The Caring Committee
The Caring Committee is a network of volunteers acting as an extended family. We reach out to congregants who are bereaved, provide shiva services, and stay in touch with congregants who are in or have been recently discharged from hospitals.
We deliver meals and also make visits to homes and nursing homes. We arrange for rides when necessary, send out care and condolence notes and make sure the beautiful bema flowers are delivered to the Jewish Home for their enjoyment.
Sometimes a simple phone call to stay in touch with a congregant is most appreciated. There are no "special skills" required, just compassion and a caring heart. All information is handled on a confidential basis.
We are always looking to enlarge our volunteer roster in order to increase our capability to reach out and become an even more caring community. If you are interested in joining our committee, please get in touch with Cantor Blum or me.
Sylvie
Neigher, Chairperson
Caring Committee
CREATING CARING CONNECTIONS
Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz
A caring community is one where no-one should have to walk through the difficult times of life alone. Your clergy at B’nai Israel want to be there for you at your time of need, but we also recognize that the power of a holy community lies in the ability of congregants to be there for each other. We know that many of you have already lived through and survived challenges in your lives. Your ability to support another congregant might be through your experience in family problems, death, divorce, illness, retirement, disability, miscarriage, infertility, and many other life changes.
We are looking for your help to build a resource list of men and women who might be able to talk, coach, guide, comfort, or just listen to others who have faced similar trying circumstances. Imagine how many mitzvot we can perform if every member of our community would provide just one of these valuable services at some point in time. Imagine how comforting it would feel to know there were community members available to help you through these situations during your own time of need. If we can link someone beginning a life experience with someone who has already lived it, both lives will be richer. We are hoping you will add your name to the growing list of B’nai Israel members who will bring comfort and support when it is most needed, even if it is just one time.
All information you give us will remain totally confidential. Only the clergy will see this information. We will not release any information without your permission. All volunteers would participate in the Temple’s training program, and problems beyond the volunteers’ scope will be referred to the Rabbi(s) or a professional resource.
Please download by clicking here and email it to me at rgurevitz@congregationbnaiisrael.org If you prefer you can also share information by phone or in person with Rabbi Prosnit or myself by calling us at 336-1858
Caring Network Update
I have been overwhelmed by the willingness of members of the congregation to step forward and share some of their own life challenges and experiences to help us build our network resource of congregants who can be there to support each other during our times of need. I have received approximately 50 responses in just one week since sending out the survey. I wish to thank each and every one of you for your response. I also wish to thank the members of the working sub-group of our caring network who helped to create the survey and the accompanying letter with me: Gail Felberbaum, Val Bogner and Joanne Derwallis. Their assistance to launch this resource was invaluable.
There are members of our congregation available to support others in matters such as interfaith marriage (their own or a child’s), divorce, supporting aging parents, single parenting, breast, colon and pancreatic cancer, and leukemia. There is support available for widows and widowers, after the death of a child, dealing with infertility or miscarriage, and adoption. Others can offer support and guidance if you have a child with learning disabilities, or a genetic disorder like Adrenal Hyperplasia. You can continue to share your experiences if you would like to be a part of this support network, either by returning the survey in the mail, downloading it from the caring community page of our website and emailing it to me at rgurevitz@congregationbnaiisrael.org, or by calling Rabbi Prosnit or myself to speak by phone or in person. We are creating this network so that we can be available to all of our members at their time of need. Please don’t hold back from asking for help when you face a challenge in life – we want to be a holy community for you, there at your times of sorrow and struggle as well as your times of joy.
Rabbi Rachel Gurevitz
Are You A Good Listener? Can You Lend A Helping Hand?
Members of B'nai Israel's Caring Committee have quietly cooked and delivered countless meals and Care Baskets within our congregation, brought our Bima flowers each week to the needy, made hundreds of phone calls to our bereaved or troubled, and helped the lives of those in our B'nai Israel family immeasurably.
Do you have a few minutes just to chat with someone who is homebound or bereaved? Can you make or buy a meal just once this year to help someone out? Can you drive once this year if there's a family with an emergency? Would you be able to buy a challah and put together a small Care Basket?
These are short term, usually one time mitzvahs. We'd love your help.
CARING QUIETLY
As congregants are discharged from the hospital, or grieve a loss, or need transportation or groceries delivered, the Caring Committee continues to provide outreach to members at home, in nursing homes or by phone. Since July, we've visited or delivered "care baskets" to the homes of six members, made 35 bereavement calls and sponsored a six-session bereavement support group. We've done grocery shopping, made twenty-one nursing home or hospital visits, provided transportation for three members, and telephone support to seven congregants. In some cases, the volunteers provide ongoing support, in others just a quick call to make sure all is well. Thanks so much to all the committee members who have made this possible!
OUR B'NAI ISRAEL FAMILY.
A reminder.if you hear of someone who might need a helping hand during a difficult situation, do let us know. There have been many situations in which a member has declined support, but was truly touched by the phone call and offer. While a friend might feel awkward expressing need to someone in his or her own circle, we have learned that people often feel comforted by the gestures of B'nai Israel's Caring Committee. Our members are truly part of our extended family.
CARING COMMITTEE ANSWERS YOUR CALL
This year, the Caring Committee expanded its membership to meet the growing needs of our B'nai Israel family. Many compassionate members donated their time for both single and ongoing friendly visits and a wide range of additional services. In times of crisis, committee members reached out with caring support. In each instance, the recipient appreciated knowing that B'nai Israel is a second family - to be counted on and turned to in time of need.
This year, members helped a total of 125 individuals, including at least 12 who received multiple contacts over a period of weeks or months. In every case, we worked hard to make a good match between the volunteer and recipient for a meaningful and successful outcome. The committee provided meals and a friendly visit or care basket to 23 individuals or families. They made outreach calls or did "telephone visits" with an additional 28 members.
During the course of the year, 42 calls were made to offer support to bereaved families in the months following a loss. Three individuals received transportation when needed. Each week, committee members delivered our bimah flowers to the Jewish Home. Our Rabbi and Cantor visited 29 congregants in three different local nursing homes. Finally, our committee continues to send cards of support or condolence as needed throughout the year.
We served families whose children had surgery, the recently widowed, and single adults with prolonged illness. In short, there was no stereotypic recipient, just folks in the community needing a hand that, gratefully, you brought to our attention. This work could not have occurred without your having served as our "seeing eyes" and "listening ears." Thanks for your help! We will continue our work next year with potential new programs discussed at our May meeting. We truly hope that B'nai Israel will encompass not just a Caring Committee, but also a rather caring community.
B'nai Israel Employment Network
