Community Magazine January 2014

28 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE DAVE GORDON As a Sephardic Orthodox rabbi serving in the U.S. Air Force, Captain Rafael Berdugo is highly visible as a Jew, an of�icer, and a symbol of Gd’s presence. While serving our country overseas, he faced physical danger and spiritual chaos on a near daily basis. Just living the life of an observant Jew in awar zonewas a formidable challenge. Yet the stories that Rabbi Berdugo shares with us are brimming with enthusiasm, with buoyant accounts of hashgahah peratit – Gd’s intervention in daily affairs. In word and action, Rabbi Berdugo reveals deep inner resources of optimism, hope, and emunah. the wartime memoirs of rabbi rafael berdugo The War Zones The thunder of blasting rocket shrapnel meant the Taliban had our servicemen in Kandahar in their sights. Captain Rafael Berdugo, like all others sent to face the dangers of America’s enemies, was always prepared to see the worst – the extreme trauma, the fallen, even the bravest of men’s ear-splitting screams for help from the heavens. He has been eyewitness to steady streams of gurneys of patients shuttled to the airbase’s ER, helping unload patients from transport vehicles in emergencies. The bodily gashes wrought by improvised explosive devices were not just war wounds, but a sign of the ongoing battle to defend freedom and democracy from those bent on its destruction. And while rocket fire never came close enough to cause any damage to Rabbi Berdugo himself, as an army chaplain he’s attended to our countrymen’s sick and wounded, doing the best he can to ease suffering by bringing them spiritual counsel. The war zones to which he was assigned included a five-month tour of duty in Qatar during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2008, and later in Afghanistan for a month and a half in 2010. Though he concedes he missed his family dearly while overseas, he says, luckily he possesses the trait of being able to integrate and adapt with ease. “I adjusted very quickly to new surroundings. My parents used to say when I was young that they could toss me in the Amazon jungle and I’d be just fine. It doesn’t take me long to adjust to new people and new surroundings.” Family First Rabbi Berdugo slipped into his career as if it was meant to be, following a line of 15 generations of rabbis in his family. “It seemed natural. When I saw [my father’s work] in Marseilles, France where he was a rabbi, I also liked the idea of helping people. My father was able to help people because he was a rabbi, and I’m naturally drawn to helping people.” Born in Dublin, Ireland, he moved to France and Great Britain as a child, and landed in the United States at age 12. After stints as a teacher at Yeshiva of Flatbush in Brooklyn for four years, and a Jewish studies teacher for a decade, he joined the Air Force Reserves in 2000, and attended chaplain school the following year. “Personality-wise, I have the ability to connect with people with any kind of background,” he says. “I’m not judgmental. In this kind of work you have to be able to get along with everyone.” Sent to San Antonio, Texas at Lackland Air Force Base for his first assignment, Rabbi Berdugo concedes that the distance had been a difficult challenge in terms of his family, who stayed in New Jersey. “No one was thrilled at the distance, over the course of two years,” he said.