A Rabbi at Gettysburg: Chaplain Ferdinand Sarner, German Jews, and the Civil War
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Jewish Museum of Maryland
15 Lloyd Street Baltimore, MD 21202
Did you know there were no Jewish Chaplains in the American Military before the Civil War? The establishment of a Jewish military chaplaincy was a significant accomplishment for the nascent American Jewish community during the Civil War. Ferdinand Sarner was the only rabbi to serve as a regimental chaplain on the battlefield. Rabbi Joseph S. Topek’s exciting talk will explore Rabbi Sarner’s unusual career as well as look at chaplaincy within the context of German Jewish participation in the Civil War. Rabbi Joseph S. Topek is Director of the Hillel Foundation for Jewish Life at Stony Brook University and Jewish Chaplain in the University Interfaith Center, of which he is also the Chairman. He is also the Jewish Chaplain at the Long Island State Veterans Home in the Stony Brook University Medical Center.