You are invited to join in this unique and meaningful presentation. On Sunday, February 6, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm Rabbi Me’irah Illinsky will be sharing about Jewish end-of-life rituals entitled “Death: What Jews Do,” using paintings from her book Mapping the Journey, The Mourner & the Soul. Please watch the 1-minute introductory video below, then join us on zoom.

Rabbi Me’irah Iliinsky received her master’s degree in social work in 1980. She worked for 15 years as a psychotherapist before entering Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where she received ordination in 2007 along with a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters. She earned her certificate for four units of Clinical Pastoral Education in 2011 and has served as both a hospital and hospice chaplain. She is also an artist inspired by Medieval illuminated manuscripts and hopes to bring people to Torah through “visual portals to sacred texts.”

Please join us for this unique and meaningful presentation.

Meeting ID: 819 5034 5171

Passcode: 123456

More than a “Burial Society,” a Chevra Kadisha cares for the Jewish community in times of

need. We welcome strangers, visit the sick, comfort the bereaved, console and counsel, offer

guidance, bake challah and provide meals of consolation. Chevra members are “Holy Friends,”

educators, navigators, prayer leaders, caring companions, mikvah attendants, guardians,

shroud makers, casket builders, and grave diggers. We are holders of Wholeness.

Dr. Nicky Silver has been a hands-on practitioner for over 50

years. She has been a practicing chiropractor for over 40 years

and an advanced craniosacral therapist and wellness coach for

over 35 years. Her main focus has been to connect each patient

with their relationship to their symptoms. Dr. Nicky has studied

with many outstanding teachers in the world of Mind-Body

Wellness including such pioneers including Dr. Elisabeth Kubler

Ross, Dr. Bernie Siegel, Dr. Jim Gordon, and Dr. Carl Simonton.

Perhaps her greatest asset is that she lives her talk.

Facilitators: Hope Young, Advance Care Planning Coordinator for Kokua Mau,

Sheri Richard, and Rabbi Rob Kvidt

The Conversation Project seeks “to have every person’s wishes for end-of-life

care expressed and respected.” Join our facilitators as they present materials

from the national program started by writer Ellen Goodman in 2010. Documents,

practical tips and support will be shared as congregants are given the tools to

start this project for themselves and their loved ones. Advance Healthcare

Directives for Hawai’i will also be explained as a way to document wishes. In

addition, participants will understand this Kavod Conversation in light of Jewish

traditional end-of-life practices. In a time of uncertainty due to COVID-19,

understanding the importance of these conversations and documents can be

reassuring for you and your loved ones.

Hope Young is the Advance Care Coordinator for Kōkua Mau, providing

community awareness and coordinates the Let’s Talk Story Program or the

former speakers bureau. Hope joined Kōkua Mau in 2017 under a generous

grant from the Stupski Foundation. Hope received her bachelor’s degree in

Public Administration with a concentration in Health Care Administration from

the University of Hawaii West Oahu. She has worked in various capacities

with seniors and the caregiving community for over 15 years. Hope enjoys

being out in the community and sharing the importance of Advance Care

Planning and hopes to someday normalize “The Conversation” to ensure that

everyone’s end-of-life wishes are expressed and honored.

Like a Sukkah sheltering the People of Israel in uncertain times, the Chevra Kadisha enfolds our island Jewish community. Come explore and learn with us how the Chevra Kadisha supports the Jewish community, including rituals that guide us through the most challenging times, offering a pathway for embracing life fully, a companion through the process of integrating life’s inevitable losses, and doing it as one community together.

Holly Blue Hawkins--Rosha (“head”) of the Santa Cruz Community Chevra Kadisha, Graduate and faculty member of the Gamliel Institute, member of the Green Burial Council Speakers Bureau, and co-founder of Natural Deathcare Initiative. With over thirty years of experience in the field of life-death transition, Holly Blue brings a wide range of experience to assist families and communities in embracing the realities of death while striving for grace, dignity, culturally and environmentally appropriate solutions for addressing the many issues encircling a life-death transition.