Faith During War

In early April 1862 in West Virginia, Pvt. Joseph A. Joel and 20 other Jewish soldiers in the 23rd Ohio Infantry asked Col. Rutherford B. Hayes for relief from duty so they could observe Passover, and the request was granted. Because many items needed for the week-long holiday were not readily available in camp or in West Virginia, the regimental sutler, possibly G.W. Forbes, who was also Jewish, retrieved the soldiers' order of Matzos from Ohio and included prayer books and Haggadahs in the boxes of unleavened bread. The soldiers then built a log hut and foraged for symbolic foods and supplies for their Seder, the ceremonial dinner that begins Passover, which took place on April 14. Joel later recalled in the March 3, 1866, issue of the Jewish Messenger that the celebration of Passover in 1862, held in the wild woods of West Virginia away from home and friends, remained one of the most pleasurable and satisfying occasions of his life as the soldiers offered their prayers and sacrifice to the God of Israel.

Fayetteville, West Virginia · United States