28 Facts About Arnold Resnicoff

Arnold E Resnicoff was born on 1946 and is an American Conservative rabbi who served as a military officer and military chaplain.

Arnold Resnicoff served in Vietnam and Europe before attending rabbinical school.

Arnold Resnicoff then served in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps for almost 25 years, ultimately attaining the rank of captain.

Arnold Resnicoff promoted the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and delivered the closing prayer at its 1982 dedication.

Arnold Resnicoff's awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, and the Chapel of Four Chaplains Hall of Heroes Gold Medallion.

Resnicoff's father, a World War II Navy veteran, encouraged Resnicoff to serve with the military as one way for the family to "pay its dues" to America.

Arnold Resnicoff served as an enlisted man in the Naval Reserves during High School, then after graduation from NROTC at Dartmouth College served in the rivers of Vietnam as part of "Operation Game Warden," the operation aimed at keeping the rivers free from Viet Cong, and then with Naval Intelligence in Europe before leaving the Navy to attend rabbinical school.

On October 23,1983, while a chaplain for the United States Sixth Fleet, Arnold Resnicoff was present in Beirut, Lebanon, during the suicide truck bomb attack that took the lives of 241 American military personnel, and wounded scores more.

Arnold Resnicoff's work has been recognized by long-time advocates of LGBT rights, including his work at the Naval War College as far back as the early 1990s.

Arnold Resnicoff was later chosen by the White House to deliver the prayer at the Presidential signing ceremony for the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

From 1997 to 2000, Arnold Resnicoff was the first Jewish Chaplain to serve at the level of Command Chaplain for a Unified Combatant Command, serving as chaplain for the United States European Command, under the leadership of General Wesley Clark.

In 1983, Arnold Resnicoff held the first interfaith service held at the Western Wall since it came under Israel's control, conducted under the supervision of the Israel Ministry of Religious Affairs, as part of a special welcome for the US Sixth Fleet.

Arnold Resnicoff led Israel's first official Martin Luther King Jr.

In 1986, Arnold Resnicoff was sent to Iceland to lead Yom Kippur services during the historic Reagan-Gorbachev pre-summit meetings.

Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff has lectured on pluralism, religious freedom, and ethics and values, at many civilian and military forums, including the Northeastern Political Science Association; the International Society for Military Ethics ; the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute; the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre in Clementsport, Nova Scotia and the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, in Israel's Bar Ilan University.

Arnold Resnicoff was the first chaplain to brief the Joint Chiefs of Staff and worldwide Unified Combatant Command commanders, at a Washington, DC, CINC's Conference, where he addressed issues of core values and quality of life.

Arnold Resnicoff was the only military chaplain to attend the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual leaders, was one of 100 religious leaders at the Sep 11,1988, White House discussion with then President Bill Clinton on the way religion might combat violence in American schools, and represented the US military at the 1999 Seventh World Assembly of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, in Amman, Jordan.

Arnold Resnicoff has been referred to as "The Wall's rabbi" because of his many prayers for ceremonies at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Two of Arnold Resnicoff's prayers, delivered in 1987 at the first Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust ceremony in the US Capitol and the 1982 dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial are included in the book, The Treasury of American Prayer.

Arnold Resnicoff has offered more Congressional prayers on the floor of the House and Senate than any other rabbi.

On June 24,2023, Resnicoff delivered the prayers for the commissioning of the guided-missile destroyer USS CARL M LEVIN, the first US Navy ship named for a Jewish member of congress.

In January 2024, Arnold Resnicoff delivered an online talk on the history of Jewish chaplains in the United States military, sponsored by the Haberman Institute for Jewish studies, which was posted on youtube.

Arnold Resnicoff is frequently quoted on the impact of war and violence on the human spirit, including the distinction he makes between "outrage", a feeling we must value, because it is part of being human, and "rage", where emotions take over, we lose our moral compass, and we become vulnerable to manipulation by others who want us to lose our way.

Arnold Resnicoff believes chaplains have a role to play in the area of engagement: building ties and strengthening relationships with civilian religious leaders.

Arnold Resnicoff has received numerous military awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, four Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals.

In May 2013 Arnold Resnicoff was awarded the annual Daniel Webster Award for Distinguished Public Service, by the Dartmouth Club of Washington, DC.

On May 19,2023, Arnold Resnicoff became the first rabbi to be designated a Guest of Honor for the USMC Marine Barracks, Washington, DC Friday Evening Parade.

Arnold Resnicoff was one of four individual chaplains singled out for this honor, and the parade as a whole was dedicated to all Navy chaplains.