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Hospital chaplains offer spiritual vitamins
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BY: ARLENE FINE, Staff Reporter
It was 3:30 on a rainy spring afternoon, and Millie W., a patient at Hillcrest Hospital, was feeling blue.
“I’m a widow, my kids live out of town, and everyone I know had called me during the week, so there was no one new to talk to,” says Millie. “I was down.”
Then, announcing his visit with a knock on the door, Rabbi Alan Lettofsky, a member of the Jewish Community Federation’s Chaplaincy Program, entered Millie’s room.
“He introduced himself and asked me if I would like a visit, and I said, ‘it wouldn’t hurt,’’’ quips Millie. “Even though I no longer belong to a synagogue, I was thrilled to get a friendly visit from a rabbi.”
Lettofsky made several more visits during Millie’s hospital stay for knee replacement surgery. Over time, the two developed an easy rapport. “I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the rabbi’s visits,” she notes. “He brought me a connection to the Jewish community and even said a few prayers. Maybe there will be a place in heaven for me after all.”
Since 1954, members of the Jewish Community Federation’s Chaplaincy Program have reached out with open arms and understanding hearts to patients like Millie; they perform the age-old Jewish mitzvah of bikkur cholim, visiting the sick.
Currently, four JCF chaplaincy rabbis and a host of specially trained volunteers visit area hospitals and non-Jewish nursing homes. “They offer words of comfort, help alleviate the fear of the unknown, and serve as a reminder that Cleveland’s Jewish community is keeping them in our thoughts and prayers,” says Ernie Benchell, chaplaincy program chair.
The JCF chaplains, Rabbi Melvin Granatstein (University Hospitals), Rabbi Alan Lettofsky (Hillcrest), Rabbi Stanley Schachter (Cleveland Clinic), and Rabbi Stacy Schlein (South Pointe Hospital) make their rounds throughout the week.
“We provide a piece of normalcy,” says Rabbi Lettofsky. “Often a hospital can be a cold, scary, alienating place. This is when the concern of a fellow human being is so important. So many of the patients we see derive much comfort knowing that the Jewish community cares deeply about them. They are not alone.”
One of the first things the chaplains do when they make their rounds is ask patients if they are members of a congregation and if so, whether they want their clergy contacted.
Because of HIPAA laws, hospitals are no longer permitted to contact congregations when a Jewish patient is admitted, so this has become an essential, valuable part of the chaplaincy program.
“Just as an emergency-room doctor does not immediately know a patient’s medical history, we do not know a person’s religious affiliation when we first meet,” says Lettofsky. “We can be called emergency-room rabbis. We have to find out the patient’s vital spiritual statistics to enable us to know in what direction to go.”
All the chaplains agree that sometimes people want a special prayer for the sick such as a mi she-berakch (“may the One who is blessed”) recited for them while others welcome a friendly visit without any religious overtones. Using their instincts, these rabbis determine the appropriate number of “spiritual vitamins” to offer.
“It is rare that I sense my visit as an intrusion,” says Rabbi Granatstein (Green Road Synagogue), who has been in the chaplaincy program for 25 years. “My basic rule is that I am not there to preach to them. I visit the sick for the sole purpose of visiting the sick. If a religious issue should arise from a patient or a family member, then I respond to that. If someone wants a prayer recited, I do that.”
At times, visiting the ill can be upsetting, particularly when a patient has passed away. That is why Lettofsky says he always makes it a point to visit the maternity ward first. “I enjoy seeing the new babies and the happy mothers. From there I go to the intensive care and cardiac care units and then visit patients ex-periencing varying degrees of illness.”
When Rabbi Stanley Schachter began working as a chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic, he wasn’t sure how he would respond.
“As a synagogue rabbi I was no stranger to hospitals and would routinely visit members of my congregation,” he says. “But at the Cleveland Clinic, I visit Jews from all over the world. Often one-third of the people I see are strangers to me and to Cleveland.”
