Jewish End Of Life Care In A Virtual Age

Jewish End-of-Life Care in a Virtual Age: Our Traditions Reimagined is a rich collection of resources for clergy, spiritual caregivers, helping professionals, and families confronting death and mourning in unprecedented times. It offers historical insight on the evolution of Jewish death rituals in times of crisis; it provides guidelines for online spiritual care and death rituals; outlines approaches to bioethical dilemmas in a time of scarce medical resources; and features an appendix of innovative new end-of-life liturgies. This volume meets the needs of our present era and offers wise direction for the unknown future of Jewish end-of-life care. "This book opened my eyes to the life-hallowing complexity of end-of-life care in our times. I wholeheartedly recommend this anthology of essays. It has much to teach us about how to live life fully-up to and even at the very end." - Rabbi Jack Riemer, author, Finding God in Unexpected Places "Rarely has a Jewish anthology been needed so urgently or so immediately. This profoundly sensitive, compassionate, insightful, practical and useful companion for Jewish clergy, caregivers and mourners offers innovative solutions to the problems we face in honoring the dead in an era of social distancing." - Rabbi Jill Hammer, author, Return to the Place: The Magic, Meditation and Mystery of Sefer Yetzirah "Sometimes it is a blessing to have no choice but to innovate. This creative compendium demonstrates how the pandemic has forced Jewish caregivers and families to think creatively and use the modern tools around us to make our community richer and more resilient."- Jessica Nutik Zitter, MD, author, Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life "Directly addressing this challenging moment of pandemic and technological advance, this anthology of articles and liturgies speaks courageously, sensitively, and with immense insight. It enlightens and comforts." - Rabbi Irwin Kula, President CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

"The Jewish tradition has important perspectives, history and wisdom that can contribute significantly to crucial contemporary healthcare deliberations. This book is an attempt to show how numerous classic Jewish texts and ideas have significant things to say about some of the most urgent debates in the world of medicine today, with the potential to significantly expand and benefit the field of bioethics. But this book is not only about applying classical Jewish values to bioethical dilemmas. It seeks to develop an approach that is primarily informed by personal and communal obligations and social responsibilities. Jewish values focus on requirements, obligations, and commandments, and has thus sometimes been called an "Ethics of Responsibility," by advancing new relevant approaches that can encourage healthcare providers to remain dedicated to preventing harm and providing compassionate care to all, based on these inspiring and timeless values. Each chapter of this book explores questions such as: "Are we expected to risk our lives on behalf of others?" "When we can only help a limited number of people, how do we prioritize?" "What are the obligations and expectations of a society or government?" "Are issues of cultural sensitivity relevant in how we discharge our obligations to others?" "What should we do when obligations for others violate our own moral principles or commitments?" "Are there limits to how far one can be expected to go for others?" These and other issues are addressed in this book, as it attempts to describe a meaningful and compassionate Jewish bioethic of responsibility for our times"--

Death and Religion in a Changing World is a comprehensive and accessible study of the intersection of death and religion, examining how everyday people enact religious responses to death in the twenty-first century. With contributions from leading religious studies scholars, this book moves away from the field’s focus on traditional beliefs to explore how religious traditions evolve in relation to their changing social contexts. Employing an ethnographic approach, Death and Religion in a Changing World further details how people from a wide variety of religious traditions and people without religious affiliation draw on and adapt religious practices as they respond to death in modern societies. Every chapter in this second edition has been thoroughly updated and new chapters on the ethical issues of dying, including life-prolonging medical treatments, palliative care, physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, and the modern hospice movement have been added. This book also covers emerging social and religious phenomena, such as public shrines, the Covid-19 pandemic, funeral celebrants, death with dignity, spiritual bereavement groups, and online funeral practices. This cutting-edge work is essential reading for students and scholars of religion who are approaching the subjects of death and religion, and ritual studies.

Determined by laws, still allows for many different--and sometimes mutually contradictory--viewpoints. For professionals, religious leaders, and the general public. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Discover the Jewish tradition’s insights on growing older and eldercare in this groundbreaking resource—the only one of its kind! “Judaism can be [tremendously] powerful for those searching for new meaning and roles, for perspective on life’s profound questions, and for solace amid the inevitable loss and change of later life.... It is time to forge a new paradigm for the Jewish response to aging.” —from the Introduction From the rapidly changing retirement years to the sometimes wrenching challenges of dementia and chronic illness, spiritual questions and needs among today’s elders and caregivers are central. This rich resource probes Jewish texts to offer solutions and suggestions for finding meaning, purpose and community within Jewish tradition. With timely—and timeless—wisdom, this rich resource probes Jewish texts, spirituality and observance, uncovering a deep, never-before-realized approach to responding to the challenges of aging with a refreshing and inspiring vitality. The insights—spanning textual analysis and spiritual and pastoral perspectives—provide practical guidance in spiritual care and communal programming to dynamically engage and serve elders and their families. Accessible and honest, Jewish and non-Jewish clergy, chaplains, elder- and healthcare professionals, volunteers and family members will find this guide an invaluable asset as they explore how to empower elders and their families through daily spiritual and communal life.

