ARNOLD E. RESNICOFF

FAITH AND FORCE
Right: The Jewish Worship Pennant flies above the American Flag aboard a U.S. Navy Ship, symbolizing "One Nation, Under God." Below: The three symbols of the U.S.Military Chaplaincy--Christian, Muslim, Jewish--on the arms of 3 Navy Chaplains.

Beirut, Lebanon
Right: "Camouflage Kippa"
(Click for newspaper article on the story of the kippa, which replaced his blood-soaked skullcap following the 1983
Truck Bomb Attack);
Below- Foxhole Counseling, 1984, with the Marines in Beirut. (Click photos for more info.)

Click here for:
President Ronald Reagan's 1984 Keynote Speech:
Rabbi Resnicoff's Beirut Report
(Text and Video Options)

RABBI ARNOLD E. RESNICOFF

Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff is a consultant on interfaith values and interreligious affairs; a retired Navy Chaplain who earned the Defense Superior Service Medal for his work with military and civilian leaders throughout Europe, Africa, and the Mid-East while serving as the Command Chaplain for the U.S. European Command; and a former National Director of Interreligious Affairs for the American Jewish Committee. From June 2005 to June 2006, he served as Special Assistant (for Values and Vision) to the Secretary and Chief-of-Staff of the U.S. Air Force, with the equivalent military rank of Brigadier General. Headquartered in the Pentagon, this appointment took him to Air Force bases in more than ten countries around the world, including those in Iraq, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. On June 16, 2006, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne presented him with the USAF Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service--the highest award that the Air Force can present to a civilian.

In addition to Rabbinic ordination, Rabbi Resnicoff has three masters degrees--in Rabbinics, International Relations, and Strategic Studies and National Security Affairs--and a Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa). He is a member of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations(CFR), and a former Board member for The Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs(CCEIA). He is also a former board member for The Faith and Politics Institute(FPI)--and worked as special consultant for the May 2003 FPI Congressional Delegation visit to S. Africa. That trip compared the lessons learned from the struggle against apartheid in S. Africa and on behalf of civil rights in the U.S.

* His military career began as a line officer in the rivers of the Mekong Delta, followed by assignments with Naval Intelligence in Europe, before he left active duty to attend Rabbinical School at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America(JTS).   Following ordination in 1976, he returned to the Navy as a Chaplain, serving for a total of more than 28 years of active duty in war and peace, around the world.   Highlights:

* One of the small group of Vietnam Veterans who fought to establish the U.S. Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., he delivered the closing prayer at its November 1982 dedication--a prayer he repeated at the 20th anniversary ceremony, in November 2002. "To Heal the Nation" was the theme of this memorial, and his experiences helped him begin to study the positive and negative role memory can play in conflict, conflict resolution, and reconciliation.

* Present in Beirut, Lebanon, during the 1983 truck-bomb attack that claimed the lives of 241 U.S. Marines, he was asked by then Vice-President George Bush to send a report of the attack and rescue effort to the White House. In April 1984, President Reagan read that report as his keynote address to the Reverend Jerry Falwell's "Baptist Fundamentalism '84" convention, to more than 20,000 attendees. Many Rabbis have quoted Presidential speeches. This was the first time a President devoted a public appearance to the words of a Rabbi!

* Convinced that U.S. military personnel must remember both what they fight for, and what they fight against, he was the driving force behind the Secretary of Defense decision that the military participate in the U.S. Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust. His benediction at the 1987 national ceremony has been quoted in programs and ceremonies as far away as New Zealand and Australia.

* After being defeated twice, the Religious Apparel Amendment that allowed Jewish service personnel to wear skullcaps with uniforms was passed when the story of Resnicoff's "camouflage kippa"-- the headcovering made from a piece of a Priest's camouflage uniform after his was used to wipe the blood off the face of a bombing victim--was read by supporters of the bill in both the House and the Senate, and entered into the Congressional Record. That Amendment laid the groundwork for other sweeping changes to the military's approach to "religious accommodation," eventually included in both Public Law and Department of Defense directives--to the point that today the U.S. is one of the few militaries in the world that provides kosher rations for troops in the field.

* The only Jewish Chaplain to graduate from the Naval War College(NWC), he received the President's Honor Graduate Award for outstanding student, and was then invited to create and teach the first course ever taught by a Chaplain. That course, "Faith and Force: Religion, War, and Peace," compared and contrasted Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings regarding the role of war on the road to peace. Additionally, he helped create the annual NWC conference on Ethics and the Military, serving as the only speaker invited to address the conference for more than 12 years in a row, through the end of his career. He also led the first Ethics Conference ever held at Camp David!

* He was the first Chaplain in history to address a "CINC's Conference"-- the meeting of the highest ranking military Commanders-in-Chief (CINCs) of all military services, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His presentation focused on issues of leadership, ethics, and dignity: "From Quality of Life to Value of Life." He has spoken at numerous other conferences and special events around the world--and was flown to Iceland to conduct High Holy Day services in Reykjavik during the historic 1986 Reagan-Gorbachev pre-summit conferen ce.

