For those of you not familiar with West Point Lingo, WooPoo U, was another way that Cadets would refer to their Alma Matter when trying to be inconspicuous amongst the civilian population. Believe it or not, when you live in such an environment 24/7, sometimes that is the last thing you want to talk about when you leave the gates of West Point.
Interestingly enough, here I am going on 18 years since throwing up my hat on Graduation Day and I am still defined by that experience and constantly being asked to share about what life was like at West Point as a Jewish Cadet. We are just coming off of the week of reading the Torah Portion of Yisro which describes what is considered THE defining moment of the Jewish People–The receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. Since that defining moment, we have been retelling the story of leaving Egypt and receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai and recounting those defining moments in our daily prayers, around the Passover table with family, and with our various communities in which we live.
As one of perhaps 800 or so Jews to have Graduated from West Point, as much as I have tried to see or act differently in the past, I have come to realize that West Point was, is, and will always be one of my Defining moments as a Jew. This Blog is geared toward synthesizing those lessons learned at West Point with those lessons from The Torah and to unite those who come to interact with this Blog (woopoojew.wordpress.com) with an appreciation of both. I look forward to walking that path together!
Posted by Tony Leo on February 23, 2010 at 22:46
Dear fiend:
I teach a course on the Old Testament at my local church. What you have said about West Point being a defining point for Jews is absolutely correct. Look at the parallels. Speaking of “absolute,” the OT was absolute. So is the system at WP. Make a self-serving error in the OT and you reap God’s judgment. Make a self-serving error at WP and you reap the Tactical Department’s judgment. When Jewish enemies such as the Amalekites pulled their outrages, God was not forgiving of them. At WP, you don’t even have to go that far and the system is unforgiving. In the OT, God appointed singular authority (kingships, ,i;itaty leaders,prophets, etc). At WP, whose organization is patterned after the Bible, you also have similar singular authority (the Supe, Tacs, Profs, etc). Neither the OT nor WP is run as a “democracy.” The vast majority of people, as we know, at West Point are Declared Christians. However, Christianity couldn’t have gotten off the ground were it not for the Jewish people whom God favored. Certain people in the OT were ordained to do a specific job. The Jewish people at West Point are similarly ordained in the profession of arms and in areas of leadership.
The best to you,
Tony Leo x’63 USMA