Community News
Olam Chesed Builders Info Session
Date & Time: Tuesday, July 7th, 2026 9:00 a.m. Pacific via Zoom
Join us for this info session to learn more about the Olam Chesed program for people who are building, strengthening, and sustaining Chevra Kadisha and Jewish end-of-life care in their communities. You’ll meet the program designers and facilitators, learn about the structure and goals of the cohort, and hear from two alumni about their experiences in the program and how it supported their sacred care work. Olam Chesed is about moving forward: one builder, one community, one act of lovingkindness at a time.
LGBTQ+ Belonging in Chevra Kadisha Communities
Date & Time: Sunday, July 26th, 2026 4:00 p.m. Pacific on zoom
Kavod v’Nichum is grateful to partner with Keshet for a free community training led by Rabbi Lonnie Kleinman, designed especially for Chevra Kadisha volunteers, leaders, and community members. Chevra Kadisha work is rooted in kavod, dignity, and sacred care. This training will help participants build shared language, deepen understanding, and strengthen practices that support LGBTQ+ equality and belonging within Chevra Kadisha communities. Together, we will explore core terms and concepts related to LGBTQ+ identities, make connections between LGBTQ+ belonging and Jewish values, and consider what it means to create explicitly affirming communities at the end of life and in times of grief.
Here is a link to other Kavod v’Nichum learning events
In Conversation: Two Rabbis, Death, Aging, Life, Jewishness With Rabbi Richard Address & Rabbi Dayle Friedman
July 9, 2026, 5:00pm Pacific, for 90 minutes
There is no fee, but your donations help us pay our speakers. Rabbi Richard Address is the Founder and Director of JewishSacredAging.com. He served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming.
Rabbi Dayle Friedman is a Philadelphia-based rabbi, spiritual care professional and teacher. In her professional practice, Growing Older, she provides support to those facing the challenges of aging, including frailty and dementia. She has authored several books, including “Jewish Wisdom for Growing Older: Finding Your Grit and Grace Beyond Midlife” and “Jewish Visions for Aging: A Professional Guide for Fostering Wholeness.” Friedman shares approaches to getting older, the unintended effects of the community’s “hyper-focus” on youth, and the power of prayer as we age.
Takes from the Bedside – Stories of Courage, Care, and Compassion With Chaya Lasson
July 14, 2026, 5:00pm Pacific, for 90 minutes
There is no fee, but your donations help us pay our speakers. How do we care for ourselves and our loved ones during life's most challenging moments? Whether you are currently navigating serious illness in your family or simply want to be prepared should the need arise, this program is for you. Join us for an engaging discussion rooted in Jewish wisdom about compassionate decision-making, courageous conversations and living with intention at every stage of life.
Chaya Lasson, RN, is the director of Jewish Hospice and Palliative Care for BridgingLife, part of the Lifebridge healthcare system. With more than 30 years of nursing experience and Jewish communal work, Chaya serves as a liaison between the medical and diverse Jewish communities. She provides education to healthcare providers and clinical staff as how to align the care of patients with their Jewish values. Chaya is a well-connected member of the Baltimore Jewish community bringing her wisdom and passion to educate, engage and empower families to help them make their care decisions based on accurate information aligned with their faith.
Here is a link to other JADE learning events
Let’s Talk: Insights from a Palliative Care Doctor
Tuesday, August 4, 2026 , 10:00 AM 11:00 AM Pacific
What is palliative care, and how does it differ from hospice? How might understanding it change the way we approach end-of-life decisions — and where does Jewish wisdom fit in?
Join us as we build the knowledge and confidence to face end-of-life planning with greater clarity and less fear. Shomer Collective's Rabbi Melanie Levav will be in conversation with Dr. Michael Pottash, Professor of Clinical Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, whose teaching and research bridges serious illness, end-of-life communication, and medical ethics.
Let's Talk is Shomer Collective's ongoing conversation series, where Rabbi Melanie Levav brings Jewish wisdom into honest dialogue with experts, practitioners, and lived-experience voices on death, dying, and the questions that matter most.
Speakers:
Dr. Michael Pottash is a clinician educator focused on pain & palliative medicine and clinical ethics. His teaching, writing, and research has focused on the nature of suffering, serious illness communication, and the ethics of research with human subjects. He holds the appointment of professor of clinical medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine where he has taught medical humanities and served as chair of the Georgetown University IRB and vice chair of the Ethics Committee at the John J Lynch Center for Ethics.
Rabbi Melanie Levav serves as executive director of Shomer Collective, devoted to helping more people talk about death Jewishly. She pivoted her career toward end of life after seeing too many families end up in crisis because we don’t talk about or plan sufficiently for death and dying. A second-career rabbi, Melanie was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary; she is a board-certified chaplain, licensed social worker, credentialed death doula, and certified grief coach.
Here is a link to other Shomer Collective learning events