NEC 2022 Roundup

By PNC Dr. Barry Schneider

The National Executive Committee met in January in Orlando, Florida. While attendance was slightly less than usual, 33 members attended in person with an additional 20 NEC members via zoom.

The highlight of the NEC meeting itself was the acceptance of two new policies recommended by the Policy Committee. Both reflect a huge change in our operations and a clarity to our ongoing efforts to become more transparent.

The most significant policy deals with reimbursement of expenses by staff and volunteers. With extreme clarity, the policy lays out who can have JWV credit cards, what type of expenses are acceptable, and the procedures to request reimbursement.

NEC 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Photo Courtesy: Jerry Alperstein

Jewish War Veterans of the United States Expense Reimbursement Policy Effective March 1, 2022

This policy explains the guidelines for the reimbursement of expenses related to the general operation of JWV. This policy applies to the professional staff and volunteers in the performance of their duties on behalf of JWV.

Except as noted below, reimbursement for expenses by volunteers incurred on behalf of JWV must be approved by the National Executive Director (NED) in advance of the event.

JWV owned debit or credit cards are tightly controlled and limited only to short term use. These cards will be issued to the NED, Director of Operations, National Commander, Coordinating Committee Chairman, and National Vice Commander. Cards for both the National Commander and

National Vice Commander can only be used during their term of office.

The following JWV members are eligible for expense reimbursement:

National Commander

The National Commander is JWV’s Chief Executive Officer and ambassador, and as such, is entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses while conducting JWV business. Each year a budget for these expenses is developed and included as part of the annual JWV budget.

Room charges for both the National Commander and traveling companion (spouse, significant other and Chief of Staff) will be comped or reimbursed at standard room rates. Travel by personal vehicle will be reimbursed at the standard mileage rate as determined by the IRS for that particular year. Airfare and or travel by rail will be reimbursed at standard coach rates. Rental car reimbursement will include daily or weekly rental, insurance (if needed and not covered by personal auto insurance policy or credit card), gasoline and tolls (with proper receipts).

The National Executive Director will:

The NED will be responsible for reviewing and approving reimbursement requests by the professional staff.

Devise an official “Expense Reimbursement Form” for use by all members and the staff requesting reimbursement.

Individuals will be required to complete the form and submit it to the NED for review and approval.

Standard retention policy must be followed for processed Expense Reimbursement Forms, and these forms must be made available for inspection should the need arise.

Request for inspection must be made in advance to the NED and must not interfere with the daily operation of the organization.

JWV Travel Reimbursement Policies for Officers and members Conducting JWV Business:

Requests for reimbursement must be submitted to the NED. Where possible, these expenses should be approved in advance. Receipts are required to receive reimbursement.

Hotel charges will be reimbursed at the standard room rate.

Reasonable food expense will be reimbursed with required receipts. Under no circumstances will alcoholic beverages be reimbursed.
Train/Airfare will be reimbursed at the lowest coach rate.

Convention Chair – JWV – Expenses related to inspection of properties prior to the actual convention and or NEC. Room charges, prior to these gatherings will be comped or reimbursed at standard room rates.

Receipts for all expenses are required.

Air Travel – advanced reservations should be made as far in advance as possible. All air travel must be by the least expensive coach price.

Where possible, rooms provided free by the hotel should be used as follows for the following individuals.
• National Commander
• National Vice Commander
• Coordinating Committee Chairman
• Convention Chairman
• JWVA Convention Chairman
• Museum President
• JWV and National Museum staff.

Meals – reimbursement for meals will be made only when the Convention Committee is visiting properties for the purpose of inspecting and selecting sites for future conventions or NEC meetings.

Meals during the National Convention and NEC meetings will not be reimbursed, with the following exceptions:

National Commander for the National President’s Banquet and National Commander’s Banquet will be paid by JWV in advance of the event. Spouse, or significant other (if any) will also be paid by JWV.

Official Meals for Honored Guests – Cost of meal for any honored guest(s) will be reimbursed for the following:

• Honored guest, spouse or significant other
• National Commander, spouse or significant other
• National Vice Commander, spouse or significant other
• National President, spouse or significant other
• JWV Convention Chair, spouse or significant other
• JWVA Convention Chair, spouse or significant other

Alcoholic Beverages – There shall be no reimbursement for alcoholic beverages. Other attendees desiring alcoholic beverages must be paid for by the individual.

The second policy approved was a clarification of the hat policy for National Officers.

Jewish War Veterans of the USA Policy For Official Head Gear

This policy shall apply to the following past current and future National Officers of JWV and become effective upon approval by the Policy Committee.

The approved policy shall immediately be posted to the Manual of Ceremonies as prescribed in the Constitution and By Laws

JWV National Office will procure official hats for all National Officers.