The Jewish mourning process is a voyage through pain, brokenness, comfort, resilience, acceptance, and even gratitude. The Year of Mourning: A Jewish Journey offers an expansive array of resources—stories, songs, study texts, poetry, and prayers—to lovingly and patiently guide the bereaved through the first year after their loss. Each week the mourner is encouraged to focus on a particular theme to deepen their Kaddish practice. The book also includes new rituals for shivah, sh'loshim, unveiling, and yahrzeit. The Year of Mourning helps support individuals to regain their grounding after loss and, through the richness of Jewish tradition, deepen their connections to memories of loved ones and to others in the community who are walking a similar path. "How do mourners get through that empty eternity of their first year without a loved one, that interminable stretch of darkness—perhaps deepening into despair—after shivah ends? Here at last is a way forward: a week-by-week, yearlong pathway through poetry, ritual, music, and the textual wisdom of Jewish tradition, brilliantly conceived and compassionately framed. I recommend it highly for anyone in mourning." —Rabbi Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman, Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor Emeritus of Liturgy, Worship, and Ritual, Hebrew Union College--Jewish Institute of Religion "Walking the path of mourning is very much like wandering in the wilderness; familiar landmarks have become obscured, life's structures have crumbled. The Year of Mourning is an invaluable compass for this treacherous path. The editors offer a rich array of spiritual resources—texts, songs and prayers—in a format that will affirm, guide, and comfort readers. I know I will share this book often with those who are touched by grief." —Rabbi Dayle Friedman, MSW, MAJCS, BCC, author of Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older "Grief is a universal human experience; it stimulates spiritual reflection and yearns for a communal response. Rabbi Lisa D. Grant and Cantor Lisa B. Segal have planted important flora on the inevitable path of grief that we all walk. Each page is a place to linger, look, listen, and reflect. Whether this book sits on your lap or you scroll through it on your device, anywhere your eye focuses will bring a moment of nourishment on your journey." —Rabbi Eric Weiss, editor of Mishkan Aveilut: Where Grief Resides "The Year of Mourning is a must-have for every clergyperson. After nearly thirty years of guiding congregants through the grieving process, I finally have an all-in-one resource to offer comfort and support beyond the funeral and shivah. Understanding that everyone grieves differently, the editors have created a collection of individual units that gives mourners the ability to move through at their own pace. This special compilation of music, poetry, and reflective questions is a wonderful resource." —Cantor Claire Franco, Past-President, American Conference of Cantors

In the third edition of Jewish Views of the Afterlife, Rabbi Simcha Paull Raphael walks readers through the Jewish tradition of the afterlife while providing insights into spiritual care with dying and grieving individuals and families.

This book discusses modern medical ethical dilemas from a specifically conservative Jewish point of view. The author includes issues such as artifical insemination, genetic engineering, cloning, surrogate motherhood, and birth control, as well as living wills, hospice care, euthanasia, organ donation, and autopsy.

The 13th edition of Death, Society, and Human Experience provides a panoramic overview of the ways that we are touched by death and dying, both as individuals and as members of society. A landmark text in the field, the authors draw on contributions from the social and behavioral sciences as well as the humanities, including perspectives offered through history, philosophy, religion, literature, and the arts, to provide thorough coverage and understanding of topics associated with the end of life and death and dying. By approaching the subject from multiple angles, the authors explain the various ways that individual, cultural, and societal attitudes influence both how and when we die and how we live and deal with the knowledge of death and loss. Originally written by Robert Kastenbaum, a renowned scholar who developed one of the world’s first death education courses, Christopher M. Moreman, who has worked in the field of death studies for two decades, has updated this edition. In addition to infusing his close areas of focus, both in afterlife beliefs and experiences and how these might affect how people live their lives, he’s weaved in new coverage of current affairs, including: The impact of COVID-19 on experiences of death, bereavement, mourning, and more Expanded legalization of physician-assisted dying in the United States and several countries Changes in bereavement rituals and traditions stemming from technology use and social media With additional content and classroom extensions available online, Death, Society, and Human Experience remains a thoughtful, exploratory, and impressively comprehensive overview for undergraduate and graduate courses in death, dying, and bereavement.