WORDS THAT BREATHE

A prayer for a child facing open heart surgery, asking God to guide the surgeons and to hold the parents and grandparents who wait with aching hearts.

A prayer before back surgery for anyone facing the operating room with hope and fear, asking God to guide the healers and steady those who wait.

A prayer for the days before a double mastectomy: for courage, tenderness toward a changing body, and the love of those who hold us through surgery.

Mi Shebeirach for someone living with dementia: a prayer for comfort and dignity for the one who forgets, and strength for the one who remembers.

A poem and blessing for anyone facing chemotherapy — humor, Hebrew prayer, and hope for healing.

Congregation Or Ami united to support Scott Sorrentino’s search for a kidney donor, inspiring hope, compassion, and the power to save a life.

Why did God create us with two kidneys if one is enough? Through a rabbi’s imagination and a Jewish midrashic lens, this reflection explores how generosity may be built into us from the very beginning—and how one person’s gift can become another person’s miracle.

A prayer for when you are caring for someone with dementia: patience in loss, love that outlasts memory, and grace to cherish what remains.

Lessons learned while taking their last breaths. Reflections on bikkur cholim (visiting the sick) with David and Jerry. A Yom Kippur sermon.

Most people cringe at the mention of this invasive procedure. Most everybody seems uncomfortable discussing something even minimally connected to our nether region orifices.

I have so much hair... It may not look like much, what with my crown peaking through. But I'm really okay with my unadorned cranium. Because, compared with kids with cancer, I'm really one hairy dude. So when I was asked to put my few follicles on the line to raise awareness and funds to combat childhood cancer, I jumped at the chance to test my supposed lack of vanity. On Tuesday, April 1st - one week from today - in the midst of a Rabbinical convention, I will be shaving my

Alden Solovy, a gifted liturgist, wrote a new prayer to be said upon receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer's or Dementia. As with all his prayers, it is heartfelt and beautifully written. His work is available on his To Bend Light , an overwhelming collection of poems for today. I share this prayer with you here, in memory of my grandma Esther Kipnes who died many years ago from this horrible disease. I shared her story in (Doug Kohn, editor, URJ Press). Diagnosis with Alzheime

by Rabbi Yael Buechler I took care of myself, God. I made sure to eat right, and tried to do a few less dishes. I told the doctors about all of my aches and pains, just to be sure. Just to be sure that the baby was okay. Everything was fine if the baby was fine. I was getting closer to my baby. She and I would do lots of things together. And sometimes she'd even try to get my attention while I was working! That way, I knew the baby was fine. And now this. Now things aren't fi

Too many who are dear to me (and to our congregation) of necessity must turn to their physicians to help chart the course of their futures. For the doctors of Steve and Craig and Mike and Jill and Ken and Craig and Teri and Aidan and... and... and..., we pray. Doctors (and other caregivers) are amazing repositories of knowledge of the art of healing. With compassion and skill, they match symptoms with diseases to diagnose what ails. With confidence and hope, they match diseas

How does one live on after the doctor to say, “You have cancer”? Who can easily integrate the diagnosis with the life they have been living up until that moment? This year we have heard from too many people dear to us that they have cancer. The prognoses vary; the fear is too real. And then there are those for whom the prognosis is: Less than a year. Between 1-3 years. No more than 5. The whole community is shaken: Those who receive the diagnosis. Those who hear about the

By Dr. Madelyn M. Katz Originally posted on RJ.org. In raising my two daughters, I had always hoped they would have courage to face life challenges with confidence and character. When they were young, I anticipated that those challenges would be the normal – difficult teachers, college rejections, and boyfriends who dumped them. Little did I know… My husband and I have two wonderful daughters, ages 21 and 17. They are caring, funny, insightful, respectful, and, yes, courage

I introduced Alex with just three sentences: I am proud that Alex, a young man recovering an addiction to drugs, came to speak at Congregation Or Ami's Confirmation class. Our 9th-11th graders listened intently as Alex took them on a journey: from disconnection and self-esteem issues, to drinking and drugs until he finally hit rock bottom. He spoke frankly about treatment centers, about falling off the wagon, about almost ruining his life. Then he spoke about his recovery fr

The Jewish community is aging, and Jewish communal leaders are facing up to this reality. We are contemplating what Sacred Aging looks like (including a new book Seekers of Meaning by Rabbi Richard Address, D.Min. ); our Union for Reform Judaism among others is developing new resources . Next spring, we hope to see the publication of Broken Fragments, a book about Jewish perspectives on Alzheimer's disease, dementia, caregiving and more. I am honored to have written a ch

A mother of a son with significant medical issues wrote me recently about God. Dear Rabbi Paul: In general I'm a believer in hope but at the moment I feel lost for direction which takes me to my original contemplation about God. Why do the bible stories suggest that God spoke to our leaders? Doesn't that lead to false hope that we can get some answers or guidance directly from God? If we're all suppose to be equal why does it seem that they got special attention? Struggling

Today I will co-lead a class at HUC-JIR in their Pastoral Counseling Course on addictions and how Rabbis and congregations can be helpful to Jewish addicts, alcoholics and co-dependents. For eighteen years, I have been blessed to work with Jews with addictions. I have learned so much from people in recovery about spirituality, perseverance, healing and hope, about God and (repentance). Through self-study of addictions and recovery literature, running retreats for Jews recov