Meet a rabbi who's been stationed at the US Capitol since the riots

• Published date: 17 January 2021
• Author: PHILISSA CRAMER/JTA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Hersh is a chaplain in the Maryland Army National Guard, the only rabbi in the state's military clergy ranks.

By that evening, Hersh was in uniform and at the Capitol. The next morning, he sent a note to his congregants at Beth Sholom Congregation, the Conservative synagogue in Frederick, Maryland, he has led since 2014.

"My grandfather, Joseph Goldstein z"l, who fled a world where the rule of law often gave way to mobs, and whose yarzheit is this coming week, fought for this country because he believed deeply in what America stands for. He told me it was always the greatest honor of his life," Hersh wrote.

"Like so many before me, my grandfather and I both swore to defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic," he added. "I did not fully understand the later part of this oath until yesterday. And I, along with my Army National Guard Unit, have now been tasked with doing just that."

Nine days later, Hersh is still in DC, one of more than 20,000 National Guard troops from across the country who have amassed in the nation's capitol in advance of Inauguration Day, amid the threat of additional violence. He's been alternating sleeping on the floor of federal buildings and resting in local hotel rooms that the Army has secured for off-duty soldiers, while meeting the needs of both his soldiers and his congregation.

Hersh expects to remain in Washington for the foreseeable future, an hour from his wife, two young children and congregation. "Definitely the inauguration and beyond," he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "We'll have to see what happens."

We spoke with Hersh about his path to military chaplaincy, his experiences this week and the Jewish resonance of his service at the Capitol. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

JTA: How did you end up being a chaplain in the National Guard?

Hersh: In many ways the military has always been something that I aspired to when I was young. I grew up listening to my grandfather tell his stories as a noncommissioned officer in World War II. When I was younger, in the "Top Gun" era, my real dream was to go to the Air Force Academy and be a fighter pilot, but that didn't happen. Then before rabbinical school, when I was just studying at the Conservative Yeshiva, which is where [my wife Shulie] and I met, I originally was planning on making aliyah and and serving in the army in Israel but decided, really, to come back to the states to marry Shulie, and to make a long story short, it was something I kind of forgot about.

In the meantime I had many friends who deployed, and some who struggled to readjust on their way back. So I learned that there was a need in our military for helping...