mitzvah gram 2015 october

Cheshvan 5776
October 2015
Volume 6, Issue 1
B”H
THE MITZVAH GRAM
Partially funded by the Chicago Department of
Family and Support Services, Senior Division
and HUD (Housing Urban Development)
CMC Chaplaincy and
Senior Services Division
This month’s edition of the Mitzvah Gram has been published in memory of
Fay Zelman—‘‫פייגא רייזל בת יצחק אלי‬
CMC Van Soon to Reach 100,000 Mitzvah Miles
 Hospital visitations
 Weekly “Shabbos
packages” delivered to
hospital patients
 Drop-in “Senior Center”
 “Senior
Friendship” (home
outreach for isolated
seniors)
 Monthly Jewish
discussion at retirement
and nursing facilities
 Subsidized emergency
response systems
 Free kosher guest meals
in hospitals
 Free medicar
transportation for the
elderly and infirm
 Delivering Shabbos and
holiday meals to patients
 Assisting seniors and
homebound patients with
cooked meals and free
grocery delivery
 Holiday awareness and
celebrations at retirement
and nursing homes
 Patient and family support
 Telephone reassurance
program
 Promoting traditional
Jewish funeral practices
 Musical enrichment for
end-of-life patients
 “Hospitality suites” for
friends, family and faculty
The CMC transportation program is set to
hit a significant milestone, as one of its
wheelchair-equipped medicar vans will soon
reach one hundred thousand miles of mitzvah
driving. Still going strong after years of robust
service, the purchase of the van was originally
made possible by the generous sponsorship of
the Knigin and Bitton families, in memory of
Paula Claire Knigin - ‫פנינה בת ר‘ משה ע“ה‬.
From early in the morning until late at night,
the CMC fleet of medicar and regular vehicles
transport the elderly and infirm to and from
medical appointments, (doctor visits, therapy,
dialysis, etc.), important family and social
events, (weddings, barmitzvah parties, funerals,
etc.) the CMC senior center, and other
destinations of an urgent or significant nature.
Throughout the years, the CMC
transportation service has made a huge difference
in the lives of countless elderly and disabled
individuals who would otherwise have a very hard
time getting to where they need to go without
incurring inordinate expense and inconvenience.
To inquire about scheduling a ride, please
call the CMC. Due to high demand it is often very
difficult to accommodate last-minute requests, so
it is extremely important to schedule rides with as
much advance notice as possible.
CMC Skokie Hospitality Suite to be Named:
Jim Thall Skokie Hospitality Suite
The CMC is proud
and excited to announce
that
its
Skokie
hospitality suite has
been dedicated by Mr.
and Mrs. Jerry and
Marilyn Thall in
me mor y of their
beloved son Jim, of
blessed memory. The
suite will now be known
as the Jim Thall Skokie Hospitality Suite.
Jerry and Marilyn are longstanding
supporters and very dear friends of the CMC,
and every member of the Thall family
exemplifies tremendous qualities of caring and
kind-spiritedness. It is therefore most fitting, and
the CMC is delighted and honored to partner
with the Thalls in dedicating the naming of the
Jim Thall Skokie Hospitality Suite. May Jim’s
memory continue to inspire much blessing for
all time.
Jim was born with Familial Dysautonomia,
a Jewish genetic disorder. Despite the doctors’
early prognosis that he would not live long
enough to go to school, Jim made his mark on
the world during his 31 years. His
accomplishments reflected his interests in
participating fully in life.
In order to get to Oakton Community
College independently on his motorized vehicle,
Jim checked which curbs needed to be ramped,
and reported his findings to the relevant
Lincolnwood and Skokie authorities. The curbs
were duly ramped, and Jim went on to earn his
Associate’s Degree.
Jim was a licensed Ham Radio operator, an
avid Cub fan, and a volunteer at Lieberman
Nursing and Rehab Center. He enjoyed
celebrating the Jewish holidays and being in
shul on Shabbat. Playing board games with his
sisters was a favorite activity.
Jim faced his medical challenges and lived
his life with dignity, courage and compassion.
CMC Volunteers Share Holiday Spirit and Joy with Close to
Two Thousand Elderly and Infirm at Hospitals and Nursing Homes
During the recent festivals of Rosh Hashana and Sukkot,
CMC volunteers touched and uplifted the lives of close to two
thousand Jewish elderly and infirm patients, making over 100
hospital and nursing home visits, in addition to visiting scores
of private residences as well. The seniors and patients were
delighted to receive these visits and very grateful for the
opportunity to hear the shofar blowing, shake the lulav and
etrog, and participate in celebrating the joy of the festivals.
