Standing at attention and dressed in tan military fatigues, Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik was sworn in as a Captain in the Colorado National Guard by Gov. Jared Polis Friday, Oct. 2, at Colorado State University. Gorelik will serve as a Chaplain for the guard, offering spiritual guidance to service members.

Gorelik took his oath at a small, socially distanced ceremony on a warm fall afternoon before his family, the Governor, Colorado National Guard Brigadier Gen. Scott Sherman, State Chaplain Lt. Col. Dave Nagel, CSU President Joyce McConnell and Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell.

Nagel said Gorelik will be the only rabbi in anyone’s memory to serve as a chaplain in the Colorado National Guard. Gorelik had contacted Nagel and after speaking to him, Nagel said: “We just had to have him.”