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.

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: Meets every Tuesday from 7pm –9pm
Beginning April 14, 2009
Location: Congregation Sha’ar Zahav
290 Dolores Street (@16th), San Francisco, CA 94103
Cost: $100, with scholarships available

Date/Time: Meets every Thursday from 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Beginning October 22, 2009 for 8 weeks
Location: Temple Beth Jacob
1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City, 94061
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

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

INTERNATIONAL JEWISH HEALING RETREATS (IJHR)

Three non-profit organizations - Life's Door-Tishkofet (LDT), The JBFCS National Center for Jewish Healing (NCJH) and The National Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC) - have come together to sponsor an International Jewish Healing Retreat which takes place this summer in Israel, for individuals and their loved ones facing a life-threatening illness. The retreat will provide a supportive healing environment, a respite from the stresses of a life beset by a serious illness, and support for spiritual growth and renewal in the context of caring relationship.

For more information, please click on the links below:

Three Paths to Wellness: Art, Meditation and Music
With Rabbi Eliot Kukla, Rabbi Kennard Lipman, and Jan Yaffe

Can the arts and spirituality help us lead full and healthy lives? Explore three nontraditional paths to physical, emotional and mental wellness with three Bay Area teachers.

Presented in partnership with the Jewish Healing Center.

Mondays, March 4 - 18
7:00 - 9:00 pm
@JCCSF
3200 California Street, San Francisco

To register or for more information, please contact Bay Area Jewish Healing Center at 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 Spring 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: January, 2009
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 David L. Klein Jr. Foundation, The Alexander M. and June L. Maisin Foundation, Mount Zion Health Fund, and The Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund.