The two Jewish service members, in front of their fellow service members, had been subjected by their self-proclaimed “proud Christian who walks his faith” Section Chief to an incessant stream of anti-Semitic and blatantly stereotypical questions such as: “What is it like to be Jew?” — Did they know where the word “kike” came from — Would they give him “guided tour of Auschwitz?” — Why “you people” wear those little beanies on your heads? — Why “are you all so good with money?” — Why “you all reject Jesus when he was one of your own?"
Then came the last straw. Their “proud Christian” Section Chief, who claimed only to want to learn more about these peculiar people known as Jews, dangled a new carrot as part of his non-stop invitations for these Jews to attend his lunchtime Bible study — instead of the usual hotdogs that he typically served at his Bible studies, he would bring “Bagel Dogs for the Chosen People” if they attended!!!!
Rather than accepting the degrading invitation to nosh on blessed bagel dogs with their Bible-thumping boss, the two Jewish service members contacted their base’s local Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) representative, who put them in touch with MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein.
Mikey moved swiftly, as always, contacting the Section Chief’s commander’s commander, and less than a day and a half later the two service members were informed that their “proud Christian” anti-Semitic Section Chief had been removed from his position, with an apology to the two service members for the demeaning anti-Semitism they had endured.
This morning, the grateful service members sent the following email to MRFF, describing in their own words the outrageous anti-Semitism that MRFF had put a stop to for them:
From: (E-Mail of Active Duty/MRFF U.S. Military Enlisted Client Withheld)
Subject: Removal of Antisemitic Military Bully Boss
Date: April 21, 2021 at 9:06:39 AM MDT
To: Information Weinstein <mikey@militaryreligiousfreedom.org>
Dear Everyone at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation:
To begin with thank you all at the MRFF for helping us to stop the snide and awful antisemitic behavior we were getting from our immediate (service branch name withheld) here at (military installation name withheld).
Without the immediate help of (local MRFF Rep’s name withheld) and then from Mr. Mikey Weinstein himself we would still be targets of this hurtful bullshit.
The undersigned are 2 active duty U.S. (service branch name withheld) who are both Jewish and share the same immediate military supervisor or Section Chief.
Earlier today our (military commander’s name, rank and title withheld) here at (military installation name and location withheld) called the two of us into his office with our unit’s EO Rep and our installation MRFF Rep and informed us that he was removing our Section Chief due to a consistent pattern of antisemitic behavior against the two of us which our commander found to be intolerable.
He told us he had lost confidence in our Section Chief’s ability to lead. He apologized for what had been happening to us from our Section Chief.
We could not believe this best news ever!
The two of us had reached out to our installation’s MRFF Rep after seeing the news article about the Colorado state judge who recently resigned because of very similar bullying and racist statements to her African American subordinates who worked for her in her Court..
Our Section Chief had acted so very much the same way to us regarding our Jewish faith.
It all started about a month ago when (name and rank of Military Section Chief) began to question the two of us about “what is it like to be Jew”? He would ask this in front of other member’s of our unit.
He tells everybody in our unit that he is a “proud Christian who walks his faith” and he tells this to us all the time. He said he was just “interested in what it’s like to be “Jew”. Not “a Jew” but just “Jew”.
He said he was not a “Jew hater” but a “Jew Lover” and just wanted to "understand what makes you people tick better.”
He also asked us a number of times if we knew where the word “kike" came from? (we did not). We were so insulted and shocked that he used that word in front of us and others in our unit. He also said in front of everyone a number of times that he wanted us to give him a “guided tour of Auschwitz” sometime. We were just shocked and confused about how to fight this?
He kept saying that he “loves Jews” but is only “curious" about us. Because, he said, “Jews are The Chosen People” and the 2 of us are the “first ones’ he’s ever commanded and so he wants to “know us better” so he can “know my Lord Jesus Christ better”.
All of this in the military workplace and on duty with us all in uniform.
The personal comments and questions about us both being Jewish never stopped. It was embarrassing and demeaning. We could give many other examples like he wanted to know why “you people wear those little beanies on your heads?” and why “are you all so good with money?” and especially why “you all reject Jesus when he was one of your own?"
We thought our jobs were to (military specialty and duties withheld) and not to “teach” our boss about our Jewish faith on duty time so he can be better buds with Jesus?
The last straw was the other day when he once again for the billionth time tried to get us to come to his weekly lunchtime bible study which he hosts in a nearby Annex building.
He always brings hotdogs for everyone who comes. Hotdogs are his go-to bible study lunch food.
We always declined as politely as we could.
But he’s our BOSS!
WTF are we supposed to do or say to him? No means no!
But this time he said he would bring “Bagel Dogs for the Chosen People” if we attended.
That was too much.
Then we saw the news about the racist Colorado judge and we knew what we had to do.
We had been able to locate our base MRFF Rep who put us in contact with Mikey Weinstein.
Mikey said he would contact our second level up commander (commander’s title withheld) from our boss and demand immediate action of punishment.
And today we got the amazing news that our Section Chief has been removed!
Thank you Mikey and (MRFF Rep's name withheld) and all of the MRFF!
You guys made this all happen in a little more than a day and a half! We will never forget all of you at the MRFF!
signed,
(names, ranks, titles and duty specialties of both Active Duty MRFF/U.S. military enlisted clients withheld)
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