European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday january 11 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 9 Over her close shave rabbi called for Europe duty a by Effie Bathen Niernberg Bureau Furth Germany a when rabbi her shul e. Portnoy received a mid december Call from the army Reserve a a offering him a 139-Day tour in Germany he asked if they had the right Man. Quot. A you can to see me Over the Telephone and i done to. Know whether you know who i am but i m the one Guy in the army with a Beard a he told them. Quot t for 27 years the Beard was Portnoy s personal Symbol of his Faith and his traditional jewish views. No problem they said. So he assumed they were taking him and his Beard to fill in for a jewish chaplain deployed to the Gulf. He hated to leave his family and congregation in Larchmont . It was a difficult decision but he knew that next time he could get a Call for saudi Arabia. That would mean he would have to shave anyway since Gas masks and beards done to make a Good fit. -. A. A a a a a a a a a. \ a a a a a Portnoy 44, has been in the reserves 12 years. He agreed when he joined that he would shave if mobilized for Battle. His Reserve outfit is the 74th Field Hospital in Orangeburg ., an inner City unit. His Job was pastoral counselling. He agreed to go and within three Days had arranged for someone to fill in for him and completed his preparations for overseas assignment. He was about to Board the plane at fort Dix n.j., for the trip to Germany when it happened. He got another Telephone Call. A a we re not going to have a chaplain walking around with a Beard a he  commanders in Stuttgart had decided. A at that Point i had a very serious and difficult decision a said Portnoy who Calls himself an a a observant jew. For him the Beard meant tradition. Portnoy has always taken his Faith and his jewishness seriously. In the 10th Grade he saved his Money and changed his Legal name from Howard to i Hershel thus undoing his parents attempt to give him a More american sounding name. The Beard had quite a legacy in the military. There was the time Portnoy while in uniform was picked up by is amps Effie Anthon her Spiel e. Portnoy the military police for impersonating an officer and the time he was almost tossed out at West Point when he showed up for summer Reserve duty. After much thought the rabbi went to the Post Exchange and bought a pair of scissors and his first electric it Shaver Ever. And he used them. Quot. In his new Niernberg Community Chanel a a office the chaplain explained Why he put the Shaver to his face and Why he came to  he said is his belief that he a needed by those. Families anguished Over the deployment of their loved ones. �?o1 was specifically called to help. So to say no to them would be  second Portnoy was motivated by concern for the Well being of his wife Shirley who is troubled by. His assignment to Germany. She was born in a displaced persons Camp in Ansbach not far from the Niernberg military Community where Portnoy had been assigned most of her family did not survive the holocaust. She dislikes military uniforms so much that Portnoy would change into his Reserve uniform in the basement on his Way to duty. A my thought was of lets say i say no because of this Beard business. It could very easily happen that in a week or month i could get another Call. A i could not put my wife through this again. Even if it did no to happen 1  put my Wile through the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sometimes we have to do things that we do not want to  a although it is Clear the military found Portnoya Sbeard incompatible with his duties the rabbi did not. A nor does he find  Between his Faith and his duty. Quot a a a a Quot a. A there Are two  american identity Ami my jewish identity. And i done to see of All that one has to be diminished for the Sake of the  he said. A a. A it. A a a % a a a. A a a a �?o1 done to have to be any less an observant jew because lean be a patriotic american. I done to have to be any less patriotic or strongly american because in a a. Traditionally Obs Nant jew.�?�, in his new Job Portnoy has Learned nun about. Operation desert shield and he does no to like the military slow key religious policy in the persian Gulf. A i have a problem with that a he said. A i see that the fact that there Are Only a morale officers and there Are no services. They have morale  a i understand that while you Are the guest in a Host nation you should be aware of and respectful of the sensitivities of that Host nation. But i Don t think you have to Stop being who you  chaplains Are told not to be too obvious about wearing religious symbols w Hen they Are away from units and in Public. A a if. Indeed 1 had to take this off Quot he said Poh fiting to the rabbits Patch on his left Lapel Quot Quot id have a real problem with that. A a a a i done to function on my right Collar. 1 function on my left  addressed As chaplain. In a not addressed a As  a a a. A a. A a a. A a a it a. \ a. However the rabbi thinks it is All right for jewish. Soldiers to remove the religious preference on their dog tags. That a because soldiers Are. Not functioning specifically in a jewish capacity As he is while performing his duties As chaplain he said. Portnoy will have to write a paper for a command and general staff course lie is taking l in said that the Issue of the Beard is a deep moral Issue and he would like to explore it further. He said lies thinking of calling it a when principles become a hairy  How just one phone Call can give you a daily connection to your loved ones serving in operation desert shield. 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