The Bay Area Jewish Healing Center does not necessarily endorse any of the sites listed below.
Community Partners in Healing:
- Shalom Bayit: Bay Area women working to end domestic violence
- San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living: A key partner for the Kol Haneshama End-of-Life Volunteer Program. This is a nonprofit, licensed skilled nursing center specializing in care, services, and programs for older adults. Admission is not limited by religious or cultural affiliation.
- The Zen Hospice Project: Provides a final home for people who are not able to die in their own homes, trains and supports people as they serve those needing care, and offers grief support services. They have education workshops, trainings, and consulting services which teach people how to manage the challenges of aging, dying, and caregiving.
- Rhoda Goldman Plaza: Assisted living facility for older adults. RGP offers health services with an emphasis on prevention. Has a wellness centers on every floor, a dedicated memory care center and specialized exercise programs.
- Northern California Presbyterian Homes and Services: NCPHS strives to provide the men and women living in seven residential communities with the best possible care and services. In addition, they provide services to many more seniors through their Community Services outreach programs.
Bereavement Support:
- WillMar Family Grief & Healing Center: WillMar Family Grief & Healing Center provides compassionate peer group support for children, teens and their family members grieving the death of an important person in their life, and for youth and adults living with a family member suffering from a life-changing illness or injury. In addition to the safe, healing environment offered at the Center, WillMar also provides emergency on-site grief support, education, and training to schools and the community at large.
- Sinai Mourner Care Program: The Sinai Mourner Care Program provides assessment, support, basic grief aftercare, and linkage to appropriate healing opportunities for Sinai Memorial Chapel clients.
- Hospice by the Bay
- Sutter VNA
- Pathways Hospice
- Mission Hospice and Home Care
- Contra Costa Crisis Center
- KARA
- Center for Living with Dying
Hospice Agencies:
- Zen Hospice Project
- Hospice by the Bay
- Coming Home Hospice
- Heartland Hospice
- Sutter VNA
- Pathways Hospice
- Mission Hospice and Home Care
Jewish Healing Textual Resources:
- Jewish Lights Publishing: Jewish Lights Publishing publishes books that reflect the Jewish wisdom tradition for people of all faiths, all backgrounds. Find a broad array of books on Jewish healing, spirituality and pastoral care. Also available through Jewish Lights is Lifelights — inspirational, informational booklets about challenges to our emotional and spiritual lives and how to deal with them.
- Ritualwell: Presented by Ma’yan and Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women’s and Gender Study, focuses on women’s life cycle and other issues. While it is not oriented to physical illness, there is a healing section with rituals related to healing from abuse and mastectomy, as well as some other generic material. There is also material for various stages in women’s biological life cycle.
- Clal: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership; If you go to the Jewish tools section and then to the healing/archive you will find 10 ritual/meditations related to loss and illness. They are accessible and creative, yet mainstream types of materials.
- HealingPsalm.com: The works of Debbie Perlman, a modern psalmist. Psalms are indexed by topic/need.
- Azamra: Torah for our Time: Has a large selection of book and on line material on spiritual healing, and support resources with some material on health for kids.
- The Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health: The Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health helps with the pastoral training of Reform klei kodesh, deals broadly with issues of illness and wellness, and sponsors a variety of conferences and other services. The “expressions” section offers kavanot and other material.
LGBTQ Spiritual Resources:
- Transtorah: Transtorah provides pastoral support and resources to trans Jews as well as to Jewish communities trying to be more trans inclusive. It includes healing resources like rituals for surgeries.
- Keshet: Keshet’s mission is to ensure that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Jews are fully included in all parts of the Jewish community. In the Greater Boston area, Keshet offers social and cultural events for GLBT Jews ranging from Jewish text study to an annual GLBT Jewish speed-dating gala, Keshet Quick Dates. Nationally, Keshet offers support, training, and resources to create a Jewish community that welcomes and affirms GLBT Jews.
- Institute for Judaism and Sexual Orientation: Prepares Jewish leadership with the capacity, compassion and skills to change congregational attitudes, policies, and, indeed, Jewish society so as to include each and every Jew, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
- The World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews: Keshet Ga’avah:Keshet Ga’avah consists of around 50 member organizations in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The World Congress holds conferences and workshops representing the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, & transgender Jews around the world. The focus of these sessions varies from regional, national, continental, to global.
