Orthodox nonprofit teams up with IDF to aid religious troops stationed in US
Aleph Institute establishes formal ties with Israeli military after Navy crews caught without kosher food during joint activities with American forces earlier this year
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

A US-based Orthodox Jewish nonprofit on Wednesday announced a new partnership with the Israeli military to provide kosher food and other supplies to soldiers who arrive in the country for joint training and other activities with American forces.
The Chabad-Lubavitch-affiliated organization, Aleph Institute, normally works to assist religious American Jews who are incarcerated, and those serving in the US military.
Until September, the group did occasionally help soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who are frequently in the US for joint exercises, and several officers who are permanently stationed in the country, but without any proper coordination.
“We always did our best to serve them, bringing the same professional support and personal care that we strive to bring to every member of the US military. But this only happened in an ad hoc manner, due to a lack of any formal collaboration and communication with the IDF,” said Rabbi Elie Estrin, Aleph’s military liaison.
“It pained us that there were hundreds of IDF soldiers on US military installations whose needs were not being met because they didn’t know of us and we didn’t know of them,” Estrin added.
The recent agreement with the IDF came following a “range of kosher-related issues” that arose among two Israeli Navy crews stationed in the US earlier this year, according to Aleph.

The Israeli Navy’s chief rabbi, Cdr. Ofir Tubul, was put in contact with the nonprofit, which managed to arrange kosher food and other supplies for the Israeli soldiers. Aleph said it utilized its network of Jewish chaplains, military organizations, and local Chabad Houses to aid the Navy troops.
In September, Estrin traveled to Israel and met with Tubul and the IDF Chief Rabbinate’s chief of staff, Col. Avner Cohen, as well as several more senior rabbinate officers, to discuss an official alliance.
“The intent was that Aleph should become an arm of the IDF Rabbinate here in the US, so that IDF soldiers on US soil would have immediate access to religious supplies and care, just as if the IDF Rabbinate was present with them,” Estrin said.
Lt. Col. Neriya Rosental, the chief rabbi of the Israeli Air Force, said “traditional observance of Judaism is extremely important to a significant percentage of IDF soldiers.”

Many soldiers, even some who do not identify as Orthodox, still observe kashrut — dietary rules according to Jewish law.
“Practically speaking, that means that when our troops head to other countries, we have massive logistics issues to overcome regarding kosher food and holiday needs,” Rosental added.
Now officially working with the IDF, Aleph said that during the recent holiday of Sukkot in early October, the organization provided Israeli troops stationed in the US with a sukkah — a temporary abode that observant Jews move into during the holiday — and several sets of the four species, the traditional Sukkot objects: a citron fruit, a closed palm frond, myrtle branches and willow branches.
Estrin said the new partnership is shaping up to be “mutually beneficial,” as Aleph was also beginning to learn from the IDF Chief Rabbinate its “deep understanding of unique halachic [Jewish law] issues in the military.”
Aleph hosts an annual five-day conference at its headquarters in Bal Harbour, Florida, where current and retired military figures, rabbis, and other experts are brought in to talk to Jewish servicemembers from all branches of the US armed forces.
At the last conference in February, Cpt. Guy Barak, the IDF’s Navy attaché to the US, and former IDF deputy chief of staff Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir gave presentations.