page_title: Religious symbolism in the United States military
section_title: Jewish
hierarchical_section_title: Religious symbolism in the United States military / Chaplain insignia by faith group / Jewish
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of old and new insignia (collar device) for U.S. Military Jewish Chaplain: on left, pre-1981, with Roman numerals; on right, 1981 and after, with Hebrew letters. Change originally made by US Navy based on recommendation of 1980 "Blue Ribbon Panel" held at Naval Station Norfolk, headed by Jewish Chaplain (Rabbi) Arnold E. Resnicoff. After Navy approved change in 1981, Army and Air Force soon followed. Jewish Chaplains were given until January 1, 1983, to make the switch to the new insignia.
context_page_description: Religious symbolism in the United States military includes the use of religious symbols for military chaplain insignia, uniforms, emblems, flags, and chapels; symbolic gestures, actions, and words used in military rituals and ceremonies; and religious symbols or designations used in areas such as headstones and markers in national cemeteries, and military ID tags.
  Symbolism sometimes includes specific images included or excluded because of religious reasons, choices involving colors with religious significance, and "religious accommodation" policies regarding the wear of "religious apparel" and "grooming" with military uniforms. Additionally, military chaplains themselves are sometimes regarded as "symbols of faith" for military personnel who face challenges to their faith and values.
context_section_description: The Jewish Chaplain insignia made up of two tablets of the Ten Commandments, with ten Roman numerals symbolizing the commandments, and with the six-pointed Star of David above the tablets, was adopted for Jewish army chaplains in 1917, and for Jewish naval chaplains in 1941. The original Army description did not specifically reference a star per se, but instead read "a double Tablet bearing numerals from I to X, surmounted by two equilateral Triangles interlaced."
  Before the tablets-and-star design was approved for United States Navy Jewish chaplains, only two Jewish chaplains wore the Shepherd's Crook insignia: Chaplain David Goldberg, during WWI, and Chaplain Harold Strauss, 1931–1941. Beginning in 1917, Goldberg first wore the cross—the original symbol for all navy chaplains—until receiving permission to wear the Shepherd's Crook instead.
  On August 5, 1980, Navy Chief of Chaplains Rear Admiral Ross Trower convened a blue ribbon panel made up of Jewish chaplains to consider the "beneficial suggestion" made to the Navy to change the Roman numerals to Hebrew letters. The question had been raised before and not all Jewish authorities were in favor of the change because of the concern that the insignia might be considered "holy"—"even mildly holy"—because of the presence of Hebrew writing. In fact, in a 1972 responsum from the National Jewish Welfare Board authored by Rabbi Solomon Freehof, he recommended maintaining Roman numerals although he did state that when it came to using Hebrew letters simply to indicate numbers, "there is no strict law against it." Nevertheless, based on the panel's unanimous 1980 recommendation to make the change, Chaplain Trower made the formal recommendation to the President of the Navy Uniform Board that the Navy should make the change unilaterally, without the additional time that would be required for all services to study the question. Included in his recommendation was the statement that
  The Jewish Chaplain Corps device as it now appears, with Roman numerals representing the Ten Commandments, has been worn with pride by all previous and present Jewish chaplains. It is felt, however, that a change to Hebrew characters at this time would be unanimously and enthusiastically received by Jewish chaplains and Jewish personnel as a source of still greater pride, reflecting as it would a more significant and authentic representation of a heritage and faith eternally related to Hebrew as the language of the Old Testament and the prophets
  The President of the Navy Uniform Board approved the change on December 17, 1980, with the army and air force quickly approving the change as well. (Note that the Roman numeral version read left to right, with the first five numerals on the left tablet and the second five on the right; the Hebrew reads right to left, with the first five numerals on the right and the second five on the left, as per Jewish tradition. Jewish tradition states that the tablets had flat tops and may even have been square instead of rectangular, but the Christian-influenced rectangular tablets with round tops is nonetheless very frequently found in Jewish art and synagogues, and was not objected to here either.) The new insignia was authorized for wear from 1981, with a grace period authorized to allow Jewish chaplains to make the required uniform changes by January 1, 1983.
caption: Jewish Chaplain insignia, old and new, Army and Navy: left, Army (white metal), pre-1981 with Roman numerals; right, Navy (gold metal), since 1981 with Hebrew letters
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