He discovered “to my joy” that these Jewish patients are delighted to have a member of the Cleveland Jewish community at their bedside.
“To be ill and in a strange city without the support network of family and friends is very difficult,” says Schachter, who is fluent in Hebrew and Yiddish. “Often, my visit is the connection they need to ease their anxiety and make them feel at home.”
When family members accompany their relatives, Schachter often develops a relationship with them. He counsels them on everything from spiritual matters to where to get a good kosher meal in Cleveland.
Recently, he developed a poignant relationship with parents whose young son was in a coma. At each visit they told him in loving detail what their son was like when he was healthy and vital; they spoke about their dreams for him once he recovered.
“These conversations were very important,” says Schachter. “They gave us hope.”
It has been Schachter’s experience that although a limited number of patients welcome prayers during their visit, “The God issues almost never come up.”
What patients typically need, he says, is “someone who offers encouragement, bolsters their optimism, and confirms they are at the right place at the right time.”
Everybody has a personal story, explains Schachter. “If I can connect to something in that person’s life, then they take me seriously and begin to open up. If they can be candid and frank about their fears, I know I have been of service to them.”
When a patient is in pain, the chaplains know to stay for just a moment with the promise to return at a more opportune moment. Other patients are extremely lonely and like to talk, not only because they are ill, but because as Schachter says, “that is part of their general personality.”
Over the years, all the chaplains have had to deal with terminal patients, and those visits take on a different cast.
“I talk about what they hope to do with the last part of their lives,” says Schachter. “I ask them to tell me about all the good things they accomplished during their lives and who influenced them. Whom did they influence? How do they want to be remembered? I encourage them to record their thoughts on tape or to keep a journal and write down what they want their children or grandchildren to remember about them.”
The part Rabbi Stacy Schlein says she likes the most about being a hospital chaplain is also the most challenging part of her work.
“I love meeting new people and bringing Judaism into their lives,” she notes. “But since there is no set formula or blueprint for each visit, I never know what each patient needs until the moment I set foot in the door. Sometimes I can sense just what they would like me to offer them spiritually; other times I might not read the cues properly.”
Being a female hospital chaplain can produce varied responses, says Schlein. “Some patients are delighted to have a female rabbi, and others, depending on their religious backgrounds, are uncomfortable.”
Another important component of the chaplaincy program is visiting Jews in non-Jewish nursing homes. According to Marcia Korenstein, JCF’s Chaplaincy Program coordinator, there are currently about 140 to 160 Jewish patients in non-Jewish nursing homes such as Judson Park, The Greens, Manor Care and Heather Hill.
Often, the chaplaincy program matches synagogue mitzvah corps or Jewish day schools with these nursing homes. These Jewish groups make friendly visits on Jewish holidays and before Shabbat. “Going to non-Jewish nursing homes and creating Jewish holiday experiences for Jewish residents was uplifting for me,” says Ahuva Sunshine a 9th grader at Fuchs Mizrachi School. “I happily recall their enthusiastic involvement in the songs we sang. After we left I realized we had helped bring Jews a joyful connection to our religion.” And Jeff Fanti, a Fuchs 11th grader says, “It was extremely satisfying to know we were able to light up those people’s day and that no matter how small, we made a positive difference in their lives.”
A comprehensive guide to educate staff in non-Jewish nursing homes about Jewish holidays and traditions was prepared under the auspices of the chaplaincy program and is widely used today throughout the city.
Another service of the chaplaincy program is to respond to requests from Jewish prisoners for visits. The chaplaincy has sent yarmulke, tefillin, siddurim, and tzitzit to Jewish men incarcerated in Ohio prisons. Currently, volunteers are preparing to assist a prisoner research his Jewish genealogy.
“These outreach programs are a constant reminder that the Jewish community cares about our own” wherever they are, says Benchell. “We never forget our own people. That is our Jewish tradition.”
