CAPT Irving Elson, a Jewish chaplain in the U.S. Navy, blesses the jet flown by Scott Buckholtz on the USS Truman.
written about military life for a general population. “I really enjoy writing first-person essays,” she said. “Civilians who don’t have any sense what this world is like think that it’s radically different, and it’s not. My goal [in the book] was to show the human side of deployment.” Buckholtz discovered a natural inclination for military wives to reach out to each other. “That sort of closeness happens faster,” she said, because of the need to have people available to cover when there’s no family around. “You’re always looking for someone who can help you in an emergency,” Buckholtz pointed out, and
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others in the same situation are eager to help.
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uckholtz spent a lot of time creating a Jewish nest for her children. She ordered challahs and Jewish foods, she bought Jewish DVD’s and CD’s, she celebrated Shabbat and all the holidays at home. “I had always heard that Judaism was centered on the home,” Buckholtz said, and she really worked on ways to infuse her home with a Jewish ambiance. The result is that her children know all the prayers and songs for Shabbat, she said, and can sing confidently when
they visit her family. “It’s very sweet to watch that happen,” Buckholtz said, and she determined to include that part of her life in the book. Scott Buckholtz is about to be deployed to Iraq, and Alison Buckholtz and Ethan and Esther are going back to Washington, D.C. Buckholtz can be reached at http://www.alisonbuckholtz. com and more information about the book is available at http://www. standingbybook.com/Home.html. “ It is so gratifying to me to be able to bring the story of Jewish military families to Jewish audiences.”
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