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A rabbi went down with his torpedoed warship in 1943. Today, his cousin ensures his story is not forgotten.
(JTA) — Mark Auerbach was not yet 5 years old when he noticed an unusual stamp in his father’s dresser. The well-worn three-cent stamp featured a drawing of a small group of men and a sinking ship, with the words “The Immortal Chaplains… Interfaith in action.” It piqued his interest, so he asked his father about it.
“Our cousin is on that,” Auerbach, who grew up in Brooklyn, recalls him saying, searching for an age-appropriate explanation. “He said he was a rabbi who died during World War II when his boat was torpedoed by the Germans. He made me promise to make sure that the story is never forgotten.”
It’s a promise that Auerbach, 75, who now lives in Passaic, New Jersey, has taken to heart. He’s made it his life’s mission to keep alive the story of the “Four Chaplains” — who included Auerbach’s third cousin, Rabbi Alexander D. Goode, along with Rev. George Fox, Rev. Clark Poling and Father John Washington. Eighty years ago today, they made the ultimate sacrifice when their ship, U.S.A.T. Dorchester, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic in the pre-dawn hours.
Over the decades, Auerbach has amassed a trove of photos, clippings and memorabilia dedicated to the bravery and faith of these four clergymen — including preserving countless copies of that three-cent stamp, which was issued in May 1948. “It’s an amazing story,” said Auerbach of the chaplains’ heroism. “It just happens to be my family.”
The sinking of the Dorchester is considered one of the country’s worst World War II-era sea disasters: Of the 902 men on board, only 203 survived. As survivors and historians attest, the four clergy — all relatively new soldiers who had befriended one another at the Army Chaplains School at Harvard University — stood out for their calming presence throughout the pandemonium that occurred during the 18 minutes it took for the ship to go under. As the tragedy rapidly unfolded, survivors reported that the chaplains offered prayers, helped distribute lifejackets and, once those ran out, they selflessly gave up their own.
The three-cent stamp dedicated to the Four Chaplains was issued in 1948 and sparked Auerbach’s interest in the story. (Courtesy Mark Auerbach)
“The altruistic action of the four chaplains constitutes one of the purest spiritual and ethical acts a person can make,” reads materials from Four Chaplains Memorial Foundation, whose mission is “to promote Interfaith Cooperation and Selfless Service,” according to their web site. “When giving their life jackets, Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew; Father Washington did not call out for a Catholic; nor did the Reverends Fox and Poling call out for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line.”
But that’s not all they did. As the ship went down, survivors have said that they saw the four chaplains on deck, linked arm in arm together in prayer. “I could hear men crying, pleading, praying,” Private William B. Bednar, who was floating among the bodies of his shipmates in the freezing water, is quoted as saying in foundation reports. “I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were the only thing that kept me going.”
The four men became friends at chaplains school at Harvard. (Courtesy Mark Auerbach)
According to Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, the author of “Rabbi Alexander Goode: The Story of the Rabbi and His Three Fellow Chaplains Who Went Down with the USAT Dorchester” in November 2022, the clergy were heard saying their respective prayers as the ship sank: Goode said the Shema; the Catholic priest the Ave Maria, while the two ministers said the Lord’s Prayer. (Exactly how survivors might have heard this is unclear, though Elkins confirmed that the Shema is the last thing a Jew is supposed to say before death.)
Goode was born in Brooklyn in 1911; his father, Hyman Goodekowitz, was also a rabbi. When his parents divorced, he moved to Washington, D.C. with his mother and siblings. Goode was a good student and excellent athlete, and “believed that it was God’s plan for him to pursue a religious calling,” Elkins said.
Goode graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1934 and Hebrew Union College in 1937; in 1940, he got a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. “Education was very important to him,” said Auerbach. In 1935, he married Teresa Flax, who happened to be a niece of Al Jolson; the couple had a daughter, Rosalie, in 1939.
As a rabbi, his first assignment was at a synagogue in Marion, Indiana in 1936; in 1937, he transferred to Beth Israel in York, Pennsylvania, where he remained until he enlisted in July 1942. “He excelled in ecumenicalism — his congregation really praised him and loved him specifically for that,” Elkins said. “He had a wonderful reputation as a scholar, a beloved rabbi and ecumenical person.”
As Elkins writes in his book: “In his new community, Alex made great efforts to spread interfaith understanding. He presented a regular radio program on religious matters. When one of the local churches burned down, he offered to host the congregation’s religious services.”
“He was an extraordinary person, [in addition to] what he did on the Dorchester,” Elkins added.
