Lighting a Candle for Those Who Need It Most

VA, UNITED STATES

11.29.2023

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class TYLER BERGSTROM 

USS Harry S Truman

In honor of Chanukah, Lt. Cmdr. Yonatan Warren, a Chaplain and Rabbi aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman’s (CVN 75), worked with Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) Sailors to create a metallic menorah for their upcoming shipboard holiday celebration.
Menorahs are candelabras explicitly used during the observance of Chanukah, a Jewish festival commemorating the culmination of the Maccabean Revolt in the mid-2nd century BCE Judea. Chanukah celebrates the Jewish experience of dedication to faith and perseverance through the many centuries.
The menorah, meaning lamp in Hebrew, has nine branches, one for each night of the Festival of Lights, plus a shamash, meaning helper or attendant, which is lit first and used to light the other candles. An additional candle is lit each night during the eight days of Chanukah until all eight candles are lit on the final night.
Ceremonies onboard Truman historically used disposable tin menorahs. However, this will be the first official menorah designed specifically for Truman’s Jewish community. Warren further explained that Naval Station Norfolk’s Commodore Levy Chapel will feature the new menorah during their Norfolk-area Chanukah service on Dec. 7 and the ship’s Chanukah celebrations the following week.
“There is a long history of Jewish Soldiers and Sailors making their own Chanukah menorah themselves,” said Warren. “We’ve got amazing craftsmen on this ship who rarely get a creative outlet. I thought we could make something for the ship that can tie into Chanukah while also having them express their creativity.’”
Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Patrick Price, the AIMD IM-2 leading petty officer, led the charge in creating the menorah. He shares Warren’s enthusiasm for the project and has worked closely with Truman Chaplains in the past.
“We are full on metalsmiths back here,” said Price. “We do little things here and there for other departments or the executive officer, but we don’t typically do these kinds of jobs. We have the capability though, so it’s kind of refreshing to have done it.”
While this year won’t be the first Chanukah service aboard Truman, Warren said he wants this year’s focus to be on companionship amongst the Jewish community and inclusion of anyone who feels trapped in the despair of darkness, hence why the new menorah is so important.
“The Jewish community views the menorah like a lighthouse,” said Warren. “Most of us are away from home, and it gives us a beacon to draw us all together. It’s the same with really anyone. The world is getting darker, and it’s human nature to turn towards the lights.”
With a determined and enthusiastic Rabi leading the team, Truman is looking to create a heartfelt and passionate service emphasizing religious history and sharing the light of hope with those who feel alone this holiday season.
“It’s humanitarian,” said Price. “As long as I’ve been here, Truman has put people first and I’ve lived by that ever since I got onboard.”
Truman is unique in that the ship is one of three aircraft carriers to serve as stewards of historic Holocaust-surviving Torahs. Rescued from Lithuania, Truman’s Torah is the only known religious artifact that remains from the country’s Jewish population, where less than 5% survived the atrocities. The ship received the Torah during a dedication ceremony in 2007 to honor its namesake, President Harry S. Truman, who was the first world leader to recognize the new state of Israel in 1948, just minutes after its founding.
During the current Planned Incremental Availability, the Torah was safeguarded from the construction environment by the local Jewish community and stored at Temple Israel in Norfolk, Virginia. Truman will host a re-dedication ceremony when the Torah returns to the ship in February.

Truman is the flagship of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCGS) and is currently undergoing a planned incremental availability (PIA) onboard Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
For more news from Truman, visit www.navy.mil/local.cvn75/, www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, www.twitter.com/usnavy, www.airlant.usff.navy.mil/cvn75/, www.facebook.com/cvn75, www.twitter.com/ussharrystruman, or http://instagram.com/uss_harrys.truman.

• Date Taken: 11.29.2023
• Date Posted: 12.31.2023 20:52
• Story ID: 461126
• Location: VA, US