The Challenge of Keeping Kosher: The Jewish Welfare Board's Outreach to Soldiers During World War II

This poster explores the work of the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB), one of the founding members of the United Service Organization (USO), who primarily supported Jewish servicemen stationed at USO bases in the United States. One of the major ways they did this was by providing Jewish service members the means to maintain religious dietary practices during World War II. This research is based on Jewish Welfare Board’s Records located in the American Jewish Historical Society’s archives. The collection was composed of a combination of first-hand accounts (e.g. correspondence, memoirs) , institutional sources (receipts, furlough assignments), and publicity (advertisements, educational material). These sources reveal how the leaders and members of the JWS stressed the maintaining kashrut for Jewish soldiers, reflecting how dietary practices were important to both religious convictions and maintaining their culture. However, the Jewish Welfare Board struggled most in making adherence to kashrut feasible for soldiers. They tried to work with the military to fill the need to provide accommodations for Jewish soldiers to follow kashrut, but the logistics were difficult. The JWB came to realize that upon entering the service, most Jewish servicemen maintained their religious dietary habits through holiday seders, rather than daily observation. The collection shows the dual role of the JWB, as they supplied a minority of orthodox soldiers with daily dietary accommodations and the entirety of Jewish service members with holiday seders. These dietary practices on USO bases show how Jewish culture manifested itself on American bases during WWII. Through their services, they helped revitalize the Jewish military community's connection with their faith and heritage.