FIRST RABBI TO BE COMMISSIONED AS
NAVY CHAPLAIN HAS QUEENS ROOTS
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JAN. 21 - JAN. 27, 2022 15
QUEENSLINE
In conjunction with the Greater
Astoria Historcal Society, TimesLedger
Newspapers presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s
history.
Born on Jan. 6, 1896 in Belarus, then part of the Russian
Empire, Joshua Louis Goldberg was the first rabbi
to be commissioned as a U.S. Navy chaplain in World
War II. He was also only the third rabbi in Navy history.
Before his religious studies, he was an enlisted soldier
in both the Russian Imperial Army and the U.S.
Army in World War I. After the War, he was ordained
and served as a rabbi at the Astoria Center of Israel.
Rabbi Goldberg was also instrumental in founding
Queens College and served in many civic organizations
in the borough.
The son of a lumber merchant was drafted into the
Imperial Russian Army at 18. During World War I, he
deserted his army unit after the fall of the Russian
western front. In 1916, the future distinguished rabbi
made his way to America after an arduous eight month
journey through Siberia, Manchuria, Korea and Japan.
Settling in New York City, the newly arrived immigrant
enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 and was sent to
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fight in France. Speaking almost no English, the studious
young man hid in the latrine every night studying
his Russian-English dictionary. Goldberg learned to
speak six languages, and the Army used his fluency
in French to serve as an interpreter. After separating
from the Army in 1920, Sgt. Goldberg began rabbinical
studies after returning to his new home in New York.
After ordination in 1926, he became rabbi to the Astoria
Center of Israel.
The young rabbi soon began visiting patients at the
Brooklyn Naval Hospital, and volunteered to serve as
a Navy chaplain with the outbreak of World War II.
During this global conflict, and the Korean War as
well, Rabbi Goldberg traveled the globe tending to the
spiritual needs of Jewish and gentile men and women
serving the country far from home. Reflecting on a long
military career, Rabbi Goldberg offered this timeless
insight:
“My life in the Navy has been a saga of deep spiritual
satisfaction. The Navy Chaplain Corps motto was
‘cooperation without compromise,’ and that’s what it
was like. Rabbis, Priests, and Ministers went out together,
worked together, and spoke on the same platform.
Priests and Protestant Ministers helped arrange
Passover services throughout the world. It was not a
lessening of stature for us to help each other. We lifted
each other up, and helped preserve the dignity of each
other’s religion.”
After retirement from the Navy in 1960 as the highest
ranking Jewish chaplain in the Navy, Captain Goldberg
continued serving his community and country in
numerous ways. He continued in leadership positions
with such organizations as the Queens Public Library,
the Boy Scouts and the Queens College Association. In
1961, Rabbi Goldberg and his wife Henrietta visited the
Soviet Union, where he observed that anti-Semitism
was a greater threat to Jews under Communism than it
had been during his youth under the Czars.
Rabbi Joshua Goldberg passed away on December
24, 1994 in West Palm Beach Florida at age 98. He was
buried in Arlington National Cemetery on January 6,
1995. Among the many honors Rabbi Goldberg received
for his service to his country was the Gold Medal of Merit
from the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.
Speakers at his award ceremony included General
Omar Bradley, Secretary of the Navy Charles Thomas
and Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis Spellman.
For further info, call the Greater Astoria
Historical Society at 718-278-0700 or
www.astorialic.org.
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