Before the Jewish Chaplains Memorial is officially dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery on Oct. 24, it will be on display at two sites in Providence – from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 3 in Providence City Hall and, later that day, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Providence College; at 6 p.m., there will be a ceremony at the college.

Sugarman-Sinai Memorial Chapel and its parent organization, Dignity Memorial network of funeral providers, are sponsors of the Jewish Chaplains Monument Tour.

According to information from Ira Fleisher, of Sugarman-Sinai Memorial Chapel, the campaign to erect the Jewish chaplains memorial was initiated by two individuals, Ken Kraetzer and Sol Moglen, and led jointly by JWB (Jewish Welfare Board) Jewish Chaplains Council and Jewish Federations of North America. The U.S. House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation permitting the construction of the new monument, which will be placed on Chaplains Hill next to similar memorials dedicated to Catholic, Protestant and World War I chaplains.

More than 250 American chaplains of all faiths have died while on active duty in the U. S. Armed Forces. In 1926, the chaplains who served in World War I erected the first Chaplains Monument at Arlington National Cemetery, dedicated to the memory of their 23 colleagues who gave their lives in that conflict.

In 1981, a separate monument was erected to memorialize 134 Protestant chaplains who died in World Wars I and II. Eight years later, a similar memorial to 83 Catholic chaplains who died in World War II, Korea and Vietnam was consecrated on Chaplains Hill. Now,  through the efforts of many individuals and organizations of all faiths, a memorial to the 14 Jewish chaplains who died while on active duty will stand alongside those of their Protestant and Catholic brethren.

The 14 Jewish chaplains killed during military service are Rabbis Alexander Goode, Herman L. Rosen, Henry Goody, Samuel D. Hurwitz, Louis Werfel, Irving Tepper, Nachman S. Arnoff, and Frank Goldenberg (World War II); Rabbis Solomon Rosen and Samuel Rosen (Cold War era); and Rabbis Meir Engel, Joseph Hoenig, Morton H. Singer and David Sobel (Vietnam/Southeast Asia).

The Oct 24 ceremony at the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery is open to the public and everyone is invited to attend.

The events will begin on Oct. 24 with a wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknowns, adjacent to the Memorial Amphitheater, at 11:15 a.m.

Before its formal dedication, the new monument will be displayed at different venues, allowing people who may not be able to visit Arlington to view it. In addition to the stop in Providence, the monument will be displayed for several days in Massachusetts, and will also be seen in South Carolina, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

For more information, visit www.jcca.org/jwb.