- Congregation Sha’ar Zahav: Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, the Congregation of the Golden Gate, is a progressive Reform synagogue, established in 1977. They are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual Jews, together with family and friends, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Members come from a wide range of religious, ethnic, class and cultural backgrounds to worship God with egalitarian, feminist and gay-positive Jewish liturgy.
Mental Illness:
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI provides information, education, support, and advocacy for professionals and those whose lives have been touched by mental illness.
Corporate and Organizational Trauma Support:
- Trauma Outreach Associates, Inc.: Trauma Outreach Associates help with trauma counseling, no matter what stage of crisis the company is facing: preparation for the unexpected, response to a traumatic event, or recovery in the weeks following a workplace crisis.
Medical Ethics and Palliative Care Resources:
- Georgetown University: The university houses the Kampelman Collection of Jewish Ethics, which has one of the most complete libraries of books on Biomedical ethics.
Funeral Resources and End of Life Training:
- Sinai Memorial Chapel: Jewish funeral home serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Also offers grief counseling services through NextSteps and grief information and referral.
- Kavod v’Nichum: Kavod v’Nichum encourages and assists the organization of bereavement committees and Chevrot Kadisha in synagogues and communities so that they can perform Jewish funeral, burial, and mourning mitzvot; protect and shield bereaved families from exploitation; and provide information, education and technical assistance.
- Gamliel Institute; Provides assistance, training, and resources about Jewish death and bereavement practice for chevra kadisha groups and bereavement committees in synagogues and communities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Offers a comprehensive articulated certification program to deal with all the issues surrounding the end of life from a Jewish perspective.
- King’s University College: King’s University College offers courses in Death and Bereavement. Certificate program in Grief and Bereavement Studies are available by distance (e-mail) education.In addition to nineteen international conferences on Death, Dying and Bereavement, Kings University hosts annual meetings of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement as well as that of the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Audiotapes and videotapes from these conferences are available.
Spiritual Retreat Centers:
- Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center: Has information about its Jewish spiritual retreats and programs that may complement the work of healing centers. It also has a useful section of links.
Caregiver Resources:
- National Family Caregivers Association: The National Family Caregivers Association educates, supports, empowers and speaks up for the more those who care for loved ones with a chronic illness or disability or the frailties of old age.
- National Alliance of Caregiving: National Alliance for Caregiving serves both family and professional caregivers. The “family care resource/ AXA” has an excellent annotated list of resources for caregivers.
- Bikur Cholim conference: International conference dedicated to resources and networking among professionals and volunteers who visit and support the sick as a mitzvah. This year’s theme is Renewal, Revival, Resilience. Online sessions from January 10 – April 25, 2022.
Senior and General Social Service Agencies:
- Aging with Dignity: Aging with Dignity is a national non-profit organization with a mission to affirm and safeguard the human dignity of individuals as they age and to promote better care for those near the end of life. The website includes downloadable advanced directives.
- Institute on Aging: Helps Bay Area seniors live independently.
- Jewish Family and Children Services: Comprehensive social services to support people of all ages, beliefs, and backgrounds.
- Family Service Agency of San Francisco: The Family Service Agency of San Francisco mission is to strengthen families by providing caring, effective, and innovative social services, with special emphasis on the needs of low-income families, children, the elderly, and disabled people.
Hospital Chaplaincy Services:
- Marin General
- UCSF
- Kaiser Permanente (East Bay)
- Seton Medical Center
- Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center
- Stanford Hospital
Miscellaneous:
- Hebrew Calendar Converter
- National Center for Jewish Healing: As an organization and as a website has a wealth of texts and Jewish healing resources.
- Yerusha: Teachers and classes addressing personal legacy and end-of-life preparation, based on the book From Age-ing to Sage-ing, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Ronald S. Miller.
- San Francisco Jewish Federation and Endowment Fund
- Resource: A Guide to Jewish Life in the Bay Area: Includes listings of Bay Area services and synagogues.