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Counting The Omer - A Jewish End of Life Doula Perspective Counting The Omer - A Jewish End of Life Doula’s Perspective by Zoë Goldblatt (Delivered to a national group of Jewish Doulas over Zoom on behalf of Shomer Collective, May 2, 2023) We are in the period between Passover and the holiday of Shavuot where there’s a tradition called Counting the Omer. As a quick Hebrew [...]

These Haikus were born, among others, at a quiet crossroad bordering a large open field on all sides. Working with people and their families at end of life for nearly two and a half decades and sitting with my own end-of-life diagnoses, I am now leaning into writing Haikus to help me process the myriad emotions that emerge and recede in this rich and fleeting moment. –Ellen Goldblatt, Spiritual Care [...]

Champion of Nursing Award 2022 Honored Recipient • Susan Talon- Mazer RN, MSN • The SFBA Leadership & John Muir Palliative Care Teams Celebrated at Jack's Restaurant. The San Francisco Bay Area Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association recognizes your passionate dedication and contributions as an exceptional hospice and palliative care nurse. This legacy award is a reminder of your dedication to the nursing profession through education, [...]

Kaddish Poem (For Susan Talon-Mazer) What unnumbered griefs we carry in our numbered hearts— unuttered sigh, the whispers of songless sparrows. "The deeper the sorrow the less tongue we have," the Talmud says. Tongue-tied, heart-stung, our deepest griefs bury themselves alive in the tombs of our former selves. Only the welcome lament liberates them. Let my words be to you like the green earth cherishing. Let this song sew [...]

Experiencing shiva with a sacred fire By Rabbi Dan Goldblatt In Short When I first became a congregational rabbi, I discovered that many people in my community had no experience attending a shiva minyan. We began educating people about the power of this gathering following the funeral of a close loved one. What we discovered was that every time someone had a significant loss and experienced the [...]