* He has participated in many historic meetings of religious leaders, including the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders; the Jubillenium Interfaith Conference on World Peace in Tiberias, Israel--that included the Dalai Lama; the World Conference on Religion and Peace, in Amman, Jordan; the 1998 White House Religious Leaders Breakfast conversation on religion and violence; and the March 2000 and March 2003 Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimages, commemorating the fight against racism in the United States.   He was part of one of the earliest Jewish groups to visit Eastern Europe in support of Jewish communities during the struggle for independence on the part of former Soviet Union peoples. His leadership in interfaith cooperation is recognized in many ways, including the fact that the book, Teaching for Christian Hearts, Souls, and Minds, was dedicated to him--and a Catholic Nun! His impressive list of accomplishments in this area include the first interfaith service ever held at the Kotel--Israel's Western Wall.

* From 1997-2000, Resnicoff was the first Rabbi to hold the highest Chaplain operational assignment possible, Command Chaplain for a "Unified Combatant Command."   As Command Chaplain for the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), he served as principal advisor on religion, morals, and ethics, to General Wesley K. Clark-- supervising all Army, Navy, and Air Force Chaplains of all faiths in an area that included 89 nations and more than 13 million square miles. As the military's primary liaison to religious leaders and organizations throughout large areas of Europe, Africa, and the Mid-East, his experiences ranged from religious support for troops in Bosnia and Kosovo, to helping military and religious leaders in the former Soviet Union nations establish new rules (and in some cases, new chaplaincies!) for religious freedom and human rights in their own militaries. Additionally, he worked with military, political, and religious leaders to understand the role of religion in conflict resolution and reconciliation, and the potential role for chaplains in the effort to go from stabilization to real peace. In May 2003 he was a speaker at the Brandywine Forum, sponsored by the Institute on Global Engagement, on the subject of "Religious Freedom: The Missing Element of Security."

* His many honors and awards include Moment Magazine's Community Service Award, the Chapel of Four Chaplains Hall of Heroes Gold Medallion, and the Defense Superior Service Medal, and the U.S. Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service. His article, "Prayers That Hurt," a study of prayer in interfaith settings, is used in discussion/training guides for many civilian and military organizations. He has written on a wide range of topics, including ministry in combat, leadership, ethics, pluralism, and a series of articles on Jewish Holy Days for Church Teachers Magazine--a journal for Protestant educators. In January 2006, his speech on Religion and the Military, presented at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, was broadcast internationally numerous times over CSPAN.

                                CLICK HERE FOR TEXT OF
                                8 U.S. SENATE PRAYERS -- 2003

SAMPLE WEEKEND
SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM
Faith and Force: Religion, War, and Peace

Friday evening
"Faith and Foxholes: Religion in the Military"
Saturday morning or lunch
"Swords and Plowshares:
Jewish Views of War and Peace"
Saturday evening or Sunday breakfast
"Dreams from Nightmares:
The Jewish Way to Remember"

Alternative(partnering with church/es?)
"From Diatribe to Dialogue--and Beyond:
New Rules of Engagement for Interfaith Relations"
(1) More Lecture Info (2) More Photos.

Camp Hope
Refugee
Camp,
Albania,
1999. (Click
for more info.)

Vietnam,
1969-70;
First ship
into Cambodia ,
May 12, 1970.
(Click for
more info.)

Leading first
interfaith service,
Israel's Western
Wall (Kotel),
Jerusalem,
1983. (Click
for more info.)

With Chiefs
of Chaplains,
MajGen
Fiume Gqiba,
South Africa;
and Sabelo
Maseko,
Swaziland--
1998.

International
Chiefs of Chaplains
Conference,Geneva,
February 2000.

For a sample of articles
in other languages, click here.

SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
Faith and Force, Leadership and Ethics, Interfaith Relations, Memories and Dreams

Captain, Chaplain Corps,USN (Ret)
Former Special Assistant
(Values and Vision)
to the Secretary and
Chief-of-Staff
of the U.S. Air Force

              Notes in the News:
New London Day, CT, Oct 2007
     Interfaith Dinner, Toronto, Apr 2007
"We can't afford to fight each other"
Reflections on my year with the Air Force),          Washington Jewish Week, Jun 06
   AF Core Values linked to Oath, Jun 06
AF and AF Academy Reports and Articles--
and Guidelines
Jewish War Veterans Convention, Aug 05
Iraq Visit, Aug 05
    AF Appointment, Jun 05
Is Anyone Prepared to Kill?, Sep 04
   Op-Ed: Christian Science Monitor, Jun 04
Prayers for the Senate, 2003
   Defense Link, Nov 2002: 20th Anniversary
     Ceremony, Vietnam Veterans Wall
Christian Science Monitor, May 2002:
"A Call For Perceptiveness"
    St. Petersburg Times, Dec 2001
    "Lion, Lamb, Reside in One Man"
Sh'ma, Dec 2001:
"Rules for Our Sake, Not for Our Enemies"
    Dover Post, Oct 2001: Mayor's Prayer
    Breakfast: "Celebrating Diversity"
                                              MORE
CLICK HERE TO EMAIL RABBI RESNICOFF

Nov 11,2002--Standing next to Jan Scruggs, founder of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
Rabbi Resnicoff delivers the closing prayer at the 20th anniversary Veterans Day ceremony at the Vietnam
Veterans Wall--the same
closing prayer he delivered at
the Nov 82 dedication.