The JCF Chaplaincy Program funded by the Jewish Community Federation recently received the Network of Jewish Communal Professionals (NJCP) Professional of the Year Award at the Glass Institute. To contact Korenstein, call 216-566-9200, ext. 314.
afine@cjn.org
“I’m a widow, my kids live out of town, and everyone I know had called me during the week, so there was no one new to talk to,” says Millie. “I was down.”
Then, announcing his visit with a knock on the door, Rabbi Alan Lettofsky, a member of the Jewish Community Federation’s Chaplaincy Program, entered Millie’s room.
“He introduced himself and asked me if I would like a visit, and I said, ‘it wouldn’t hurt,’’’ quips Millie. “Even though I no longer belong to a synagogue, I was thrilled to get a friendly visit from a rabbi.”
Lettofsky made several more visits during Millie’s hospital stay for knee replacement surgery. Over time, the two developed an easy rapport. “I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the rabbi’s visits,” she notes. “He brought me a connection to the Jewish community and even said a few prayers. Maybe there will be a place in heaven for me after all.”
Since 1954, members of the Jewish Community Federation’s Chaplaincy Program have reached out with open arms and understanding hearts to patients like Millie; they perform the age-old Jewish mitzvah of bikkur cholim, visiting the sick.
Currently, four JCF chaplaincy rabbis and a host of specially trained volunteers visit area hospitals and non-Jewish nursing homes. “They offer words of comfort, help alleviate the fear of the unknown, and serve as a reminder that Cleveland’s Jewish community is keeping them in our thoughts and prayers,” says Ernie Benchell, chaplaincy program chair.
The JCF chaplains, Rabbi Melvin Granatstein (University Hospitals), Rabbi Alan Lettofsky (Hillcrest), Rabbi Stanley Schachter (Cleveland Clinic), and Rabbi Stacy Schlein (South Pointe Hospital) make their rounds throughout the week.
“We provide a piece of normalcy,” says Rabbi Lettofsky. “Often a hospital can be a cold, scary, alienating place. This is when the concern of a fellow human being is so important. So many of the patients we see derive much comfort knowing that the Jewish community cares deeply about them. They are not alone.”
One of the first things the chaplains do when they make their rounds is ask patients if they are members of a congregation and if so, whether they want their clergy contacted.
Because of HIPAA laws, hospitals are no longer permitted to contact congregations when a Jewish patient is admitted, so this has become an essential, valuable part of the chaplaincy program.
“Just as an emergency-room doctor does not immediately know a patient’s medical history, we do not know a person’s religious affiliation when we first meet,” says Lettofsky. “We can be called emergency-room rabbis. We have to find out the patient’s vital spiritual statistics to enable us to know in what direction to go.”
All the chaplains agree that sometimes people want a special prayer for the sick such as a mi she-berakch (“may the One who is blessed”) recited for them while others welcome a friendly visit without any religious overtones. Using their instincts, these rabbis determine the appropriate number of “spiritual vitamins” to offer.
“It is rare that I sense my visit as an intrusion,” says Rabbi Granatstein (Green Road Synagogue), who has been in the chaplaincy program for 25 years. “My basic rule is that I am not there to preach to them. I visit the sick for the sole purpose of visiting the sick. If a religious issue should arise from a patient or a family member, then I respond to that. If someone wants a prayer recited, I do that.”
At times, visiting the ill can be upsetting, particularly when a patient has passed away. That is why Lettofsky says he always makes it a point to visit the maternity ward first. “I enjoy seeing the new babies and the happy mothers. From there I go to the intensive care and cardiac care units and then visit patients ex-periencing varying degrees of illness.”
When Rabbi Stanley Schachter began working as a chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic, he wasn’t sure how he would respond.
“As a synagogue rabbi I was no stranger to hospitals and would routinely visit members of my congregation,” he says. “But at the Cleveland Clinic, I visit Jews from all over the world. Often one-third of the people I see are strangers to me and to Cleveland.”
He discovered “to my joy” that these Jewish patients are delighted to have a member of the Cleveland Jewish community at their bedside.