1. The National Commander’s hat shall be embroidered with 4 stars and the lettering:
NATIONAL COMMANDER XXXX-XXXX
2. The National Vice Commander’s hat shall be embroidered with 3 stars and the lettering:
NATIONAL VICE COMMANDER XXXX-XXXX
3. The National Judge Advocate hats shall be embroidered with 2 stars and the lettering:
NATIONAL JUDGE ADVOCATE no date will added to the hat due to an undetermined length of service.
4. The Chief National Chaplain’s hat shall be embroidered with 2 stars and may have a date of service if appropriate
5. The National Chief of Staff’s hat shall be embroidered with 1 star and the lettering:
NATIONAL CHIEF of STAFF XXXX-XXXX
6. The National Officer of the Day’s hat shall be embroidered with 1 star and the lettering: NATIONAL OFFICER of the DAY no date will added to the hat due to an undetermined length of service.
7. A cap will be provided to the National Executive Director, either the member or patron cap as appropriate and embroidered with the words NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.
8. The National Aide de Camp’s hat shall be embroidered with 1 star and the lettering:
NATIONAL AIDE DE CAMP XXXX-XXXX.
9. The National Quartermaster’s hat shall be embroidered with 1 star and the lettering NATIONAL QUARTERMASTER XXXX-XXXX.

These policies will be added to the Manual of Ceremonies as directed by our Constitution.

The effort by the NEC under the leadership of President Jerry Blum are to be applauded as we continue to improve transparency and move our organization in to the 21st century.

Volume 76. Number 1. 2022

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O Canada

By PNC Carl Singer

Like many JWV posts, Essex-Preiskel-Miller-Glassberg Post 47 strives to honor our fallen comrades by putting out flags prior to Memorial Day and Veterans Day. We focus on two cemeteries in northern New Jersey, Menorah Cemetery in Passaic and the King Solomon Cemetery in Clifton. To accomplish this mission, we are helped by numerous community volunteers and Scouts BSA (formerly the Boy Scouts).

The King Solomon Cemetery is a large facility with over 50,000 graves. This past November the scouts who were assisting us found two graves with what we thought were logos for the Royal Air Force. We, of course, wanted to do right to honor these allied veterans.

It was a circuitous path to make this happen. Unable to reach the appropriate personnel at the British Embassy, I contacted my Congressman’s Chief of Staff, who in turn contacted the Congressional Liaison to the British Embassy. A Group Captain at the British Embassy who serves as their Assistant Air and Space Attaché contacted me. His sharp eyes determined the logos on the headstone were actually RCAF, for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He forwarded my request to his Canadian counterpart.

I was contacted by a Lieutenant-Colonel who is the Assistant Canadian Forces and Space Attaché. In turn, I contacted the Poppy & Remembrance Director at The Royal Canadian Legion.

Our post then purchased the appropriate Canadian flags so we could put them on the two graves. Mission Accomplished.

Volume 76. Number 1. 2022

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How My Failure in Boy Scouts Taught Me the Meaning of Honor

By Rabbi Levi Welton

Long before I had the honor of serving in the United States Air Force, I was just a boy in Troop 613, the local Jewish Boy Scouts of America chapter in Berkeley, California. It was founded by George Brummer, Lenny Berman, and my childhood Rabbi Ferris. We met regularly on the second floor of the Berkeley Chabad House. This was how I came to know Berman, or Scoutmaster Lenny. Although he hadn’t been a scout as a boy, Scoutmaster Lenny taught our troop to cherish outdoorsmanship and do a good turn daily. He also made all of us get the Ner Tamid Jewish merit badge, telling us we had to be proud Jewish Boy Scouts.

Berman was a disciplined, bristly-bearded software developer who walked over four miles every Shabbos to attend services at the Chabad House (Orthodox Jews don’t use cars on Shabbos because driving is considered a violation of the 39 categories of prohibited melachos or work). Nor did he do it alone. He was accompanied by his wife, daughter, and three sons.

At the crack of dawn on school days, Berman would wake up his children and teach them Torah and Talmud. Then they’d head off to public school. In 2012, when President Obama’s ambassador to Israel toured the largest Yeshiva in the world, the prestigious Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, he was photographed studying Torah with Eitan Berman, my former scout-mate.

I never made it to the rank of Eagle Scout. I spent way too much time having fun at the Scout Camp rifle range. I got a couple of merit badges, like the woodworking one and the leatherwork one, but I did it because I thought it was fun, not because I was competitive about achieving Eagle status. Nevertheless, Berman gave me a solid Boy Scout education. He taught me how to use a compass, which comes in handy as Jews must face Jerusalem when praying three times a day. He also instructed our Troop in the art of pitching a tent, packing a sleeping bag, and safely kindling a fire from scratch. Most of all, he constantly lectured us on what it means to have Scout Honor and do my best to do “my duty to G-d and my country.”
Unfortunately, my best wasn’t always good enough. For example, I failed to get the swimming merit badge. I badly wanted it because that badge allowed a scout to use the kayaks at the camp lake. I might have succeeded had it not been for my lanky chicken legs, pencil-thin arms, and the sharks. Well, not real sharks as I was swimming hundreds of miles inland. But my overactive imagination kept interpreting every oblong shadow underwater as a Great White gleefully zooming towards me to the ominous soundtrack of “Jaws.”

