenberg family from Tucson sent a number of boxes with all sorts of goodies.  Sometimes this stuff can languish but when the soldiers arrived (we did have one sailor also) it was like the plague of locusts.  They also quickly emptied the box of cigars donated by J.C. Newman.

Anyone who so desired was issued two cases of kosher for Passover meals, enough to last for the entire week.  I was surprised at how many people wanted those too!  That's what they were there for, so this was awesome!

The seder itself was, of course, lots of fun.  Touched on all the traditional elements with some contemporary songs and nuances.  The most poignant moment was when we asked if anyone had personal stories of feeling that they had been liberated from extreme danger, and three people related incidents when they had been in combat and survived to be at our seder table. 

We had about 24 people, some of them non-Jewish visitors, so at the formal end of the seder I allowed a few moment break for those folks to leave (if they so desired) before the singing began.  A few of the guys, unbeknownst to me, opted to smoke cigars instead!  They promised me a rain check for tomorrow night.

Everyone was really good about helping to clean up.  We've got half a dozen or so people who actually came in from other camps and are staying overnight, and several of them will meet me in the a.m. to help me set up for the second seder.  I head up to one of the northern camps later in the week to catch those who couldn't make it down here.

Hope your seder is as sweet and lighthearted as ours!

Moving right along.  Super quiet day for me as all the chaplains were busy with their various services.  My day was highlighted by meeting a female JAG office from Huntington Beach, CA.  I just happened to sit down next to her at breakfast and noticed that she was reading a book on Oriental rugs, so I struck up a conversation about what she was shopping for.  She is a single woman, and is studying very expensive silk, Persian rugs, which she plans to put on the floor!  She has already bought 2, at, like, 4K each!  I, on the other hand, am looking for an inexpensive, machine made rug.  In negotiation to buy the one in the attached photo. 

She is also the one who worked on our legal opinion re:  wine at the seder.  It is "known" that wine is permitted for religious rituals, but, lo and behold, no one could find a memo to give to the DFAC (Dining Facility), so they wouldn't let us use a room there.  It's kind of better: we'll meet at the Chapel Annex where we will have less room but where we will also have no time limit.  (DFAC closes at 2000)  Wine is described as a central feature of the celebration and therefore allowed as an exception to the general policy that prohibits ALL consumption of alcohol for US forces.

I ran into her and her colleague at lunch, and she took us to the jewelry shop where she had bought 4 necklaces today!

My big purchase of the day, on the other hand, was another towel to replace the one I bought the other day.  I left that on a hook in the bathroom and it immediately disappeared.  Don't think I'll make that mistake again! 

I did do a bit of work today- drafted an invocation for the Women's History Day luncheon tomorrow-

WE COME TOGETHER THIS MORNING IN A SPIRIT OF PRIDE AND CELEBRATION, HONORING
THE WOMEN WHO HAVE COME BEFORE US AND RECOGNIZING THEIR DEDICATION AND
SACRIFICE. ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF GENESIS, AS THE WORLD CAME INTO BEING,
WOMEN WERE FORMED AS THE PINNACLE OF CREATION. SINCE THAT TIME, WE HAVE
STRUGGLED FOR RECOGNITION IN A MAN'S WORLD.  WE GIVE THANKS FOR HAVING LIVED
TO REACH A TIME WHERE WOMEN ARE ENCOURAGED TO BE ALL THAT WE CAN BE, AND
WHERE WE ARE EACH FREE TO PURSUE OUR PASSIONS AND OUR DREAMS.  IN 1851, IN
AN ADDRESS TO THE AKRON WOMEN'S CONVENTION, SOJOURNER TRUTH NOTED THAT, "IF
THE FIRST WOMAN GOD EVER MADE WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO TURN THE WORLD UPSIDE
DOWN ALONE, THESE WOMEN TOGETHER OUGHT TO BE ABLE TO TURN IT BACK, AND GET
IT RIGHT SIDE UP AGAIN."  TOGETHER MAY WE MERIT TO TURN THE WORLD RIGHT SIDE UP AGAIN.
WE PRAY FOR OUR SISTERS EVERYWHERE, AND ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE DEPLOYED IN HARM'S WAY- MAY THEY BE BLESSED WITH STRENGTH, COURAGE AND SAFETY.  WE GIVE THANKS FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO ARE PARTNERS IN
BUILDING A JUST AND FAIR SOCIETY, WHERE EVERY PERSON, REGARDLESS OF GENDER,CAN FULFILL HIS OR HER OWN UNIQUE DESTINY.

BTW- Nazi, in the photo, is the name of the shop owner!

