Jewish Wisdom and Wellness: A Week of Learning was a community-wide series of lectures and workshops, mining the Jewish tradition to improve health and well-being in the Jewish community.
The Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health and the UJA-Federation of New York co-sponsored and coordinated a rabbinic seminary pastoral educator conference to explore pedagogy, advance field-building, and disseminate scholarly findings in pastoral education.
The Midrash and Medicine conference highlighted leadership and innovation in the healthcare and Jewish healing fields. Presentations and interactive workshops drew from scholars of midrash, health and spiritual care providers, and artists who are creatively engaged in the landscapes of illness, wholeness, and spirit. Presenters at the conference included musician and performer extraordinaire, Debbie Friedman; noted expert in the field of Judaism, Health, and Healing with respect to Aging, Rabbi Dayle Friedman, and renowned scholars of Midrash from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Drs. Norman Cohen and Lewis Barth. Click here for audio
North American Chevra Kadisha Conference Annually in June (June 11-13, 2006)
Kavod v'Nichum (Honor and Comfort) presents this conference to provide training, identify resources and encourage networking among Chevra Kadisha groups and bereavement committees in U.S. and Canadian synagogues and communities.
Organization: Kalsman Institute, the URJ Department of Jewish Family Concerns, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, and STAR.
Title: North American Chevra Kadisha Conference
Date: June 22-24, 2003: Co-sponsored by Kalsman Institute
Location: B'nai Israel Synagogue, Rockville, MD
Description:
Kavod v'Nichum (Honor and Comfort) presents this conference to provide training, identify resources and
encourage networking among Chevra Kadisha groups and bereavement committees in U.S. and Canadian
synagogues and communities. Kavod v'Nichum publishes Chevra Kadisha News and has an extensive website
with articles and links about Jewish traditions around dying, death, funerals, burial and mourning. The
Chevra Kadisha Conference is designed for lay people and professionals involved in any area that touch on these Jewish
traditions. Topics include the work of the Chevra Kadisha, Bikkur Cholim, Taharah, Cemeteries,
Funerals, and Mourning. Co-sponsored by the Kalsman Institute, the URJ Department of Jewish Family
Concerns, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, Jewish Funeral Practices Committee of Greater Washington, and STAR. For more information contact David Zinner, davidzinner@comcast.net, (410) 799-8070..
Sherut L'Am Award
As a part of the 2005 Partner Gathering, the Kalsman Institute and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion presented Kalsman Partner Debbie Friedman with the Sherut L'Am Award in recognition of her contribution to the Jewish healing community. Click here to view video
Kalsman Institute Partner Gathering III
Professor Victor Fuchs at the 2005 Kalsman Institute Partner Gathering lectures on economics of medicine. Fuchs is the Henry J. Kaiser, Jr., Professor of Economics and of Health Research and Policy, Emeritus, at Stanford University. Click here to view video
Models
of Cooperation: Reflections on the Jewish Healing Movement
Along
with the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center. In December, 2003,
the Kalsman Institute presented a conference for the leadership
of the Jewish healing movement. Celebrating the 13th year
of this movement, the conference presented models for creating
interdisciplinary teams within communities to do health-related
work, and explored a vision for the future of the Jewish
healing world.
Click here for video/audio
Mining the
Jewish Tradition for its Healing Wisdom
May, 2003, Scottsdale
Arizona: an unprecedented gathering of 275 individuals eager
tto dig deeper into what Jewish text and tradition teach
about health and healing. The HUC-JIR Kalsman Institute on
Judaism and Helath and Temple Chai of Phoenix co-sponsored
this important milestone in the Jewish healing movement.
Click here to view video:
Part 1,
Part 2, and
Part 3.
Kalsman Institute Partner Gathering II
In January 2003, more than 80 Partners of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health gathered in Southern California to assess the status of their healing work and formulate strategies for the future of their communities. Main presentations included: Thinking About Stigma: What the Health and Human Rights Movement and the Jewish Health and Healing Movement Can Learn From Each Other; Jewish Texts on Stigma; the Changing/Changed Jewish Community; and New Models of Collaboration.
Click here for video/audio
Mental Illness in the Jewish Community: Help, Hope and Healing October 20, 2002
A consortium of northern California Peninsula synagogues, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center and the Kalsman Institute presented a one-day conference on reducing the stigma of mental illness in the Jewish community.
Organization: Northern California Peninsula synagogues, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center and the Kalsman Institute
Title: Mental Illness in the Jewish Community: Help, Hope and Healing
Date: October 20, 2002
Location: Temple Beth Jacob, Redwood City, California
Description:
A consortium of northern California Peninsula synagogues, the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, and the
Kalsman Institute presented a one-day conference on reducing the stigma of mental illness in the Jewish
community. Modeled on a successful event held in Marin County.
Panelists Dolores Brill, Mental Health Case Manager at Marin General Hospital and consumer advocate; Alex Markels, L.C.S.W with Jewish Family & Children's Services; and Mark Gottlieb, M.Sc., health physicist with the CA Dept. of Health Services and president of the San Francisco Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association.
Rabbi Nat Ezray of Temple Beth Jacob in Redwood City, CA, welcomes the community to "Help, Hope and Healing."
Rabbis Aliza Berk and Natan Fenner, of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center, and Rabbi Cutter of the Kalsman Institute, facilitate a workshop on Jewish spiritual support for people with mental illness, their loved ones, and their caregivers.