According to an account from a Dorchester survivor, Petty Officer John J. Mahoney, courtesy the Four Chaplains Foundation, Goode acted selflessly at least one more time that awful morning: He thwarted Mahoney from a foolhardy attempt to return to his cabin for his gloves. Instead, Goode gave Mahoney his gloves, assuring him he had two pairs.
In retrospect, “Mahoney realized that Rabbi Goode was not conveniently carrying two pairs of gloves, and that the rabbi had decided not to leave the Dorchester.”
For a time in the postwar era, the story of the chaplains’ bravery was a popular one, including among children. (Courtesy Mark Auerbach)
During the postwar era, for a while, at least, the story of the Four Chaplains was a popular one. In addition to laudatory articles and the commemorative stamp — plus assorted memorabilia designed to draw the attention of children — memorials were constructed “in nearly every state,” according to Elkins; stained-glass tributes can be found at the Pentagon, the National Cathedral and elsewhere. In Philadelphia, President Harry Truman dedicated a memorial chapel to the Four Chaplains on Feb. 4, 1951. According to a JTA report at the time, some 10,000 “Americans of all faiths” raised $300,000 for the chapel’s construction and furnishings; at the ceremony, Goode’s father read Psalm 96 in Hebrew.
On Dec. 19, 1944, each of the chaplains was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross. In 1998, the 55th anniversary of the Dorchester disaster, Feb. 3 was deemed Four Chaplains Day by Congress. And yet, as World War II fades into distant memory, few people today seem to be familiar with the heroism of these men.
“It’s such an important story, such an inspiring story, it needs to be better known,” said Elkins on the impetus for his book.
“This guy certainly was a great role model,” Elkins said of Goode in particular. “We need more Alexander Goode type of people for our youth to look up to, to say, ‘I can be honest, intellectual, committed to my faith and my people, the heritage of Judaism, and I can do honorable things.’”
On Sunday, as he does every year on the Sunday closest to Feb. 3, Auerbach and other chaplains’ family members will attend a memorial mass at St. Stephen’s Roman Catholic Church in Kearny, New Jersey, where he’ll also display his collection of photographs and memorabilia. “The story is so ecumenical that it crosses all kinds of barriers,” he said. “It’s the ‘Golden Rule’ in reality. Every clergy person worth their salt — whatever day their religious observance is, whether its Saturday or Sunday — every one of them is preaching be kind to your brother, your sister. Everyone talks about it, few know about it. This is something for people to grab onto.”
Elkins concurs. “These guys are role models for all of us,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you have to give up your life. There are all kinds of ways people can do great things.”
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Nigeria: 25 Killed, Over 200 Injured in Triple Bombing Terror Attacks
A Nigerian police truck stands at the deserted Maiduguri Monday Market the morning after multiple explosions struck the northeastern city of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, March 17, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Kingimi
Three simultaneous explosions hit Maiduguri, the capital of Nigeria’s northeast state Borno, on Monday night, killing dozens of people as terrorism continues to wreak havoc across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The death count was initially reported as 23, but Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima stated on Tuesday that it had since risen to 25.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, which also left more than 200 people hospitalized after suicide bombers targeted the gate of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the Post Office flyover area, and Maiduguri Monday Market.
Following the attacks, medical services rushed victims to hospitals before police and military moved in to secure the scenes and begin investigations.
Bagoni Alkali, an eyewitness of the explosions who helped bring victims to the hospital, told the Associated Press that over 200 people were injured and receiving care in the accident and emergency department.
“Investigations are ongoing to further ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incidents and to bring perpetrators to justice,” according to Borno police.
Caleb Jonah survived the attack on the hospital with injuries to his legs and hands.
“I was coming to the hospital to check [in on] a patient when I saw two men struggling with the security men at the gate,” he said. “Before I could process what was going on I heard the deafening blast and I passed out.”
Mohammed Hassan — who works in a volunteer force backing counter-terrorism military operations — described the attack as one of the deadliest in Maiduguri in years and noted that hospitals were “in dire need of blood.”
In a Monday statement, Borno’s Governor Babagana Umara Zulum said that “my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims and those injured as a result of the blast. The act is utterly condemnable, barbaric, and inhumane.”
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu called the attacks “desperate acts of the evil-minded terrorist groups” and said that “our gallant military and civilian task forces will curtail and put them down.”
Nigerian politician Rotimi Amaechi, who previously served as governor of Rivers and ex-minister of transportation, condemned Tinubu in a Tuesday statement.