 

Pretty quiet day, getting my bearings.  I have been here so many times that I'm fairly well oriented.  Woke up at 0430 and found my way where I needed to go.  Reviewed the lodging guidelines in my POD and was entertained by the following:

from the ASG Kuwait Conditions of Occupancy for housing: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE PETS OF ANY TYPE ALLOWED IN USG QUARTERS AT CAMP ARIFJAN. This includes. . . scorpions, camel spiders. . . Cleaning of weapons is not authorized inside the building.

I am also entertained that my Google home page opens up in Arabic!

Got the runaround with some paperwork, trying to make sure my finances are in order.  After my last deployment my W-2 was incorrect, and then there was a typo on the corrected version.  It took my two-star General personally calling Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and THIRTEEN months to get it right!  That cannot happen again.  The Unit Administrator back home is sending me desperate emails to please make sure I'm processed in correctly.  Wish I felt more confident!

Also wish I felt more confident about the seder food. . . I'm used to gefilte fish in cans in theatre, and when we went to the Chapel Annex today to open up the seder kits and begin to plan for the setup, I was dismayed to find gefilte fish in boxes.  Personally I find that scary.  One of my Facebook friend noted that jars at the supermarket are not refrigerated either, but somehow the jar seems more appetizing.  They sell wine in boxes, too, but that doesn't mean I want  to drink it!  Although it might be preferable to the Kedem sweet wine we have here.  I'm sure the seder participants will be thrilled to have wine of any variety, but I'm not that desperate.

Had a good workout- the gym facility here is unbelievable.  Not fancy in the least, but tons of equipment.  Hope to go tomorrow too.  I was (happily) volunteered to offer the invocation at Monday's Women's History Month luncheon, so I'll devote a little time to drafting a prayer before Monday's 0800 rehearsal.  (Don't know what's to rehearse- I usually walk up to the microphone and say, "Invocation Complete" and that's about it.

Gonna finish reading The Girl Who Played With Fire and then go to bed.

one of my faithful friends (not sure if he wants his name disseminated. . .) sent this link- enjoy!

http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2010/03/army_passover_032010w/

Kosher, halal MREs feed religious diversity

By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 22, 2010 6:46:17 EDT
Jewish troops observing the Passover holiday cannot consume bread or — in some traditions — beans and corn or their derivatives, making it difficult for deployed soldiers to comply with their religious obligations.

Often, they have cobbled together meals on their own from permissible foods, such as salami, canned tuna, fresh fruit and matzoh, said Army Reserve Col. Bonnie Koppell, a Phoenix rabbi and command chaplain with the 63rd Regional Support Command.

“People functioned as an Army of one, as it were,” she said.

But when Passover, which commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, begins March 29, many Jewish soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will have access to special rations supplied by the Defense Logistics Agency.

These are not the only rations tailored to support religious observance. Year-round, the DLA’s Defense Supply Center Philadelphia ships thousands of halal and kosher rations for Muslim and Jewish troops, as well as detainees and foreign militaries.

In 2009, the center distributed 204,000 kosher meals and 1.32 million halal meals, according to Jim Lecollier, chief of DSCP’s individual rations branch. For this Passover, it has distributed more than 7,500 Passover meals and a number of related kits used to conduct a ritual feast called a seder. The kits are full of Passover-specific foods and religious materials.

Kosher and halal meals cost the Pentagon roughly the same as other MREs, $86 per case of 12, Lecollier said. The kosher-for-Passover meals cost more, $126 for a case of 12.

This year, the Army ordered 341 cases of the meals, the Navy and Marines ordered 213, and the Air Force ordered 72.

Koppell said that providing specialty foods is an important way to support diversity and troops’ free expression of religion.

“It gives them a sense that their religious observance is respected, that they’re understood for who they are, they’re supported and respected,” she said.

Kosher and halal rations have been available since Operation Desert Storm, and rations adhering to kosher-for-Passover rules — which are more restrictive than normal kosher rules — were first offered in 2004.

Although the process varies by service, personnel in need of such meals should request them through their chaplain, Lecollier said. Often, units pre-purchase kosher and halal meals to have on hand, but kosher-for-Passover meals must be ordered three to four months before the holiday, he said.

While halal and kosher standards both prohibit some items, such as pork, the two standards are not interchangeable. Halal foods cannot contain alcohol, and kosher foods cannot contain shellfish or mix meat and dairy.

My Own Meals, a Deerfield, Ill., company, manufactures Glatt kosher MREs and — under its JŸ&ŸM Food Products division — Dhabiha halal MREs, company President Mary Anne Jackson said.

But the meals are not always easy for the troops to locate when their unit is deploying rapidly and has no inventory. In some cases, soldiers and their relatives have contacted Jackson directly to locate or order meals.

“For the most part, there are kosher and halal meals in theater at all times,” Jackson said. “If someone tells you there aren’t, they’re wrong. They’re in Kuwait, they’re in [United Arab Emirates], Iraq, Afghanistan. They’re everywhere.”

