Newsletter of Bay Area Jewish Healing Center

We have free copies of our Advanced Directives publication available, in cooperation with the Institute on Aging. If you would like to receive a free copy of Five Wishes, please email us your snail mail address at jewishhealing@ioaging.org.

JEWISH MILESTONES RETREAT:
Mindfulness, Milestones, and Meaning

Jewish Milestones and the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center are delighted to offer a day of rest, renewal, reflection, and rejuvenation! If you are a Jewish healthcare professional (therapist, nurse, doctor, midwife, etc.) who either lives or works in Marin County, we would like to invite you to:

Date: Sunday, April 25, 2010
Time: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: San Francisco Theological Seminary, San Anselmo.
Cost: $50 (includes lunch and materials); CEUs are available ($36 additional fee)
Contact: Julie Batz, 510.559.3636 or Julie@JewishMilestones.org

Click here for flyer

Workshops include:
• Jewish teachings about self-care
• Jewish spirituality through a healing lens
• Music for healing
• Guided imagery
• Movement and dance
• Guided reflective journaling
...and more!

SPIRITUAL SUPPORT GROUPS

Grief is an normal response to loss and sometimes it helps to be with others. This group will provide a supportive context with both general and specifically Jewish resources for the mourning process. Ideal participants are those who have lost loved ones in the past year. This group will be closed, rather than drop-in, requiring pre-registration with one of the co-facilitators.

Date/Time: January 26 to March 16, 2010 (8 weeks), from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and facilitated by Rabbi Elliot Kukla
Location: Peninsula Temple Sholom
1655 Sebastian Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010
Cost: $100, with scholarships available

To register or for more information about our support groups, please contact Bay Area Jewish Healing Center at jewishhealing@ioaging.org or call (415) 750-4197

AZKARAH

Our upcoming Azkarah Memorial Service of Healing is

Date: Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Location: Congregation Sherith Israel
2266 California Street (at Webster Street), San Francisco

at 7pm with an informal discussion about the losses in our lives, followed by the service at 8pm. You are invited to attend either or both parts of the program.

The evening is designed to offer comfort and support to people who have suffered personal losses. The Azkarah gives us an opportunity to honor our loved ones and acknowledge our losses, as we also affirm life in the context of community.

The service is free and open to the public; friends and family members are welcome.

If you are unable to attend, please call Bay Area Jewish Healing Center at (415) 750-4197 or jewishhealing@ioaging.org to add the name of a loved one to those read at the service.

RSVP’s are appreciated but not required.

This Azkarah Service is part of “Grief and Growing: NextSteps for Mourners”, a program alliance between Bay Area Jewish Healing Center and Sinai Memorial Chapel. The Azkarah services are co-sponsored throughout the year by Congregation Sherith Israel, Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, Congregation Emanu-El, and the Northern California Board of Rabbis. BAJHC and NCBOR are beneficiaries of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma counties. This service is provided, in part, by the Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation.

We thank them for their vision in the face of loss.

INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUAL CARE

Our rabbis provide individual spiritual counseling, spiritual direction and chaplaincy services, regardless of synagogue affiliation or the ability to pay.

Contact: jewishhealing@ioaging.org or call (415) 750-4197

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Kol Haneshama: Jewish End of Life Care, in collaboration with the Zen Hospice Project
We are currently seeking hospice volunteers for our Kol Haneshama Winter training. For more information and to apply for our next training, please contact Rabbi Jon Sommer at jsommer@ioaging.org or (415) 750-4198.

Next Training: Summer 2010
Location: San Francisco
Cost: $200, with scholarships available

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Lead Services for Shabbat and Holy Days as a Volunteer
Caring individuals are needed to volunteer with Jewish seniors and the disabled through the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center.

The Bay Area Jewish Healing Center (BAJHC) has a few available positions in Marin, San Francisco, and on the Peninsula for service leaders. Senior and disabled Jewish adults in our community are in desperate need of caring and concerned individuals to lead Shabbat and holiday services at residential facilities.

You need not be a Rabbi or Cantor, just a compassionate person who would like to help others maintain their connection to Judaism. The BAJHC trains volunteers in all aspects of service leadership.

To receive an application, or for more information on this program, please contact Rabbi Jon Sommer at jsommer@ioaging.org or 415.750.4198.

CLICK HERE FOR VOLUNTEER APPLICATION

TORAH REFLECTIONS
(Now on our website! CLICK HERE)

These bi-weekly reflections, written by Jewish colleagues nationwide, address the weekly Torah portion or Jewish holidays throughout the year. Torah Reflections are a useful tool to facilitate exploration of Jewish text and thought for all ages. Thought-provoking and relevant, these Reflections aim to support, teach and imbue one with hope.

We are now offering Torah Reflections to individuals free of charge. Please e-mail us at jewishhealing@ioaging.org, indicating the e-mail address where you would like to receive the Reflections. If you are from an institution and would like to share the Reflections with a larger audience, please contact us to make arrangements.

This newsletter is made possible, in part , by the generous tzedaka of The Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation, and The Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.