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Jewish World Review July 18, 2000 / 15 Tamuz, 5760
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
WITH PLANS ready for a Jewish center and chapel on
prime space at the U.S. Naval Academy in
Annapolis, the small, close-knit Jewish community
has come a long way since the days of being called
"The Jewish Church Party."
The name stems from the 1950s practice of Jewish middies gathering on
Sundays for Jewish activities in the surrounding Annapolis community as an
alternative to church services at the Naval Academy's elaborate main chapel.
The story goes that as a group of Jewish mids gathered at the main gate one
Sunday morning before their weekly march to Congregation Kneseth Israel
downtown, an officer inquired sharply, What are those midshipmen doing
standing over there by the gate?
A fellow serviceman responded. "That's the Jewish Church Party. ..."
About two years from now, Jewish midshipmen will have a cultural center and
sanctuary adjacent to Mitscher Hall.
Construction of the Jewish center and chapel is expected to begin next June.
The Commodore Uriah P. Levy Center and Jewish Chapel — named for the
first Jewish-American Navy career officer — will include a 225-seat chapel,
library, media center, kitchen, offices and study area.
The private-sector, Friends of the Jewish Chapel, based in Annapolis, is
conducting a nationwide campaign to raise $10 million for the building's $6
million construction cost and furnishing, $1.5 million endowment for
maintenance and $2.5 million perpetual fund for programs and lectures. So
far, about $500,000 has been raised, but fund raising has recently intensified.
At the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, there is a separate Jewish
chapel. Jewish cadets at The U.S. Air Force Academy in Boulder, Colo.
worship at a designated room within the main chapel.
The Jewish center and chapel "will be an important meeting place for Jews,
and also solidify our presence at the academy," says Midshipman Joel I.
Holwitt, a 19-year-old, beginning his second year at the Naval Academy.
"While my Christian friends go to services in the great domed chapel, I go to
services in a little and enclosed chapel. ..."
The new chapel could hold far more significance, he continues. "There are
many people at the academy who don't seem to know there are Jews here
until I mention I'm Jewish or they read about Passover services. I think an
actual building that says 'Jewish chapel' will go a long way to dispel that kind
of ignorance."
Calling the new Jewish center and chapel a "project not just for the 80-plus
Jewish midshipmen here, but for the entire brigade" or student body, the
Jewish chaplain, Lt. Commander Irving Elson, says the center will serve "as a
living monument to Jews in the Navy and the military."
The building, adds Elson, "is going to enhance the programs, it's not going to
make the programs. ... We don't have an edifice complex. It's going to
support the wonderful programs we already have."
The Jewish center will "expose all midshipmen to Jewish history, culture and
knowledge through its library and media center," notes Harvey L. Stein, an
Annapolis resident and the president of Friends of the Jewish Chapel. In
addition to providing land for the Jewish center, the Naval Academy
administration is helping by coordinating tours and information sessions for
groups of prospective donors brought to the academy from all over the nation.
Although entrepreneur Stein did not attend the academy, he has reached out
to both Jewish and non-Jewish middies for 22 years. "My wife and I have been in
the sponsor program where you are somewhat of a surrogate family for
several midshipmen. ... Before you know it, they come back with their kids,
and you feel like a grandparent."
Explaining the bond that he feels for the Naval Academy and the mids, Stein
says, "These are exceptional young people, merely by the fact that they are in
attendance at the Naval Academy. It's what I refer to as pre-selected
leadership. You have the creme de la creme of society's young people."
Building the Jewish center "is one of the most important Jewish events taking
place in our country at this time," Stein believes. "People are starting to refer
to it as a national monument. There are almost a million people a year who
visit the academy and who will be going through this facility."
Adds Stein, "From my point of view, I consider this to be the most important
thing that I will do in my
Merry Madway Eisenstadt is a staff reporter for
Washington Jewish Week. Comments by clicking here.
Solidifying the 'Jewish presence' at U.S. Naval Academy
By Merry M. Eisenstadt
