Jews Fight Too!: One of Four
Posted by Yeshiva Guy | Posted in Book Excerpts | Posted on 02-04-2010
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(Note that I am not endorsing this sort of behavior, as it is both fatally dangerous, and possibly (probably?) k’neged Halacha. That said, I just couldn’t resist putting this piece up. Holy Joes, introduced in the preceding story, were the chaplains/priests/ministers that served the armed forces during the War(s), jetting around the various theaters of war at great personal risk to themselves. Note: If anyone knows of a surviving “Holy Joe” (Rabbi/chaplain) who served in WWII or earlier, please, please get in touch with me via the contact form. I would greatly appreciate it. )
From “Jews Fight Too!”, by Mac Davis, Hebrew Publishing Company, 1945
One of Four
Alexander Goode was another Holy Joe. But he never got to the war! Destiny granted him but a single moment for his courageous deed.
A rabbi before the war, he left his congregation, of York, Pennsylvania to become an Army chaplain. Soon he found himself aboard an American cargo transport in a North African convoy. He was one of four Holy Joes aboard- two of the chaplains were Protestant ministers; the other, a Catholic priest.
Cutting its way through the rough sea, the ship was suddenly attacked. A torpedo was knifed into the heart of the ship. The cargo transport was rapidly sinking. The four chaplains stumbled across the slippery deck as they tried to help save all the fighting men. The fighting men were the sinews of war and the implements for victory and had to be saved first.
One by one the lifeboats, loaded with survivors, drifted away from the sinking ship. The ship was almost deserted now except for the four chaplains, and- yes, unmistakably, there on the deck of the lopsided ship, they spotted four sailors without life preservers. The four chaplains unhesitatingly removed their own lifebelts and forced the four sailors to put them on, then watched them jump into the water. And now, the four Holy Joes were all alone on the sinking ship. All the lifeboats had drifted off into the distance.
The two Protestant ministers, the Catholic priest, and the Jewish rabbi stood on board, side by side, and prayed. Then the four Holy Joes locked hands, and went down with the ship to their deaths, united in a common faith.
UPDATE: Read about the experiences of a frum Holy Joe (Rabbi Mayer Abramowitz) over here.
Nice story and very sad.
Not sure about the title though. Of course Jewish people can and do fight. Ummm, the IDF is made not just of Druze, Christians and Muslims, but also has a few Jews in it. And AFAIK, they don’t all serve as Rabbis either
As far as the title of the book goes, it was published in 1945, before the IDF came on the scene, which explains a lot about the need to publish it in the first place.