23rd Degree

23RD DEGREE Knight OF Valor

by Matthew R. Stolz , 32°, MSA, HGA Valley of Springfield

Illustrious Brother Kenneth L. Morey, 33°, may have chosen me to portray Rabbi Goode of blessed memory, because, at the time, I was the only active member of my Valley who was both conversant in Hebrew and familiar with Jewish religious traditions. Brother Ken likes to tell the story of how I walked into my first practice for the 14th degree and pointed out that the stone with the Hebrew characters on it was upside-down. “We’d been doing it that way for years,” Ken often adds with a laugh.

When I first prepared for the role of Rabbi Goode, I was struck by the reverence for G-D exhibited by the authors of the 23rd degree. As I have just done by substituting a dash for the letter O, the authors of this degree protected the Holy Names recited in Rabbi Goode’s final prayer, known as the Sh’ma (Deut. 6:4). “AdoShem” in this degree begins one of the Holy Names but ends it with the word “name,” allowing the reader familiar with Hebrew to know which name is intended without the author having to write it out in full and risk its desecration. In the Jewish tradition, books, scrolls, and the like containing Holy Names do not belong in a ritually unclean place, such as a restroom, nor should such names be uttered therein. This process of keeping the Holy Names sacred I have heard described as “building a fence around G-D.” I believe this is not done for G-D’s benefit, as certainly the Almighty is perfectly capable of self-defense. Instead, I think this is done for the benefit of the worshipper, that by this discipline, she or he may grow closer to G-D.

In a similar manner to “AdoShem,” “Elokaynu” is close to a Holy Name (with the “our” suffix added), but it is not exact. The Holy Name has been changed to protect it. Thus is the reverence for G-D exhibited in this degree. I should add that I believe “AhoShem” in this degree to be a typographical error, and that, according to Tract Sabbath of the Talmud, the final word of the Sh’ma, which translates to “one” or “One” in English (Hebrew having no upper or lower cases) is also a Holy Name of G-D. There are traditional tunes in which the Sh’ma and blessings such as those over bread and wine (as at the Last Supper) are sung, and I sing the traditional Hebrew Sh’ma when I perform this role.

It is easy to see the

Core Value of toleration throughout this degree.

It is easy to see the Core Value of toleration throughout this degree. The American servicemen, then as now, lay aside their differences to unite themselves into one inseparable band of comrades-in-arms. The chaplains themselves focus on those characteristics that unite good people of any faith rather than any differences between their individual religious practices. This core value of toleration is very well summed up in the final monologues of Rabbi Goode and Father Washington at the end of the “bull” session.

The core values of devotion to country and service to humanity are closely intertwined in this degree. Each chaplain feels compelled to military service—to formal and official devotion to his country—for his own personal reasons, but each is steadfast to the end in this devotion. These men want to be of service to their fellow human beings and do so at every opportunity, even sacrificing their own protective and life-saving equipment to save others. This most touching scene, which makes the tears well up in my eyes as I write about it, is the very embodiment of John 15:13 (KJV): “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

I often ask myself if I would be willing and able in a crisis to perform such a heroic act of self-sacrifice. In my pride, I would like to think that I would. However, if I am honest with myself (as the fourteenth degree has taught me to do), I have to admit that I may not be there yet. I do know, though, that I am trying to be a better person, the kind who would risk life and limb to save a fellow child of G-D.