Israel Bettan's chaplain's insignia, World War I.

A New Insignia for the Jewish Chaplain

When the U.S. entered the war (April 1917), the insignia of the Army Chaplaincy was a cross worn on the collar. Some rabbis felt that as American soldiers it was important to wear the approved insignia. Another group of rabbis argued that Jewish chaplains should wear a distinctly Jewish symbol. In 1918 an act of Congress established the tablet of the Ten Commandments as the symbol of the rabbinate serving in the American military. Rabbi Israel Bettan (1889-1957), a 1912 ordinee of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, was one of two dozen rabbis who was appointed U.S. Army chaplain to serve with American Expeditionary forces.