RJ Blog

You’ve probably heard a lot about plagues over the past few days, but I hope you’ll take three minutes to learn about a very real one facing half of the world’s population today. (If you don’t have three minutes, click here.) Six years ago the Reform Movement formalized our support of and partnership with Nothing But Nets, a campaign of the UN Foundation that is solely tasked with ridding the world of Malaria – a disease transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. Malaria kills more than 600,000 people a year and cripples Africa’s economy; yet it is preventable and [...]

by Rabbi Andrew R. Sklarz, MSW It was hours before I would step on the bimah and conduct the Erev Rosh HaShanah service. As the nation was reeling from the cataclysmic events of 9/11, I lay upon the examination table of the cancer ward. Was it just weeks earlier that life was normal? Young, carefree, and naively certain of my invincibility, I had scheduled my annual physical. So smug was I upon entering my physician’s office, with no doubt that I would again be labeled “medically boring” and my doctor and I would wax philosophical about our lives, as usual. [...]

By Dr. Madelyn M. Katz 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, courageous. They have had courage in the face of a whole host of their own mental health and addiction challenges – any one of which might have [...]

Every woman on my mother’s side of the family has died from breast cancer. Each one did everything “right” – yearly mammograms, self and physician check-ups, and, upon diagnosis, the “best doctors,” “best hospitals” and most up-to-date treatments – all to little or no avail. Although my family and I have not been tested, the likelihood is that they carried – and I inherited – the BRCA gene mutation, which means I have a significant risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer. What, then, am I to do to increases my chances of never getting breast cancer?

by Rabbi Benjamin David On some mornings it does not feel like social action. At least not at first. When my knees ache and my back is sore, it feels more like a chore than a mitzvah. But by mile three or four, all of that fades away. The sun comes up. The world begins to come to life. And I realize how truly blessed I am. By the time I make it back home, with that day’s run complete, I feel both closer to God and ready to take on the day. The URJ’s Spotlight on Health and Wellness [...]

by Marsha Mathis and Sheryl Blechner One person can make a difference; it is true, it is fact. In the mid-1980s, in an effort to raise money for the local American Cancer Society office and to show support for all of his patients who had battled cancer, Dr. Gordy Klatt spent 24 hours circling the track at Baker Stadium for a total of more than 83 miles while friends, family, and patients watched. Throughout the night, people donated $25 each to run or walk the course with him for 30 minutes – and the now-popular Relay for Life was born. [...]

by Rabbi Douglas Kohn My grandfather was looking at me through empty eyes. His scruffy mustache was unmoving; he was just staring. My dad was making simple, small talk, but grandpa was just staring. I couldn’t recall then – and I can’t recall now, 20 years later – when was the last time I’d had a meaningful conversation with him. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia does that to us: They can’t remember, while we remember the pains and losses. Our endeavors to address health and wellness issues in synagogues and Jewish institutional settings actually result from illness and being unwell. “Health [...]

by Cantor Jason Kaufman One year ago, I decided to live a healthier life. Though I think that it is essential to state that living a healthier lifestyle is not necessarily synonymous with weight loss, for me it was. I was significantly overweight. I felt that God had a different plan for the life that I was living and that my weight was becoming an every day obstacle for me to overcome. I needed to make a change. Losing weight is challenging enough without doing it publicly. When I first started, I had a strict policy that I would not [...]

The sukkah is a symbol of fragility. We build the temporary structure each year and know that it is only meant to last for the week-long holiday. It sways in the breeze. The raindrops land inside. The animals nibble at our decor. We know it could come crashing down on us. The blessings of our health is so fragile. The vibrancy of our children sways in the breeze, and sometimes the raindrops hit our lives. A diagnosis… it all comes crashing down. The sukkah is a symbol of uncertainty.

by Sharon Wolman After I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I realized that people did not know how to relate to me. I would be with my husband, and they would ask him how I was doing instead of talking directly to me. I became aware that people did not know what to say. Some people shied away. Some people called my husband at his office. Some people gave me “The Look.” This look says that you pity me, that you feel helpless and don’t know how to relate to me. “The Look” says you have labeled me “victim,” but [...]

by Carole Ann Wainer Gore For several days before I began chemotherapy for transitional cell carcinoma, I created and rehearsed a guided image of a boat that allowed me to relax and give myself permission to enjoy the journey toward renewed health one chemo drip at a time. During my first chemo session, as my husband held my hand, I began to breathe deeply and follow my guided imagery. As I did, I felt HaShem’s profound presence. There was no doubt in my mind that the infusion process was being guided by a Higher Power. Because the guided imagery I [...]

by Rabbi Jen Gubitz In 5771, I missed Elul. The final Elul of my rabbinical school career, and I missed it. I didn’t even know the significance of the Hebrew month of Elul until my first year at Hebrew Union College’s Jerusalem Campus. But in just a few short years, Elul’s absence in the arc of my year was palpable. It was as though I’d purchased an 11-month Hebrew calendar that skipped right from Av to Tishrei. That year, when I went to lead Rosh HaShanah services for unaffiliated 20- and 30-somethings in Park Slope, Brooklyn, I was undeniably off [...]

by Larry Rafes Let’s cover the basics first: About 11 years ago, I was diagnosed with kidney disease. Almost three years ago, I started dialysis. About a year and half ago, I got a kidney transplant. Now I’m about to embark upon Make a Splash!, a 10-day, 200-mile kayak trip down the Lehigh River to the Delaware River to the Atlantic Ocean. It is truly a miracle that I am able to even attempt the trip, but I have no doubt that I will accomplish it. The story of the movie “Shawshank Redemption” parallels the journey of my kidney disease [...]

When my son, Sam, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), one of the first things we learned was that the hospital was about to become our home. For about a month at a time… at least four times. After this sunk into my brain, I started to consider how the room could become home-like for Sam. And for us. Home is where you hang your mezuzah, after all. In my foggy brain, I recalled that after 30 days, a mezuzah is usually required on the door of a dwelling. But without doing any research at all, I knew that [...]