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Woodlake Otlics Park
2531 Briarclitf Rd.. N E
SuM* 211,
Phon* 633-4433
' Decatur Office
126 Clairmont Rd.
(Right off the Squat*
hi Decatur)
Phon* 373-4344
Atlanta Fl*a Market
Piedmont A Lindbergh
'Mohtos awmlgh’
Rabbi sailed the seven seas
to perform as Navy chaplain
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NORFOLK, Va. - Hardly a
Fiddler on the Roof, 47-year-old
John J. Rosenblatt is a vigorous
and respected Jewish figure in
the U.S. Navy. Proud of the Tab
lets of Moees and the Star of Da
vid which identify him as a Jew-
- ish naval chaplain, Rabbi and
Lieutenant Commander
Rosenblatt is equally proud of
his uniform and his country.
Lieutenant Commander
Rosenblatt waa recently award
ed the Navy Commendation
Medal for exemplary service
while on duty in Hawaii.
Chaplain Rosenblatt com
pleted his rabbinical studies in
1962, having studied both at Cin
cinnati’s Hebrew Union College
and the New York Academy of
Higher Jewish Learning.
While a rabbi in Lake Charles,
La., Chaplain Rosenblatt was
honored by that city’s Roman
Catholic community and became
the first rabbi invested in the
Knights of Columbus.
Until his call to active duty
during the Korean War, he serv
ed in the field of religious educa
tion.
Later, during Vietnam, he was
asked to return to full-time ac
tive duty. “I went, as my father,
a World War I veteran, urged,”
he reflected, “because others
were not answering the need. I
buried the Jewish dead and gave
solace to the bereaved. It was
mitzva."
Rabbi Rosenblatt has worked
selflessly „and untiringly to
■aROBHRaosasza
Navy Chaplain and Rabbi John Rosenblatt leads his congrega
tion in prayer at the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Va.
improve the conditions of Jew
ish worship in the Navy. Since
1.6 per cent of the Navy’s
approximate total half-million
population is Jewish with only
eight Rabbis to serve its world
wide community, the work is im
mense yet often considered
small in comparison to the total
number.
Rabbi Rosenblatt looks back
to his recent Pacific (1971-1976)
assignment with pride and
sadness. In addition to exten
sive, lengthy annual travel
throughout the entire Pacific
area to minister to IiIb
widespread congregation, he left
permanent contributions: a new
Jewish center in Kwajalein in
the Marshall Islands, the Aloha
Jewish Chapel in Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii, and a second Jewish
chapel on the island of Guam.
The total cost of his building
program, all at no cost to the
government, totals well over one
million dollars.
His wife Barbara smiled to
recall how he departed Hawaii
at Passover for one of his mis
sionary tours to the islands.
“The kosher chickens were
frozen solid when he left Hawaii,
but a dripping mess by the time
he got there,” she laughed.
What obstacles face the Jew in
the Navy? Rabbi Rosenblatt
said, “the Navy has a challenge
with all minority groups.
“The Jewish personnel in the
military services don’t want
special treatment or privileges,"
Lieutenant Commander
Rosenblatt points out. “They
want to be understood and
recognized; they want to be
allowed to worship with dignity;
they want to be offered the same
rights and privileges of other
religious groups and other
minorities.”
“Rosie,” as he is nicknamed, is
enthusiastic about his present
assignment in Norfolk, at the
Naval Station’s historic Com
modore Levy Chapel. A pro
minent American Jew in the
1800s, Uriah Phillip Levy,
despite court martials and per
sonal attacks, worked to bring
an end to flogging in the Navy.
In Levy’s tradition, Navy
Commendation Medal recipient
Rosenblatt is the fourth Rabbi in
the history of the U. S. Navy to
have been augmented from the
reserves to the regular Navy.
One unusual circumstance
during his service was the
dedication of the Jewish chapel
in Guam in 1976. A severe
typhoon prevented the Rabbi
from attending the dedication
ceremonies. He contacted his
good friend on Guam, Roman
Catholic Bishop Felix Flores,
who personally did the honors.
For Rabbi John Rosenblatt,
such cooperation is the most im
portant pert of his work. He
wants to be remembered not
merely as a builder of syn
agogues or as a naval officer
with numerous medals and com
mendations to his credit. He sees
himself as an architect of a
higher order, a “builder of
bridges,” as he calls his mission
— a builder of bridges of un
derstanding between faiths and
men.
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