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FEATURED NEWSLETTER ARTICLES 2006 & 2007: from October, 2007
The Relationship between Food and the Jewish Community
According to studies, Jews are well represented among the more than 10 million Americans each year who have eating disorders.
“The Jewish community has its own unique difficulties in this area,” explains Leslie Becker-Phelps, a psychologist and Board member of Ohr Tikvah. “Given that food is so central to Jewish culture and tradition, it is a natural lightening rod for Jews struggling emotionally.
Consider this:
Tradition teaches that since the destruction of the Second Temple, every kitchen table in every Jewish home has become an altar that is the center for the sacred in life. To some extent, we know our holidays by the foods we eat.
Given that food is so central to Jewish culture and tradition, it is a powerful emotional symbol that represents closeness, warmth and affection. However, when we are feeling distressed and want to feel comforted, it is natural for us to turn to food.
Often, Jewish homes send mixed messages about food. "Eat, eat, but don't get fat."
Many Jewish women (like most other women) have hereditary and physiological factors that make it impossible for them to achieve the "ideal" body that we are taught to want. We are simply not predisposed to being tall and thin with delicate facial features. And so we are critical of how we look.
“Ohr Tikvah’s program Feel Good about Your Body and the Food You Put in It is intended to provide information that raises awareness, helps people make healthier choices about what they eat, and lets them feel good about the way they look,” says Dr. Becker-Phelps. This outstanding program was held in October, 2007 Our thanks to our presenters for giving of their time and skills: Ms. Kim Leatherdale, a licensed counselor and art therapist, and Ms. Leslee Oliu, a registered dietitian and medical nutrition therapist, who talked about how body image is formed and how it is linked to health and self-esteem. They also will explain how to combat the negative messages we receive from the media and the community we live in, and invite participants to ask questions and share their stories.
from the Newsletter, April 2007
Navigating the Unchartered Road of Parenting
Map & Directions: Click Here
When: Sunday, May 20, from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Where: Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center, 775 Talamini Road, Bridgewater
Fee: $10 donation welcomed
Rabbi Shira Stern will explore the special challenges faced today by single parents, dual working parents and parents taking care of their own elderly parents, drawing references from biblical scenarios on how parents from each of these groups can help themselves and their children thrive, and offering new perspectives to age-old and brand new relational questions. Following her presentation, participants will divide into small groups and have the opportunity to talk with others in similar life situations about their own challenges and learn about strategies that can be helpful to thrive. Rabbi Stern served as a pulpit rabbi in Monroe Township for many years and also has served as an acute care hospice and community chaplain. She currently has a private pastoral counseling practice in Marlboro, New Jersey.
from February, 2007: Temple Sholom Chevra Kadesha
Temple Sholom Chevra Kadesha (Holy Burial Society) serves all of Somerset County, providing bereaved families with the traditional Jewish preparation for burial of their loved ones. Chevra Kadesha and the communal rituals of death and burial are significant Jewish traditions. Members of a Chevra Kadesha fulfill an important mitzvah by serving our Jewish community with compassion and respect at the end of life.
Tahara, the ritual preparation of the met (the body of the person who has died), is available to Jews of any affiliation. Men prepare the body of deceased males, and women the body of deceased females. For more information, please contact Dossie Weissbein at 908-725-7736 or exerdoss@cnjnet.com
From November, 2006: 10 Commandments for Hospital Visits Compiled by Rabbi Shira Stern
Be Yourself – You have your own style of speaking to others. Use it and be natural. The patient will appreciate your sincerity. And don’t forget to SMILE.
Proper Hygiene – Always wash your hands before and after a visit. Never do a visit if you are sick.
Identify Yourself – Upon entering the room as a stranger, put the person at ease by identifying yourself and where you are from. Be sure to greet the other patients in the room as well. Do not stay long.
Be Observant – Look around the room for flowers, cards, photos and books that you can discuss. Encourage the patient to do some or all of the talking.
Patient Confidentiality – Do not discuss the patient’s condition unless they offer information first. If the patient does bring up the subject then encourage the discussion, as this can be very therapeutic.
Doctor’s Orders – Before responding to a patient’s request for water or food, or to be moved, check with a nurse or doctor.
Be Prepared for Surprises – Keep in mind that you are in a hospital and may see unpleasant sights. Prepare yourself mentally.
Follow-Up – Ask the patient if they need anything and let the nurse or Pastoral Care know, so they can refer their request.
Prayer – If you are comfortable, ask the patient if you could say a prayer with them. Ask them what they would like to pray for and pray in English for them by the bedside. It is also customary to recite tehilim or a personal prayer in the name of the patient that evening.