My Own Meals, which has contracted with U.S. military since 1996, also makes its kosher and halal meals for grocery stores, universities and prisons.

To produce kosher meals, workers under the supervision of a rabbi must painstakingly dismantle, steam-clean and inspect the company production machinery and utensils. Each of the ingredients — including kosher meat from Minnesota and New Jersey — are certified kosher, assembled, cooked and packaged under rabbinical supervision.

Abdenour Moussawi, an inspector with the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America, certifies halal food at JŸ&ŸM facilities. Moussawi inspects equipment for cleanliness and supervises production.

JŸ&ŸM purchases meat from halal butchers in California, Washington, Iowa and New Jersey, where Muslim butchers must invoke the name of Allah as the animals are slaughtered.

A Muslim has no choice but to eat, dress and live according to halal — meaning permissible — standards, Moussawi said. Lack of access to halal food could harm a soldier’s job performance.

“It has to do with his psyche,” Moussawi said. “If he’s not comfortable with what he’s eating, he’s not going to be a comfortable soldier. You have to make everything proper for him.”

Kosher company LaBriute, of Lakewood, N.J., is supplying Passover meals this year. Two entrees, bone-in chicken and beef stew with vegetables, are complemented by matzo crackers, coffee, tea, dried fruit, nuts, macaroons, canned salmon and gefilte fish (a pungent carp patty).
A sense of community
This Passover, Koppell is one of many chaplains with plans to conduct a seder for troops. She will travel to Kuwait and use a government-issued seder kit, which includes a plastic seder plate, a box of matzo, religiously significant foods and a Passover prayer book called a Haggadah.

“It builds a tremendous sense of community,” Koppell said. “You have a private sitting next to a captain at the seder table, where under normal circumstances they wouldn’t have that kind of peer relationship. It’s an opportunity to freely be who they are in a place they might not feel that freedom.”

Abe Halberstam, president of LaBriute, said that when the government awarded him the contract in late January to provide kosher-for-Passover meals, not all his suppliers had begun producing kosher-for-Passover items. He had to wrangle the food from suppliers, assemble the meals and ship them — all in time for the holiday.

“The minute I get that contract, I start pulling all my resources together, and start nudging and making sure everyone is in sync,” Halberstam said. “We go into high gear, and it’s a big challenge.”

The orders went out via Army Post Office and Fleet Post Office on March 5.

“I believe we all have to take care of our troops one way or the other,” Halberstam said. “The most rewarding part of that is, when there are troops out there that need meals, I get these kits out to them on time.”

Kosher for Passover ice cream?  Potato chips?  Ketchup?  The variety of kosher for Passover food products is ever-expanding. And fascinating.  And unnecessary.  In it’s essence, Passover is supposed to be about getting back to basics, about simplifying our lives.  About focusing on what we truly need, rather than the never-ending list of what we want.  The lesson is that we can survive for a week with a piece of flat, rough bread (matzah), a few greens (karpas), some fruits and nuts (charoset), a little seasoning (maror), and maybe some wine.  In this year of austerity, the message of simplicity and focus on more enduring values resonates with us on a deep level.
           It is so easy to be arrogant when we reflect on our material acquisitions.  We judge ourselves and others by our wealth and possessions- what kind of car we drive?  what kind of home we live in?  Passover can help us to turn our attention to what is really important in life.  As we remove the chametz, that which is “puffed up, “ from our environment, perhaps we ought to spend some time looking within ourselves and renewlng our commitment to family, to community, to spiritual development?   Let us take pride in who we are, in the lives that we have built, in the relationships that we have sustained, and not in what we have accumulated.  When push comes to shove, the story of the Exodus reminds us, we will want to travel light.  The search for chametz is not only an opportunity to examine our homes, but an invitation to examine our hearts.
           At our seder we sing “Dayenu”, we acknowledge and appreciate each stage of our journey towards liberation.  That sense of appreciation is, in itself, an aspect of liberation. In our present environment of scarcity, Dayenu encourages us to distinguish between our needs and our wants.  This year we pray for liberation from the consumer culture that is devoted to cultivating within us the need for an ever-expanding number of products and services.  “Who is wealthy?”, our Rabbis asked.  “The one who is happy with what they have.”  Pesach is the time to reflect on our blessings and look at all the places where we can say- “Dayenu- yes- I have enough!-  at least in this one area of my life.”           

The word “Mitzrayim”, Egypt, comes from a root meaning “a narrow place.”  This year, so many of us feel that we are in an especially tight spot. Our choices have become restricted, our options may be limited by our inability to find meaningful work, by our health challenges, by our economic realities.  The hope for freedom which we envision at Pesach is the hope for a time when all of these chains will be broken.  Until that time arrives, we eat the maror together with the charoset, we recognize that our lives are made up of bitter and sweet, and pray for strength and comfort for all who suffer in the bitterness of the moment.