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 HUC-JIR/NY's Memorial Ceremony Honors Iraq War Dead Jewish Telegraphic Agency - March 22, 2006 Iraq war names intoned during Jewish college's vigil By Rachel Silverman At a memorial ceremony held Monday at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion that marked the third anniversary of the beginning of the war, the names of 5,708 Iraqis and coalition troops who have perished were read out. Among the roughly two dozen participants was Sharon Kunitz, a second-year cantorial student whose 20-year-old son, Brian Parker, is serving as a Marine in Fallujah. Kunitz expressed conflicted feelings on the country's continued role in Iraq. "I've never supported the war," the Huntsville, Ala., native said. "But supporting our troops and being in support of the war are two completely different things." "I'm incredibly proud of him for his decision to serve his country," she continued. "I hope he feels he's doing good work there and that he's there for a reason." "We hope that this day of remembrance will remind both supporters and opponents of the war that the obligation to honor the dead transcends ideology and political affiliation," Rabbi Shirley Idelson, associate dean of the college, said during the service. "It is a solemn task that falls upon all the living." Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal service professionals, and offers graduate and post-graduate programs to scholars of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources comprise renowned library and museum collections, the American Jewish Archives, biblical archaeology excavations, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. HUC-JIR invites the community to an array of cultural and educational programs which illuminate Jewish history, identity, and contemporary creativity and which foster interfaith and multiethnic understanding. Visit us at www.huc.edu |
