Fourteen Jewish chaplains who died serving our nation were honored Monday on Chaplains Hill in Arlington National Cemetery with a dedication ceremony and unveiling of the Jewish Chaplains Memorial.

Among the organizations involved in this effort were The Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish War Veterans, two of the 32 agencies and programs funded by The Birmingham Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.

The memorial's installation coincides with the 150th anniversary of service by rabbis in the armed forces. Veterans, chaplains, families of the fallen Jewish chaplains and members of the Jewish community from across the nation attended the ceremony that corrected an omission on the sacred hill at Arlington.

Monuments were erected for the fallen chaplains of the Catholic and Protestant faiths, in 1981 and 1989, respectively. "Monday's dedication service at the cemetery corrects an oversight that had more or less gone unnoticed until a few years ago, according to those who sponsored the memorial," reported the Associated Press. "The oversight of the Jewish chaplains was discovered by an amateur historian who was doing research."

CBS News Correspondent Dan Raviv -- an active member of the Jewish community -- served as the ceremony's emcee. Speakers included top leaders from the US Air Force, US Army, US Navy, US Department of Veteran Affairs and Jewish organizations, as well as Members of Congress.

"It is fitting and appropriate that we now have a memorial in our national cemetery to properly pay tribute to these 14 Jewish chaplains," said Kathy Manning, chair of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America. "The dedication ceremony is a reminder for the Jewish community to come together and reflect on all those who have bravely served in the armed forces."

By Richard Friedman, Executive Director

Birmingham Jewish Federation volunteer leader Randi Landy, along with her husband, Dr. Dave Landy, is chairing the 2012 BJF Campaign. (The Landys are pictured here.)

Randi and I recently visited with a wonderful couple to talk with them about their gift to the 2012 campaign. These donors have been involved in BJF leadership roles and support our campaign at an extremely generous level.

It was a great meeting; these friends exuded positive energy and enthusiasm about The BJF and our activities and strategies. We talked about our continuing efforts to broaden our base of donors and engage young adults in their 20s and 30s, strategies that have been keys to our success the past few years.

This couple had given $40,000 to the 2011 campaign and we asked them to recommit for that same amount. We explained that rather than continuing to push higher-end donors for increases, we are focusing on other ways of increasing our campaign -- specifically, Operation Grassroots, a massive effort to secure 1000 new gifts and increases of at least $100 to access a $100,000 challenge grant.

"Boy, you are letting us off easy!" the husband joked. But we were sincere. The BJF has embarked on the most grassroots, diversified fundraising strategy in our history.

However, he wasn't finished speaking. Despite our presentation, he told us that they still wanted to increase their pledge from $40,000 to $50,000. We thanked them; after all, we're not in the business of talking donors out of making pledge increases!

We are receiving fantastic support from our donors as this year's campaign begins, and we thank the two friends featured here, as well as the many others who've made pledge increases, for their generosity and support. Watch Update for continued coverage of our 2012 BJF Campaign.

Birmingham Jewish community member Steve Dubrinsky, owner of Max's Delicatessen, has been the subject of much national and local news coverage lately, including a story in today's Birmingham News.

Steve, whose daughter, Samantha, works as a part-time projects assistant for The Birmingham Jewish Federation, has been featured in connection with coverage of Alabama's new immigration law. The story in today's Birmingham News is headlined, "Deli owner in spotlight after supporting his legal employees."

Photo is of Steve Dubrinsky in front of Max's Delicatessen. (Birmingham News)