Many of the volunteers brought along their families, much
to the delight of the elderly residents. They especially took
pleasure in the opportunity to greet the young children and to
be uplifted by their pure innocence and infectious sense of joy.
Some of the CMC volunteers walked as much as an hour
and a half on each day of Rosh Hashana to visit hospitalized
and homebound patients. In one such case, the volunteer was
told on the first day of the holiday that there were no Jewish
patients listed in the hospital’s religious census. Undeterred,
the volunteer returned to the hospital on the second day of
Rosh Hashana as well.
On the second day, although the Jewish census was still
empty, the name “Yaakov” appeared for one of the hospice
patients on the “unaffiliated religion” list! The volunteer
rushed to the room and found a number of family members
who were spending the dying patient’s final few hours by his
bedside. The family was extremely grateful for the volunteer’s
visit, and they derived tremendous meaning and comfort from
the opportunity to listen to the shofar blowing together with
their dying loved one on his final Rosh Hashana in this world.
Expanded Holiday Services for Hospital
Patients and Visitors
This year, the CMC offered even more expanded holiday
services for hospital patients and visitors. At the CMC’s
hospitality suites near Evanston and Skokie hospitals, special
catered holiday meals, lulav and etrog sets, and other
amenities were provided in honor of Rosh Hashana, Yom
Kippur and Sukkot. During the course of the holidays, dozens
of catered meals were also provided to many patients (and
family members) who were suddenly rushed to the emergency
room and would have otherwise been stuck there for many
hours without suitable food.
Thanks to CMC, St. Francis Hospital Provides
Sukkah for the First Time in its History
This year at St. Francis Hospital, a new CMC Sukkah was
built, thanks to the generous
sponsorship of the Jacobson
family in memory of Irwin
Jacobson. Patients, visitors and
staff members at St. Francis
were thrilled to have a sukkah
on site during the holiday, and
the hospital was delighted to
mark this year as the first time
in its history that it was able to
provide a sukkah for its
community.
In appreciation of one of the CMC’s Rosh Hashana
visits, a patient’s husband wrote the
following words of gratitude:
...My wife and I wish to thank
you for starting our year in such a
positive way. The rabbi who visited
us was warm, sensitive, and
pleasant. He was a real mentsch.
My wife was very grateful for this experience, and
mentioned that she hadn’t felt such a spiritual connection
since she was a child growing up in Humboldt Park, going to
the old Orthodox shul there.
For me, the blowing of the shofar symbolizes renewal,
community and family.
On another note, I will be going into hospital for
surgery and afterwards I will be limited physically so I will
not be able to help my wife with shopping and other chores…
Thank you so much for all the wonderful work that your
organization does. My wife and I are so grateful to you and
all of the very special people who work with you.
CMC Prayer Booklet Leads to Rabbi’s Intervention,
Saving the Day For Dying Patient and Anguished Daughter
Three years ago, the CMC published the
booklet entitled, A Digest of Jewish Prayers for
Times of Illness and Distress. With thousands of
copies printed in memory of Mr. Wilfred
Lefkovich, the CMC and hospital chaplains
distribute these booklets both weekly and on an
as-needed basis to grateful patients and family
members in hospitals and other facilities
throughout Chicago and suburbs.
With traditional prayers printed in both
Hebrew and English, the CMC’s prayer booklet
has made a big impact. Countless patients and
families have expressed appreciation for the
spiritual depth and timeless comfort of the
booklet’s contents, as well as the simple, userfriendly style of its presentation.
One recent evening, the providential
presence of a CMC prayer booklet in a dying
patient’s room prompted a family member to call
the CMC number printed on the front of the
booklet. Distressingly convinced that the hospital
was not doing enough to save her mother, the patient’s daughter
was racked with severe mental anguish; in addition to her own
anxiety and trauma, she was also screaming in the hallway and
disturbing the hospital staff from caring for other patients.
Rabbi Wolf persuaded the distraught woman
to remain calm until he arrived, and immediately
set off for the hospital. Upon arrival, he spoke with
the daughter and with hospital staff at length, his
presence and their prayers together creating an
oasis of spiritual calm and reassurance amidst the
daughter’s tempest of upheaval and distress.
