Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) The U.S. Navy Evacuated 6,000 Jews from Jaffa in 1914/1915

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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The U.S. Navy Evacuated 6,000 Jews from Jaffa in 1914/1915 Posted: 27 Jun 2016  The book is moving forward, so we cannot publish new pictures and essays at this time. But, here are two never-before-seen pictures from the book showing Jews boarding and disembarking from the USS Tennessee after their expulsion by the Turks in 1915.  Stay tuned for information on the book's publication. Jewish refugees boarding and registering in Jaffa. Jewish refugees disembarking in Alexandria Egypt.

Israel's History - a Picture a Day - The U.S. Navy Saved the Jews of the Holy Land 100 Years Ago

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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U.S. Navy receipt for emergency aid supplies destined for the Jews of Palestine from the Joint Distribution Committee 100 years ago, February 21, 1916. According to the JDC file, the supplies included matzot for Passover. (JDC Archives)

The U.S. Navy Saved the Jews of the Holy Land 100 Years Ago Posted: 10 Feb 2016  We have written previously how the United States Government rallied to save the Jews of the Holy Land from famine and expulsion by the Turkish army during World War I.  But we are now adding an important historic document from that episode showing the vital involvement of American Jewry and the United States Navy exactly 100 years ago. At the start of the war, Jewish men were forcibly conscripted into the Turkish Army, a devastating locust plague ravaged the land in 1915, Turkish troops were looting supplies in preparation for their attack on the Suez Canal, charitable funds from European Jewish communities for the Jews of Palestine were cut off, and plans were being drawn up by the Turks to expel the Jews from the land.  The United States Ambassador to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau, warned American Jewish leaders of the danger to the Jews of the Holy Land and appealed to them for funds.  The forced conscription and looting of  Jerusalem homes. (1914, Ottoman Imperial Archives) The American government had not yet entered the war and U.S. aid could still get through. But to ensure that the money and supplies would not be stolen by rapacious Turkish officials, the U.S. secretary of state approved the use of American warships for the deliveries. Thirteen U.S. ships were used for the deliveries and for providing passage to Jews expelled from the land by the Turks. More information and photographs on this historic episode will appear in the forthcoming book, American Interests in the Holy Land, Revealed in Early Photographs by Lenny Ben-David.

Faith on the 'The Big Stick' Sustains Navy Shipmen

Faith on the 'The Big Stick' 

Sustains Navy Shipmen

By Efrem Graham

CBN News Anchor & Reporter

Thursday, March 05, 2015

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NORFOLK, Va. -- Aircraft carriers are floating cities at sea, traveling the world to defend our country for months at a time. The U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt is docked in Norfolk, readying to set sail on its next mission.

Sailors aboard the naval aircraft carrier are embarking on a nearly year-long deployment. That extended time away can be challenging for them, their families and their faith.

CBN News was invited to sample sea life and to meet some of the vessel's courageous Christians as they finished their final round of training for the journey.

'The Big Stick'

Sailors call The Roosevelt "The Big Stick." It is 90,000 tons of steel with a jet runway on top, towering 20 stories above the water and stretching three-and-a-half football fields.

Inside the carrier feels like an unending series of mazes, bridges and tunnels. And sometimes, there can be as many as 5,000 people on board.

The people are the ship's most impressive asset. From those who guide the rapid take-offs and landings on the flight deck, to those who repair pipes in the machine shop, and those who safely transport explosives on and off the carrier, this is precision under pressure.

Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Hart works in the area of explosives.

"I do the job I do in the Navy not so much because of the job, because explosives is not the first thing I thought about when I thought about joining," Hart told CBN News.

"But I do it for the people because with my rate, because we deal with explosives, because if something goes wrong it can inherently kill the whole department, we are very tight knit. So my job itself is a tight-knit job, my community is a tight-knit community," he said.

With more than 17 years in the U.S. Navy, Hart works to make his ship community even tighter and to transform hearts. The explosives expert leads an evening Bible study five nights a week.

"When I came in the military I was a young believer; I came in 18, 19 and I was a Christian," Hart said, recalling the start of his military career. "I was a licensed minister and so I see the importance of making sure you connect at an early age with other believers."

