The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-10-25

Elkan VoOrsanger, the lighting
rabbi who returned recently
from France, went over as a
buck private in May, 1917, with
the first $50 Americans, and rose
by successive promotions to SER
geant, lieutenant, chaplain, cap
tain, senior chaplain OF the New
York 77th division.
When the 18th returned home,
Captain Voorsanger volunteered
to stay behind to become over
seas director of the Jewish well
fare board. He lived in trenches
and shell-rocked dugorlts, took
part in major actions in the Bac-
carat and Toul sectors, the
Meuse-Argonne region, and Ar
gonen forest; buried the dead
the Jewish, Protestant and Cath
Ole dead-under incessant fire,
and ministered to the wounded
and dying on the field of battle.
His hands are horny with the
callouses that came from carry
ing heavy filters Of men.
I'm France there were no dis
tinctions," the lighting rabbi"
says. "A chaplain was a chap
lain, not a Jewish chaplain,
Catholic chaplain, or Protest
ant. Each chaplain was respon-
sible for the religion OF every
man, and it didn't matter to us
how a man prayed, but that he
prayed. A Catholic chaplain or
ganized Yom Kippur services for
Jewish men in a ruined cathedral
on the battleline. The division
had been called out on line to
the Argonne on Yom Kippur day,
and l was endeavoring to organ
ize services along the lines wher-
ever there was group of Jewish
men. At Coulogne the Catholic
chaplain came out to meet me.
AZ was afraid you wouldn't
get here he said. I got your
men together and started them
off with prayer. We had ar
ranged to conduct services our
selves in case you didn't come
II took up the services where
he had left off, and after the tra-
ditional prayers were over and
we had given them brief sol
dierly talk, the men filed out of
the cath edral and went on with
the business OF fighting. These
services in the battered old house
of christian worship were the
most impressive thing / have
ever witnessed. The Catholic
chaplain would frequently call
me up and say: I've got some
jewish boys here who want to
say kaddish-Pd like to oblige
them, but they don't like my ac-
cent. I'll hold them until you
come That was the spirit of
over there. That's what we
learned in France.
1.-The Jewish welfare board
took the idea that the American
expeditionary forces went over
for, and it united with all other
agencies to win the war. The
fact that it was jewish organi-
cation didn't matter TO the sol
dier. He accepted its officers
gladly, realizing that the jews
who were helping him were the
same kind of Americans that he
was"
There is little doubt that when
this organization of jewish men
and women came over TO serve
the spiritual needs OF the sol
died of jewish faith, and offered
its hospitality to men OF all
faiths, the non-jewish soldier re-
garded it somewhat asaance.
Their attitude was shown to
US time and again" Captain
l.
would come into our nuts, (Which
were conceded to be the most
honey in France,) would warm
themselves with a welcome cup
Of hot chocolate, for which there
was never any charge, would
bask for a while in the comfort
that was reminiscent OF home,
and would say, Why are the
jews doing all this for us? We
never did anything for them If
the jewish welfare board had
done nothing else, it had at least
taught the non-jewish soldier
that the jews were Just like any
other people. Respect and ad-
miration grew where there had
been suspicion and prejudice be-
fore.
"As for the jewish soldier, the
Jewish welfare board made him
anxious and proud to be a jew.
If there were 200 jewish men in
a company, 200 attended serv-
ices. They came because they
wanted to. We talked to them
as soldier to soldier, directly,
aimuly and forcefully We had
no time for clouds and rancies.
We were close to death, and we
all knew it. And in these divine
services each man felt the