July 17, 1862
U.S. Law Opens the Army Chaplaincy to Rabbis
Historical context
On this day, July 17, 1862, U.S. Army chaplain law opened the chaplaincy to regularly ordained ministers of any religious denomination, including rabbis.
Archive record
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- Date
- July 17, 1862
- Verified sources
- 2
- Archive threads
- 3
On this day, a new U.S. Army chaplain law took effect. Chaplains now had to be regularly ordained ministers of some religious denomination, not only of a Christian denomination. The change opened the chaplaincy to rabbis.
An 1861 volunteer-army statute had required a Christian minister. After Michael Allen, a Jewish layman serving with Cameron’s Dragoons, was forced out, the regiment nominated Arnold Fischel of Congregation Shearith Israel. The War Department rejected him. Fischel met President Lincoln in December 1861. On September 18, 1862, Lincoln commissioned Jacob Frankel of Philadelphia as a hospital chaplain, the first authorized Jewish chaplain in the U.S. Army.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- Jacob Frankel, Chaplaincy Certificate · American Jewish Archives · Significant Documents Illuminating the American Jewish Experience View source
- Letter to Arnold Fischel · Abraham Lincoln · House Divided Project, Dickinson College (1861-12-14) View source
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