Be Proud of Yourself – You have just taken away 1/60th of the
patient ’s illness. Congratulate yourself on doing a good deed. You have just improved someone’s health by showing them someone cares.
from June, 2006 Excerpted from When Heaven and Earth Are Joined by Tamara Green, Ph.D., founding Board member, National Center for Jewish Healing; and Chair, Classics Department, Hunter College, NYC. The article appeared in Shavu’ot and Healing produced by the National Center for Jewish Healing, Spring 2005. For a free copy of the newsletter visit www.ncjh.org) Like every festival in the year’s cycle, Shavu’ot has both a physical and spiritual meaning: it marks the time of the Spring harvest, when we gratefully acknowledge the fruitfulness of Adonai’s creation, and it is a time that we are present at Sinai to receive Torah once again. To mark its connection to this world, we can decorate our homes with green boughs and flowers, as a sign of renewed abundance. And we can recognize its spiritual meaning by participation in a tikkun leyl Shavu’ot , spending the night studying texts of revelation. We recognize the bounty of this world even as we might be awed by the blinding light of Adonai’s gift of Torah. We stand at the boundaries of both worlds, being nourished in both body and soul.
Shavu’ot offers us the opportunity to repair and restore the union between heaven and earth, between our bodies and spirits. It is a time when we can become aware of what we are and make ourselves whole. It can be a time of healing, for both the world and for ourselves.
“Every blade of grass sings poetry to God without ulterior motives or alien thoughts—without consideration of reward. How good and lovely it is, then, when one is able to hear this song of the grasses. It is therefore a precious thing to conduct oneself with piety when strolling among them.”
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
from March , 2006 The Healing Power of Music
American Music Conference, a national non-profit music education advocacy association, has a wonderful web site that provides information about music education and music research on the healing power of music. Below is information from their web site www.amc-music.org.
Did you know that making music is a proven stress reducer? And stress on the body has been linked to the performance of the immune system. Studies show that people who make music have had higher levels of melatonin, a revitalized natural production of Human Growth Hormone-even an increase in the immune system's natural "cancer-killer" cells.
Making music is good for the soul. Everyone knows that music is beautiful. And beauty helps your peace of mind. But did you know the benefits of music on well-being have been scientifically measured?
Visit the American Music Conference web site for more information, and come make music with Ohr Tikvah this month!
from February, 2006 Creating a Joyful Sound: Kabbalah Kirtan
Sunday, March 5, 2006 – 4:00 PM
JCC, 775 Talamini Road, Bridgewater In celebration of Jewish Arts Month, Ohr Tikvah Jewish Healing Center and the JCC will present a special musical program of Kabbalah Kirtan that blends call-and-response chanting of Hebrew text with joyous live music featuring the beautiful voice of Susan Deikman and harmonium and drums.
Susan created Hebrew Kirtan and has fused together the chanting traditions from the Middle East and India and sacred Jewish mystical traditions, chanting Jewish psalms and songs.
“Hebrew Kirtan comes out of devotional, or bhakti, yoga,” she explains. “I use the sefirot — the 10 characteristics or energies of G-d in Kabbalah — to show how G-d is expressed within the different parts of the human body.”
“Chanting works on the energy centers in the body because the vibrations of the sounds open them, ” Susan says. “People feel the sefirot resonating inside, and this is part of why they start moving and dancing. Through the sheer pleasure of sound and rhythm, Kabbalah Kirtan fills you with ahavat olam, “Infinite Love,” and opens your heart to experience the Mystery of One.”
from January, 2006
The Healing Power of Music
“Few healing resources can match the power of music. Even (especially?) for those who cannot read music and/or cannot play an instrument, hearing, singing, humming, swaying to, and otherwise giving oneself over to music is a very potent Jewish medicine for the spirit. ”
“Hear that your soul may be healed."
Isaiah 55:3
(Rabbi Simkha Wientraub, from an online memo to the community, entitled Eighteen Jewish Spiritual Resources to Strengthen Our Spirits):
“What’s the value of a song? In our sophistication, we think of singing as an art form; but the Torah teaches that to sing is a blessing. In terms of the spirit, singing is on a higher level than speaking…When we sing we raise our souls to G-d and we gain insight into Him. Through song we address G-d.
And through song we learn to better endure our hardships. When life is not a song, sing! When King David was ill, he sang. When Cervantes, the great writer, was ill he said, “He who sings frightens away his ills.” …Singing is an antidote to panic. The Hasidim taught us that. It lightens the burden, lessens the fear, steadies the nerves. Singing gives voice to our deepest feelings; it enables us to express ourselves even if we are the only ones who hear it. And we will have made ourselves heard. Singing lifts the heart.”
from Rabbi Maurice Lamm, Breaking the Spiritual Gridlock: An Introduction to Psalm 105, from Healing of Soul, Healing of Body, edited by Rabbi Simkha Weintraub
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