Critical Connection

That connection is critical, especially as sailors begin that nine-month deployment. Hart shared some of the difficulties in his interview with CBN News.

"Emotionally, you go through a gamut of emotions; you can be lonely at times," Hart said.

"Sometimes you can get depressed. Sometimes you can get a little under the weather," he said. "So you have to constantly remind yourself that this is only for a period of time."

"And at the end of the day, my family is home and they are waiting for me and they are excited about seeing me just as I am excited about seeing them," he said. "And once this is done, I can go home and spend time with them."

This is a milestone mission for Petty Officer 3rd Class Stephen Green. It is his first deployment as a Christian.

"It gets tough sometime, I am not going to lie. It really does," Green told CBN News. "Obviously, you are going to miss your family. You grew up with them. I lived with my family for 19 years. And now all of a sudden, just like that, I am away from them."

"Luckily, I do have people around the ship that I can call my sea family. And they get me through the days," he said.

Green's faith began on the ship. Less than a year ago, the 22-year-old attended a worship service in the ship's forecastle, the same area where he works to lift and drop anchor. At that meeting, another sailor invited him to attend his church back home.

"First day there, I really didn't get much of anything," Green said, recalling that church visit. "Something was drawing me to that church, though, so I came back a second time."

"And that's when the pastor, we were right in the middle of worship service, and she stopped and she looked directly at me," he continued. "And that is when she spoke into my life and gave me what God was telling me."

"And it was just crazy for me because it was a couple of weeks ago that I was praying to God about what was going on in my life and I was asking him for," he said. "And it was like she was listening in on that conversation."

Answered Prayers

The sailor's prayers were answered. He accepted Christ, stopped drinking, and found freedom in the Christian faith he first discovered aboard the ship.

"It was really bad. It was to the point where I was drinking every night. Every night," Green said about his days as an alcoholic.

"It was pretty much wanting to fill the void in my life, thinking it would make me happier and take all my depression away and all my stress away. Obviously it did not. I needed God," he added.

"I am actually eight months sober now. And for a lot of friends I used to have, they didn't understand it," Green said.

Green beat the odds, which show alcohol abuse is a significant problem for young people in the military. He now prays that when The Big Stick sets sail those old drinking buddies will someday join him at a ship Bible study, a ship church service, or they will simply pause to truly hear one of the ship's nightly prayers.

"Life for a Christian at sea can be very similar to life for a Christian in port, depending on how you connect yourself with other believers," Hart said.

That connection provides added protection.

Navy Brings Bibles Back; Removal Order Under Review

CBNNews.com

Monday, August 18, 2014

The U.S. Navy ordered on Thursday that Gideon Bibles, which were recently removed from Naval lodges, be returned to their rooms on the military bases.

The Navy said the decision to remove the Bibles was made without consulting senior leadership.

Their removal was reportedly part of a new policy from Rear Adm. Robert J. Bianchi, the CEO of NEXCOM, the Navy Exchange Service Command.

The Navy Exchange sent an order in June to the lodge managers stating that all the religious materials in the rooms should be removed using the lost-and-found property procedures.

The policy affects 34 Navy lodge locations and 24,000 Navy gateway guest rooms on Navy bases worldwide.

The American Family Association said the move came after a letter from the atheist Freedom from Religion Foundation.

The AFA cites a letter from a hotel housekeeper who said, "They told us to put them in boxes, where they would be taken to a donation center somewhere."

Ron Crews, director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, called on the Navy to reverse its "censorship."

"A Bible in a hotel room is no more illegal than a chaplain in the military," Crews stated. "It's tiresome to see senior military leaders needlessly cave in to activist groups offended by anything Christian."

AFA President Tim Wildmon said this incident highlights another religious freedom issue. He thinks the Navy is discouraging Christianity while defending Islam.

"The Navy is pushing for the mass removal of Bibles in hotel rooms across the country, yet U.S. soldiers are being encouraged to respect Muslims," he said.

Earlier this summer, soldiers were told to respect the rights of Muslims during Ramadan through a directive at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a Department of Defense medical and graduate school in Bethesda, Maryland.

"Where is the priority here in a country founded on religious freedom? Take Bibles out of hotel rooms but support an Islamic observance. This is a truest definition of a double standard," Wildmon said.