Thanks to Rabbi Wolf, the daughter’s frayed
nerves were settled and she managed to calm
down somewhat. But even afterwards the Rabbi
did not leave right away; upon the daughter’s
intensely emotional plea he continued to remain at
bedside for several more hours, until the patient’s
final moments of life had passed.
Subsequently, when it came to light that the
patient’s family lacked resources to provide a
Jewish funeral, the CMC stepped up again. Adding
to the reassurance and comfort already provided
during the final hours of life, the CMC now
granted the deceased patient the dignity, sensitivity
and tradition of a full Jewish funeral service,
including a minyan. And all of this came about as a result of one
phone call that was prompted by the providential presence of
the CMC prayer booklet in the dying patient’s room.
CMC’s “Free Kosher Guest Meal” Program Revamped at
Evanston and Skokie Hospitals
After a period of flux, the CMC’s “free kosher guest meal”
program has now been revamped at the four NorthShore University
Health System hospitals: Evanston Hospital, Glenbrook Hospital,
Highland Park Hospital, and Skokie Hospital.
The “free kosher guest meal” program, which was first
instituted in November 2003 and now operates at 13 Chicagoland
hospitals, sponsors hospital visitors with incredibly convenient
access to hot kosher meals, thus enabling them to remain at their
loved one’s bedside instead of being forced to leave the hospital in
order to eat.
Visitors may order meals by contacting the hospital’s food
service department and stating that they would like to order a meal
under the CMC’s Free Kosher Guest Meal program. Visitors may
order anything from the hospital’s kosher menu, and should place
their orders during the same time frame as patients do. Please note
that although the CMC does not limit the number of guests or the
number of meals that may be ordered, every hospital may have their
own policies in accordance with their inventory requirements. Bear in
mind also that personnel and policies at hospital food service
departments are subject to change. If a need for assistance arises with
the free kosher guest meal program, please call the CMC.
It is important to note that due to the requirements of Jewish
law, patient visitors should avoid ordering hospital guest meals for
Shabbat. Instead, for these special days the CMC will bring delicious
catered meals for both patients and their visitors. To order these
catered meals, call the CMC.
We wish a speedy recovery and good health to:
 Dov ben Chaya Pesha
 Ginendal ben Golda
 Meir ben Lily
 Sheina bas Chana Feigel
 Mendel Yehuda ben
Nechama Gittel
 Sarah bas Yehudis
 Aryeh Dovid ben Leah
 Leah bas Rivkah
 Teibel bas Raizel
 Shraga Faivl ben Hena Rashe
 Yehuda Leib ben Fruma
 Sonia bas Riva
 Simcha ben Chaya Sara
 Gila Etel bas Sara
 Feigel bas Kreindel
 Esther bas Faya
 Tova Rivka bat Bronah
 Shimon Moshe ben Tema
 Shneur ben Rivka Rochel
 Nechama bas Menya Faigel
 Chaya Esther bas Nechama
 Hinda Rashka bas Sara
 Chana Freida bas Nechama
Gittel
 Refoel DovBer ben Rus
 Chaim Eliezer ben Hinda Sara
 Gedalye HaKohen ben Sara
Freida
Prayer is Healing
 Simcha Dovid ben Chaya
Yaffa
 Asher Zelig ben Yehudis
Rachel Breindel
Dealing with a serious diagnosis?
Sudden or scheduled hospitalization?
The CMC will provide you and your family members with physical,
spiritual and emotional support for as long as necessary.
We will also be your liaison to other services and programs
that will address your specific needs.
Common CMC Patient and Family Services
n Advocating on patient’s behalf with the medical team
n Guidance and support on obtaining a “second opinion”
n Offering pastoral care visits and ensuring that all religious needs and concerns are met
n Providing halachic medical advice with the guidance of local halachic authorities
n Medical-related free loans
n Transportation to and from hospitals
n Ensuring all food needs are met during and following a hospital stay
n Hospitalities adjacent to local hospitals
Chicago’
s Premiere Independent
n
Round-the-clock
monitoring forLiving
the critically ill
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THE MITZVAH GRAM
Monthly Publication of The Chicago Mitzvah Campaign
2939 W. Touhy Ave., Chicago, IL 60645
1-866-MY-RABBI (1-866-697-2224)
www.ChicagoMitzvahCampaign.com