“To be ill and in a strange city without the support network of family and friends is very difficult,” says Schachter, who is fluent in Hebrew and Yiddish. “Often, my visit is the connection they need to ease their anxiety and make them feel at home.”
When family members accompany their relatives, Schachter often develops a relationship with them. He counsels them on everything from spiritual matters to where to get a good kosher meal in Cleveland.
Recently, he developed a poignant relationship with parents whose young son was in a coma. At each visit they told him in loving detail what their son was like when he was healthy and vital; they spoke about their dreams for him once he recovered.
“These conversations were very important,” says Schachter. “They gave us hope.”
It has been Schachter’s experience that although a limited number of patients welcome prayers during their visit, “The God issues almost never come up.”
What patients typically need, he says, is “someone who offers encouragement, bolsters their optimism, and confirms they are at the right place at the right time.”
Everybody has a personal story, explains Schachter. “If I can connect to something in that person’s life, then they take me seriously and begin to open up. If they can be candid and frank about their fears, I know I have been of service to them.”
When a patient is in pain, the chaplains know to stay for just a moment with the promise to return at a more opportune moment. Other patients are extremely lonely and like to talk, not only because they are ill, but because as Schachter says, “that is part of their general personality.”
Over the years, all the chaplains have had to deal with terminal patients, and those visits take on a different cast.
“I talk about what they hope to do with the last part of their lives,” says Schachter. “I ask them to tell me about all the good things they accomplished during their lives and who influenced them. Whom did they influence? How do they want to be remembered? I encourage them to record their thoughts on tape or to keep a journal and write down what they want their children or grandchildren to remember about them.”
The part Rabbi Stacy Schlein says she likes the most about being a hospital chaplain is also the most challenging part of her work.
“I love meeting new people and bringing Judaism into their lives,” she notes. “But since there is no set formula or blueprint for each visit, I never know what each patient needs until the moment I set foot in the door. Sometimes I can sense just what they would like me to offer them spiritually; other times I might not read the cues properly.”
Being a female hospital chaplain can produce varied responses, says Schlein. “Some patients are delighted to have a female rabbi, and others, depending on their religious backgrounds, are uncomfortable.”
Another important component of the chaplaincy program is visiting Jews in non-Jewish nursing homes. According to Marcia Korenstein, JCF’s Chaplaincy Program coordinator, there are currently about 140 to 160 Jewish patients in non-Jewish nursing homes such as Judson Park, The Greens, Manor Care and Heather Hill.
Often, the chaplaincy program matches synagogue mitzvah corps or Jewish day schools with these nursing homes. These Jewish groups make friendly visits on Jewish holidays and before Shabbat. “Going to non-Jewish nursing homes and creating Jewish holiday experiences for Jewish residents was uplifting for me,” says Ahuva Sunshine a 9th grader at Fuchs Mizrachi School. “I happily recall their enthusiastic involvement in the songs we sang. After we left I realized we had helped bring Jews a joyful connection to our religion.” And Jeff Fanti, a Fuchs 11th grader says, “It was extremely satisfying to know we were able to light up those people’s day and that no matter how small, we made a positive difference in their lives.”
A comprehensive guide to educate staff in non-Jewish nursing homes about Jewish holidays and traditions was prepared under the auspices of the chaplaincy program and is widely used today throughout the city.
Another service of the chaplaincy program is to respond to requests from Jewish prisoners for visits. The chaplaincy has sent yarmulke, tefillin, siddurim, and tzitzit to Jewish men incarcerated in Ohio prisons. Currently, volunteers are preparing to assist a prisoner research his Jewish genealogy.
“These outreach programs are a constant reminder that the Jewish community cares about our own” wherever they are, says Benchell. “We never forget our own people. That is our Jewish tradition.”
The JCF Chaplaincy Program funded by the Jewish Community Federation recently received the Network of Jewish Communal Professionals (NJCP) Professional of the Year Award at the Glass Institute. To contact Korenstein, call 216-566-9200, ext. 314.
afine@cjn.org
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