A local rabbi was one of just five Jewish military chaplains who traveled to Iraq this fall to conduct High Holy Day services for the Jewish troops there.

Rabbi Brad Hoffman of Yardley, Pa., a commander in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps Reserve, was in Iraq for 23 days from mid-September through mid-October, ministering to about 60 Jewish troops serving on four bases to the north of Baghdad — in Ramadi, Fallujah, Alasad, and Habbaniyah. During his time in country, he was assigned to the First Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

“They needed a rabbi to do High Holy Day services,” Hoffman said during a recent interview. “There’s only one rabbi attached to the Marine Corps and seven rabbis on duty in the Navy. They called me, and I said I’d go. I spent Rosh Hashana at one base, Yom Kippur at another, and Sukkot at a third. Then I would conduct services every night. I was very well received.

“It was the first time I’ve ever been in a war zone,” he said. “I felt a lot of pride. I was just really glad to be doing rabbinic work and doing good in a war environment. What more can you do?”

A Conservative rabbi, Hoffman spends most of his time these days running his organizational development consulting business, PersonAbility. He is a member of Ohev Shalom of Bucks County in Richboro, Pa., and Congregation Brothers of Israel in Trenton, where he serves as a tutor for bar/bat mitzva students. He is also an adjunct faculty member at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where he teaches Introduction to Judaism. A Navy chaplain since his six-year stint of active duty that began in 1990, he is currently attached to the Seabees at the Naval Air Engineering Station in Lakehurst.

A little less than 2 percent of the American forces on the line in Iraq are Jewish, according to Hoffman — about 2,800 soldiers and Marines.

“I think most Americans don’t realize there are Jews in the military — a few thousand Jews throughout the area — and we in the Chaplain Corps provide a vital service,” he said. “That was my congregation.”

For his mission to serve the Jews who are serving their country, Hoffman packed up his tallit and tefillin — as well as his uniforms, combat boots, and khaki-colored kipa. He also carried with him 15 copies of the Conservative prayer book Siddur Sim Shalom that had been donated by United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

“I also brought some study material, so when I had services, I would also do some Torah study,” he said. The military supplied the rest — a miniature Torah scroll, a Kiddush cup, and glow sticks that served as candles. “It was very, very easy, because everybody there supported me,” Hoffman said.

Because of the dangerous conditions in Iraq, Hoffman spent most of his time on base. “I never felt afraid,” he said. “I would fly at night by helicopter from base to base. I just never felt in harm’s way.”

Hoffman said he was impressed by the professionalism of the troops he met. “All the people I met were highly committed to the mission, and morale was very high. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the troops know that the American people are behind them, even if they oppose the policy.”

On any given day, perhaps 10 Jewish soldiers and Marines would show up for services, he added.

“Most of them are intermarried, and their contact with Judaism is fleeting,” the rabbi said. “I was dealing with people who are marginally Jewish, and I provided that conduit for them to Judaism at their level. I met them where they were. My feeling is, if I can help them, it may keep them attached to Judaism. Their religion is their comfort, even though they are not actively involved.”

All in all, the experience was “tremendously satisfying,” Hoffman said, and he would not hesitate to do it again.

“It’s been very rewarding,” he said. “It’s just challenging. I was providing religious services to Jews who wouldn’t have had any services at all.

“I was very excited. I was in theater. I was the rabbi. If there was a Jewish religious question, they came to me,” he said. “It’s what I’ve been trained to do from the get-go.”