A very kind and so far anonymous congregant, knowing my interest in the subject, left a copy of Prayerbook for Members of HM Armed Forces on my desk recently.
Inside the front cover, a young child called Marion had neatly written her name and Brighton address in pencil, filling in the next of kin as ‘Mummy’. Perhaps her father or brother or sister had once carried it with them during the long days of the Second World War. To the Mediterranean with the Royal Navy? To Libya or India with the Army, or serving on the home front? Who knows?
Some 50,000 copies of the prayerbook were printed in 1940, overseen by the Office of the Chief Rabbi, reflecting the scale of the contribution of Jewish servicemen and women to the war effort. In the First World War, in one print run alone, an earlier version of the prayerbook ran to 80,000 copies!
No wonder the AJEX marches of the interwar and post-war years were such monumental events.
“We too served, and continue to serve,” the annual gathering at the Cenotaph declares, as it did on Sunday, with many of those marching wearing the medals of family members no longer alive, bearing witness to their service.
We remember with pride and with gratitude.
“When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today.” The words of the Kohima Epitaph, heard every year during the period of national Remembrance, continue to move us.
At South London Liberal Synagogue, we decided in recent times to dedicate leaves on our Etz Chayim/Tree of Life to four members lost in the theatres of war mentioned above: Able Seaman Harry Salter, Gunner Jack Goldston, Officer Cadet Desmond Marks and Laurence Goodwin, a grocer killed in the bombing. Their names are also added to the wreath laid at the local war memorial in Streatham.
It seems only right to remember the sacrifice they made, while one can only imagine the impact on family and friends.
“And death is a low most, which cannot blot the brightness it may veil.” The words of the poet Shelley, inscribed on Desmond Marks’ grave in faraway Kirkee.
Last weekend in Whitehall, along with veterans and descendants, were serving Jewish soldiers, sailors, airmen and women – those able to be on parade, not currently deployed or training on land, at sea and in the air, as many members of the Armed Forces Jewish Community are.
Our pride extends across the generations, as we recall those who serve and have served on our behalf, supporting them practically through the good works of AJEX and the AFJC.
Rabbi Godelman is minister of the South London Liberal Synagogue and a chaplain in the Royal Naval Reserve