“This government is killing Nigerians. I repeat, President Tinubu’s government is killing Nigerians, literally destroying lives. He has failed in the most sacred duty of protecting the lives of the citizens of this country,” Amaechi said.
“The Monday bombings in Maiduguri are not just a tragedy; it is a damning indictment of a leadership that has grown complacent, incompetent, and indifferent to the sufferings and deaths of Nigerians at the hands of ravaging bandits,” he added.
Noting that Tinubu had issued his statement during a trip to the United Kingdom, Amaechi said that “while families mourn and communities live in fear, those in power issue hollow statements and make empty promises. In fact, now, they don’t bother to make promises anymore. They just move on as if nothing happened. Tinubu would rather be dining and partying in London while Nigeria burns. They just don’t care!”
Nigeria’s military said on Monday that its forces had also engaged suspected Islamist terrorists outside Maiduguri. The leading jihadist organizations which the state has battled for years have included Boko Haram and its splinter group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Another of the region’s most lethal Islamist organizations is Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al Qaeda-linked group which the Africa Center for Strategic Studies has named as responsible for 83 percent of deaths regionally.
On Wednesday, Nigeria’s military fought Islamic extremists again, killing 80 who attacked a base. Troops had reportedly anticipated the attack and called on Nigeria’s air force to deliver precision strikes.
Over the last decade, Islamist terrorism has surged in the Sahel region of central Africa, where 17 out of every 20 attacks classified as serious have taken place. The Sahel — also called the Sahelian acacia savanna — runs south of the Sahara Desert across the African continent.
Burkina Faso has seen the most attacks, accounting for 20 percent of the world’s terrorist killings since 2020. Neighboring Mali and Niger have also seen increases in terrorism, with analysts regarding the countries’ recent military coups as a key factor in destabilizing state security. New leaders have rejected Western military assistance and chosen Russian mercenaries instead. This rise in chaos has bled over into Nigeria, which now accounts for 6 percent of global terrorism deaths.
In November, the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point published new research identifying Africa as the primary theater now in the continued fight against Islamist extremists. Analysts found that 86 percent of all terrorism-related deaths occurred in just 10 countries, with seven of them in Africa and five in the Sahel region.
A report released last month from India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF), one of the top-ranked think tanks in the world, detailed how forests had become a key strategic territory for the terrorists seeking to impose Shariah in the Sahel, notably JNIM and the Islamic State Sahel Province (ISSP), formerly known as the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS).
“In recent years, forests across the Sahel and its southern periphery have evolved into core infrastructure for terrorist operations, enabling recruitment, financing, logistics, and even parallel governance,” wrote ORF’s Samir Bhattacharya and Shrestha Medhi. “As a matter of fact, this spatial transformation is a key reason behind the rapid expansion of terrorist violence across the Sahel.”
Bhattacharya and Medhi explained that “terrorist groups in the Sahel have learned that while holding cities is costly and difficult to sustain, controlling forests is relatively easier. Forests provide concealment from aerial surveillance and, due to limited road access, constrain mechanized military responses. They also create jurisdictional ambiguity, with overlapping authority between ranger forces and regular troops.”
The ORF report described three key advantages which this forest strategy provides for Sahel Islamists: inadequate armed patrol more focused on conservation than counterterrorism, dense vegetation which enables ambushes among the limited infrastructure, and already-existing black-market economies they can plunder to fund further attacks. The Sahel’s forest regions also obscure smuggling, gold mining, cattle grazing, and wildlife poaching.
According to Bhattacharya and Medhi, JNIM “has increasingly prioritized rural hinterlands, border zones, and conservation areas over urban centers.”
The group has embedded itself within the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (WAP Complex), which UNESCO has designated as a World Heritage site and describes as “the largest and most important continuum of terrestrial, semi-aquatic and aquatic ecosystems in the West African savannah belt. The property is a refuge for wildlife species that have disappeared elsewhere in West Africa or are highly threatened.” The preserve contains the largest populations of elephants in West Africa as well as other large mammals including cheetahs, leopards, and the region’s only viable lion population.
The ORF report described how the WAP complex — which includes territory in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger — has become “central” to the strategy of operating within forest regions. “By embedding itself within the park system, JNIM has secured a cross-border sanctuary that allows its militants to evade security forces by moving seamlessly between jurisdictions.”
Within the forests, JNIM operates as a governing authority and attempts to present itself as a superior alternative. “Where governments ban mining or grazing in the name of security or conservation, militants portray themselves as facilitators of livelihoods by loosening such restrictions,” Bhattacharya and Medhi wrote.
