Category: Henaynu Caring

February 17, 2022

Leadership in a Time of Crisis: Resources for Rabbis

Reflections

When the Rabbi Feels Trauma in CCAR’s Journal of Reform Judaism (Fall 2019)
By Rabbi Paul Kipnes

So That’s What Rabbis Do: A Rabbinic Student Reflects on a Synagogue’s Fire Response
By (then Rabbinic Student, now) Rabbi Elana Nemitoff-Bresler

After the Fires: Celebrating Thanksgiving When Homes are Lost or Damaged
By Sally Weber MSW and Rabbi Paul Kipnes

How To’s

Rabbi’s Disaster To Do List: 10 Community-Restoring Actions from the SoCal Fires
By Rabbi Paul Kipnes and Rabbi Julia Weisz

Or Ami Outreach Calls Templates (Emergency and non-Emergency)
Template: Congregant Check-in Call Non-Emergency
Template: Congregant Check-in Call following natural disaster
Template: Evacuation Calls (Response Form)
Template: Non-Emergency Check-In Call (Response Form)

Responding to the Ventura Fires with Shabbat Dinner for 120
With Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller and Rabbi Paul Kipnes

When the Rabbi Feels Trauma

A mass shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue.A mass shooting in the local dance bar.A raging fire, forcing the evacuation of the synagogue and 75 percent of our congregation. This is the story of when the rabbi experienced trauma after these events.

April 19, 2020

Letter to Your Future Self: Hold onto those Silver Linings

Write a letter or a make a video to your future self who will exist five or six months from now. Remind yourself about the silver linings you want to continue to embrace. Maybe, just maybe, you will listen to yourself.

March 15, 2020

Prayer for Rising Waters: Getting Through Covid-19

A Jewish prayer finding strength in the responses of our ancestors to the trials in their lives. Specially written for during the Covid-19 outbreak

August 30, 2019

Video: What’s Mourning Like?

A video that explores what it feels like to be a mourner, featuring my poem - The Secret Life of a Mourner.

August 30, 2019

Video: What to Say to a Mourner

A video that explores what to say to a mourner. Of particular significance for me since my father Ken Kipnes died.

August 25, 2019

The Secret Life of the Mourner

A poem about what a mourner experiences, hidden away from the rest of the world, sometimes hidden even from friends or community members

April 8, 2019

Rabbi In Crisis: How a Community Conspires to Care

Imagine having to make this decision: to fly home to hold your wife’s hand as she buries her mom on the West Coast or to remain on the East Coast to oversee the diagnosis and care of your mother who just had a major stroke. What would you do?

January 11, 2019

Creating an Escape for Teens After the SoCal Fires and Shooting

How might synagogues and Jewish communities respond to the needs of teens to express their inner turmoil and to learn new techniques for managing stress and emotional exhaustion?

January 6, 2019

So That’s What Rabbis Do: A Rabbinic Student Reflects on a Synagogue’s Fire Response

Rabbinic Student Elana Nemintoff reflects on the role of the rabbi during the immediate responses by Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, to the Woolsey fire.

December 18, 2018

Hero or Imposter? As a Rabbi Struggles with Post-Fire Trauma

How does a Rabbi deal with the trauma of a fire and some shootings? Here's another peek into the journey.

November 29, 2018

When the Rabbi Feels Trauma: Lessons from the SoCal Fires

Facing the trauma after the fires. If it can happen to the rabbi, it can happen to you too...

November 19, 2018

After the Fires: Celebrating Thanksgiving When Homes are Lost or Damaged

When circumstances out of our control - like fires or other disasters - affect our ability to hold our Thanksgiving rituals in our usual way, we can become distraught. When life intervenes – like fires destroying homes or forcing a loved one to be absent – what happens to the ritual? By Sally Weber MSW and Rabbi Paul Kipnes

November 8, 2018

Resources after a Shooting: For Solace, Support, Action and Talking to Kids

In the aftermath of the shooting in Thousand Oaks, Congregation Or Ami sent these resources - for solace, support, action and talking to kids - to all our congregants.

May 6, 2018

It’s Surreal, Seeking Something after Rabbi Aaron Panken’s death

It’s Surreal: A Spoken Word Commentary. Seeking ... Something, after Rabbi Aaron Panken’s death

Reflections

How To’s

Communicating with the Community

Sermons

Prayers