So, after a lot of frenzied splashing, I was told to get out and dry myself off with a towel. Apparently, in my zeal to escape the sharks, I swam in the completely wrong direction and had a second chance to jump back in and try again. I shook my head with a definitive no and made a silent pact with the sharks that I would never again step into their turf as long as they wouldn’t step on mine. To this day, both parties have honored this arrangement.
But I’m getting lost in the brush of my understory and must return to the trailhead of the narrative, Scoutmaster Lenny. I want to tell you how he imprinted upon me the meaning of honor. It happened when our troop was deep in the forest, camping with hundreds of other troops.
One morning, it was our troop’s turn to raise the flag in front of the entire assembly. We had practiced with Berman for an hour the night before. But I was still nervous. A sea of eyes stared at us with laser focus. Eitan and I marched in tandem next to each other, gripping the sides of the flag, and trying to remember all the instructions our scoutmaster had drilled into our brains. My hands trembled as we hoisted the flag.

Suddenly, the bugler, who was also our assigned guide, sputtered. He rushed over to us.

“The flag is upside down,” he whispered in horror. He snatched the halyard from me. I frantically looked up. The great grizzly bear of the California flag lying flat on her back with four paws fluttering awkwardly upside down in the wind for all to see.

Snickers echoed around the grassy meadow. Shame burned on my cheeks and for the next three days, we were the laughingstock of the Boy Scouts. I remember spending most of the time studying the tips of my sneakers and avoiding eye contact with anyone outside my troop.

Then, on the dawn of the third day, Yossi Ferris, the rabbi’s son, was called up in front of the entire assembly for an honor. He had achieved the highest score at the rifle range and was given the marksmanship award. He marched up – proudly wearing his yarmulke for all to see— and received his accolades and his trophy, a box of chocolate M&M’s. But Yossi wasn’t the only one who held his head high. Our entire troop did. From then on, no one laughed at us. Our dignity was restored.

But what I remember now was how, during those three days after our epic flag-failure, Scoutmaster Lenny made us march to reveille as if we were his children marching to Shul on Shabbos. He didn’t utter a word about our failure and walked among the other Scout Leaders with confidence, as if nothing had occurred. I’m sure he noticed the sneers and smirks of the other kids. But he made us march and made us endure it, one step at a time. In this way, he taught me that honor means you keep marching forward, even when your flag is upside down.

In comic books, heroes are clean-shaven and wear red capes. In real life, heroes need neither a costume nor a cape. They can have a bristly beard and simply show a child it’s ok to make a mistake. On that fateful flag day, Berman showed me that I didn’t need to be an Eagle to fly.

Levi Welton holds degrees in science, education, and film. Currently, he works as a rabbi, physician assistant, and a reserve chaplain in the United States Air Force, attached to the 436th Airlift Wing of Dover Air Force base.

Volume 76. Number 1. 2022

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JWV Designates Volodymyr Zelensky as Honorary Patron

As of today, Thursday, March 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is considered an honorary patron of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America (JWV).

“Not only is he Jewish, but the fact that he has taken a stand to protect his people and his country is admirable, and I think he needs to be recognized for that,” said JWV National Commander Alan Paley.

JWV will attempt to convey a letter announcing this honor to Zelensky via the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States.

JWV also wants to condemn the Russian military’s ongoing attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including recent attacks on maternity and children’s hospitals.

About Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America
Founded in 1896, the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America is the oldest active veterans’ organization in America. JWV is dedicated to upholding America’s democratic traditions and fighting bigotry, prejudice, injustice, and discrimination of all kinds. As a national organization, JWV represents the voice of America’s Jewish veterans on issues related to veterans’ benefits, foreign policy, and national security. JWV also commits itself to the assistance of oppressed Jews worldwide.

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JWV condemns Russian attack on Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial

The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of American condemns Russia’s missile strike that hit Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in Kiev on Tuesday. The strike was apparently targeting a nearby TV tower but also hit the memorial.

The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center is built on Europe’s largest mass grave of the Holocaust. Between 1941 and 1943, the Nazis shot between 70,000 and 100,000 people at Babyn Yar.

About Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America
Founded in 1896, the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America is the oldest active veterans’ organization in America. JWV is dedicated to upholding America’s democratic traditions and fighting bigotry, prejudice, injustice, and discrimination of all kinds. As a national organization, JWV represents the voice of America’s Jewish veterans on issues related to veterans’ benefits, foreign policy, and national security. JWV also commits itself to the assistance of oppressed Jews worldwide.

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