The terrorist conflicts represent an intra-religious war within Islam, as Muslim political leaders in Nigeria invoked their faith to call for justice.
“May Allah also bring this madness to an end. No religion sanctions the killing of the innocent,” Shettima wrote on Facebook. “Whatever is motivating them, may Allah either guide them onto the right path, or may Allah vanquish them from the surface of the earth.”
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Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
A police report obtained by the Forward sheds light on the removal of a Chabad rabbi from the campus of Oberlin College last week, after the school administration became aware of a police report that alleged he engaged in sexually explicit conversations online concerning minors.
Rabbi Scott (Shlomo) Elkan, former co-director of Oberlin Chabad, allegedly sent sexually explicit texts, photos and videos through the messaging app Kik concerning three young people, ages 7, 12 and 13, according to the report.
In December 2025 messages to an adult on the platform, Elkan allegedly sent photos of himself giving a child a bath, alluded to touching the child’s genitals, and said he had been aroused when the child was sitting on his lap, the report stated.
Investigators said he also shared media of the child’s underwear that he appeared to have ejaculated on.
According to the report, the Oberlin Police Department closed the case after a 20-day investigation, with no charges filed.
In a phone interview with the Forward, Elkan said he regretted his participation in the chat, but that his messages were not based on real events. He did not address the photos.
“To be clear, what had happened was an online chat with an anonymous adult on purely fictional, you know, fantastical things that’s not rooted in any kind of reality whatsoever,” Elkan said. “And I entered that, and I should not have, and I take responsibility for that.”
Elkan added that he has been engaged in “professional care and spiritual counseling to deal with all of the stresses and all of the factors that led me to engaging in an unhealthy behavior.”
According to the report, in an interview with police, Elkan confirmed the Kik account belonged to him and said the chats were “escapism” from the stress of his everyday life. He denied ever viewing or possessing child pornography.
Elkan told the Forward that “oftentimes people think of rabbis as godlike and infallible,” and he “made a mistake in one of the weakest few moments of my life.”
“There was no crime. Nothing illegal. Poor judgment, yes,” Elkan said. “And there’s not a victim. The victims here are the Jewish community and my family.”
The fallout on campus
Oberlin president Carmen Twillie Ambar wrote an email last week alerting students and staff of the news that Elkan, who had worked at Oberlin Chabad since 2010, had been banned from campus — without sharing specifics.
“In the police report, Elkan admits to egregious actions in his personal life — including engaging in online sexual conversations concerning children and objectionable behavior,” Ambar wrote. “This behavior violates Oberlin’s values, shocks the conscience, and makes it clear that we cannot allow him continued access to our campus and community.”
Elkan criticized how Oberlin handled the situation, saying the email that the college sent to the community about his departure was vague and allowed speculation to spread. He also said the email was made public during the meeting in which campus officials informed him that he had been banned.
“That’s where my hurt, and I think so much of the hurt of the community lies. Because every time we stuck our neck out for the college, and every time we work for the best interest of them and the community, what feels like the very first opportunity they had to show us that same support, they chose a very different route,” Elkan said. “So I take responsibility for my actions, and I hold the college incredibly responsible for how this has played out.”
Andrea Simakis, a spokesperson for Oberlin, said in a statement that representatives of the college met with Elkan via Zoom just prior to releasing the campus message “to let him know we were going to send it, why we were sending it, and that we were banning him from campus.”
Simakis added that the language in the campuswide email “reflects the information in the police report, which we obtained through a public records request.”
Along with serving as a Chabad rabbi, Elkan also certified Oberlin’s kosher kitchen and sometimes led Passover services and other religious celebrations on campus, according to Ambar’s email.
Chabad rabbis are not typically employed by universities, instead operating independently through the Chabad umbrella, with Chabad functioning as recognized campus religious organizations.
Elkan resigned from his position with Chabad last Friday, a Chabad spokesperson told the Forward. Chabad did not provide further comment.
In the email to the community, Ambar said Oberlin had not previously received reports concerning Elkan’s behavior and was now asking a third party to investigate whether members of the campus community had been affected.
Ambar added that the news would be especially difficult for “those who sought spiritual leadership and guidance from Elkan,” but “the seriousness of this matter requires clear and swift action.” Rabbi Allison Vann, who had led High Holy Day services on campus with Cleveland Hillel, will work with students for the remainder of the semester.
The post Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats appeared first on The Forward.
