Schenectady Post 106 Senior Vice Commander Karl Auerbach pause after the loading of trees at Ellms Family Farm in Ballston Spa.They assisted in the loading of 125 donated Christmas Trees in support of the Trees for Troops initiative of the Christmas Spirit Foundation.

Members of the Jewish War Veterans(JWV) of the U.S.A. from across the Capital District Council volunteered their time to honor and remember their fellow veterans this past holiday season.

In 2025, the rare simultaneous celebration of Christmas and Chanukah on Dec. 25 brought opportunities for JWV members to celebrate with the community. The season of mitzvot began Monday, Dec. 2. with two volunteers lending support to the national Trees for Troops loadout of donated Christmas Trees at Ellms Family Farm in Ballston Spa. Capital District Council Commander Rich Goldenberg and Schenectady Post 106 Senior Vice Commander Karl Auerbach volunteered to help load trees.

Volunteers from the Jewish War Veterans gather for a memorial prayer before placing stones at the grave sites of Jewish personnel buried at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville. From left, Ron Tremper, Shawn Tabankin, Ephren Tabankin, Karl Auerbach, Col. Jason Lefton, Post 105 Commander Fred Altman, Andy Brachfield, Post 106 Commander Gene Altman, Jack Gold and William Jaffe. Photo by Rich Goldenberg.

The JWV council, representing Albany Post 105, Schenectady Post 106 and Saratoga Springs Post 36 then met Sunday, Dec 8, to place memorial stones on the Jewish headstones at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville. Eleven volunteers gathered at the Jewish Veterans memorial plaque inside the national cemetery to say the Mourner’s Kaddish and then placed stones on the headstones of 207 Jewish veterans buried on the cemetery grounds.