Chaplain (Lt. j.g.) Alex Hamilton offers a prayer at a menorah lighting ceremony at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on Dec. 7, 2023. (Taylor Ardito/U.S. Navy)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Chaplain (Lt. j.g.) Alex Hamilton arrived last year at the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet to revitalize a community that’s been without a leader for 33 years.
Less than two months later, war broke out in October between Israel and its longtime foe, Hamas.
Judaism, Hamilton said, is both a religion and a culture, and armed conflict involving Israel can affect everyone in the Jewish community.
Newly commissioned and fresh from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, Hamilton on his first assignment discovered that at least one member of his congregation at Yokosuka Naval Base has family in harm’s way.
“One of my congregants is from Israel and she’s definitely losing people and has family members — nieces and nephews — that are also engaged in combat zones,” Hamilton said.
“Watching that happen is very, very hard; watching people that you love and care about go through combat is very, very hard and challenging — emotionally and spiritually,” he said.
Hamilton, of Oklahoma City, arrived at Yokosuka on Aug. 25, weeks ahead of major Jewish holidays between September and October, including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
By Hannukah, which began Dec. 7, he said he was still getting to know his community, but that wasn’t a problem.
“Because there hasn’t been a rabbi here, it’s been about building momentum,” he told Stars and Stripes by phone Dec. 26. “It’s a little like if you haven’t gone to the gym in a long time.”
The last rabbi at Yokosuka Naval Base, Richard Leibovitz, served from 1987 to 1990, according to Hamilton, although he couldn’t speak to the specifics of Leibovitz’s tenure. Since then, the Jewish community on base has had only the occasional visit from traveling religious leaders.
The Navy and the Marine Corps currently share 11 Jewish chaplains between them. The situation is further complicated by the necessity of sending chaplains to ship and shore duties, Hamilton said.
“Chapels have gaps because we’re having trouble meeting our recruitment goals; we’re undermanned, the priority is going to put chaplains on ships and operational units,” Chaplain (Cmdr.) David Kim, the Yokosuka command chaplain, told Stars and Stripes by phone Dec. 26.
The Navy assigned Hamilton to Yokosuka due to the concentration of ships and personnel here and the Navy’s focus on the Indo-Pacific, Kim added.
Chaplain Alex Hamilton, a Navy lieutenant junior grade, speaks at a menorah lighting ceremony at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on Dec. 7, 2023. (Taylor Ardito/U.S. Navy)
‘A whole person again’
Hamilton’s arrival has enlivened the Jewish community, according to Kourtney Metcalf-Ray, a military spouse and community coordinator that works closely with Hamilton.
“I feel like a whole person again,” she told Stars and Stripes by phone Tuesday. “Half of myself wasn’t able to be me without a Jewish community.”
Metcalf-Ray has lived in Japan since 2016 and has embedded herself in the Jewish communities at Yokosuka, Sasebo Naval Base and Misawa Air Base. She said a rabbi’s presence is critical for Jews, especially those stationed overseas.
“It’s made a tremendous difference in just everything,” she said. “I have a son, he’s 12; at 13 is when a young man has his bar mitzvah. Without a rabbi, I would have had to fly back to the United States in September so he can have his bar mitzvah. By having a rabbi here, he’ll be able to do it here with his friends and his teachers and a Jewish community that he knows.”
Now is an important time for Jewish service members to have the support of their community, Hamilton said.
He said he’s aware of only one isolated incident of antisemitism since he arrived at Yokosuka. The base and its commander, Capt. Les Sobol, have been extremely welcoming to him and the Jewish community, he said.
“Capt. Sobol came down on the first night [of Hannukah] and it really showed the community that they have a place here at [Yokosuka],” he said. “It’s hard to explain how much his presence meant to the community.”