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Far-Left, Anti-Israel Candidates Flop in Illinois Congressional Races
Kat Abughazaleh (D-IL) participates in a door knocking event while campaigning for the 2026 Illinois Democratic primary election in Evanston, Illinois, US, March 14, 2026. Abughazaleh is running for Congress in Illinois’ 9th district. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Vondruska
A series of Democratic primary contests in Illinois on Tuesday delivered a decisive setback to progressive candidates aligned with the party’s left flank, underscoring the continued strength of more moderate voices and signaling potential limits to the electoral appeal of anti-Israel messaging within the party.
Across multiple congressional districts throughout the midwestern state, candidates backed by prominent progressive and anti-Israel groups failed to gain traction with voters, losing to opponents who emphasized pragmatism, coalition-building, and a more traditional Democratic policy agenda. The results mark what some observers are calling a sweeping defeat for the “Squad”-aligned movement in one of the country’s largest Democratic strongholds.
In Illinois’ 9th District, left-wing challenger Kat Abughazaleh was defeated by Daniel Biss, another progressive candidate with experience in local governance and a more moderate position on Israel, by a margin of 4 points. Notably, Abughazaleh, who is of Palestinian descent, repeatedly accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza and vowed to vote against additional US aid to the Jewish state. Biss, who is Jewish and an Israeli-American, issued criticism of Israel’s military operations in Gaza but refused to accuse the country of “genocide.” Biss has also expressed admiration for the country and its people despite criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, celebrated Abughazaleh’s defeat on Tuesday night. Notably, Biss did not accept financial assistance from AIPAC and repudiated the group in his victory speech, instead boosting J-Street, a progressive Zionist group.
“This district understands nuance and wants someone who accepts the reality of competing, even contradictory, priorities and values and realities. That point of view is not the point of view of AIPAC. AIPAC spends an unbelievable amount of money. Over $7 million to try to buy this seat,” Biss said in celebratory remarks.
“So enough about AIPAC. May tonight be the last night I utter their name. This victory belongs to J Street,” Biss continued.
In a statement, AIPAC lamented the defeat of their preferred candidate Laura Fine, while celebrating the successful thwarting of Abughazaleh.
“While disappointed Laura Fine didn’t prevail, the pro-Israel community is proud to have helped defeat would-be Squad members Kat Abughazaleh and Bushra Amiwala, who centered their campaigns on attacking Israel and demonizing pro-Israel Americans,” the group said in a statement.
Similar outcomes unfolded in the 8th and 2nd districts, where left-leaning insurgents fell short against candidates with broader institutional support and more moderate platforms. In the 8th District, AIPAC-supported Melissa Bean defeated left-wing insurgent Junaid Ahmed. Ahmed received endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the US Congress, and Justice Democrats, a populist, far-left organizing group. Ahmed positioned himself as a staunch opponent of Israel, accusing Jerusalem of committing “genocide” in Gaza.
Donna Miller, who competed in the 2nd District, pulled off an improbable upset victory over the well-financed and establishment-backed Jesse Jackson Jr. AIPAC had poured approximately $2.4 million into the race, according to reports.
The outcomes come after months of intense campaigning and significant outside spending. Pro-Israel advocacy organizations and allied political action committees invested heavily in the races, backing candidates who supported a strong US-Israel relationship and opposing those whose campaigns centered heavily on criticism of Israel.
Supporters of such efforts argue the results reflect voter skepticism toward candidates who prioritize divisive foreign policy positions over domestic concerns. They say Democratic primary voters, even in reliably blue districts, remain broadly supportive of Israel and wary of rhetoric they view as overly ideological or polarizing.
Amid the war in Gaza, AIPAC had become a new flashpoint within the Democratic Party. Democratic hopefuls across the country were pressed about their connections to AIPAC and were pressured to disavow any funding from the group. Further, various surveys suggested that Democratic voters responded less favorably to candidates after learning they harbored connections to AIPAC. However, the mixed results on Tuesday indicate that anti-AIPAC sentiment was not as animating as left-wing pundits predicted.
Progressive groups, however, downplayed the failures of their ideologically aligned candidates, pointing to the scale of outside spending in the races and arguing that well-funded campaigns overwhelmed grassroots challengers and shaped voter perceptions through aggressive advertising. Some also contended that messaging in the races blurred ideological distinctions, making it more difficult for voters to differentiate between candidates.
The Illinois results could carry national implications as Democrats look ahead to future elections. While progressive candidates have found success in certain districts, particularly in urban areas, the latest outcomes suggest that their coalition may face challenges in more competitive or diverse electorates.