THE MITZVAH GRAM

B”H Volume 4, Issue 9 Sivan 5774

CMC Chaplaincy and

Senior Services Division

Hospital visitations

Weekly “Shabbos packages” delivered to hospital patients

Drop-in “Senior Center”

“Senior Friendship” (home outreach for isolated seniors)

Monthly Jewish discussion at dozens of 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

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

Family “hospitality suites”

This month’s edition of the Mitzvah Gram has been dedicated in memory of:

Dr. Murray Rosenberg (Moshe Yekusiel ben Yakov Chono)

Partially funded by the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, Senior Division

and HUD (Housing Urban Development)

The following recent stories and tidbits

provide a glimpse into the tremendous benefit

accomplished by the CMC’s pastoral care

mission.

CMC Cares Like Family for Israeli

Patient Mrs. SD’s health condition required her to

undergo an orthopedic procedure that was so

specialized that in her entire home country of

Israel there was only one doctor who had even

minimal experience in it, having been involved

in performing the procedure just three times.

But as a mother of 14 children, SD wanted to

minimize any further risk to her health.

Unsurprisingly then, she was happy to learn

that in Chicago there was an expert doctor in

the field, having more than three hundred cases

of experience in this particular procedure.

But the prospect of travelling to a foreign

country for a medical procedure presented

CMC’s Pastoral Care Produces Impact

June 2014

many significant issues, such as obtaining

assistance with regard to translation,

accommodation, food, transportation, and

other logistical and personal challenges.

Although SD’s husband was able to

accompany her, she (and he) would still need

a great deal of assistance.

Fortunately for SD, the CMC undertook

to help her and her husband in every possible

way. From meeting them at the airport and

throughout their ten-day stay, the CMC

provided the couple with critical assistance,

which included arranging a volunteer to assist

with translation; helping with obtaining

accommodation; supplying daily hot meals;

bringing SD to and from medical

appointments and providing for all of the

couple’s transportation needs.

SD developed a deep friendship with the

CMC volunteer who helped her, as the two of

The CMC recently received a number of

sponsorships from community members who

were moved by the impact that our programs

have in assisting, uplifting and enriching the

lives of the elderly and infirm.

Pearl Goldman Library

Thanks to the sponsorship of Mr. Maurie

Goldman in memory of his late wife Pearl, a

large number of books were purchased to

further expand the CMC Senior Center’s Pearl

Goldman Library. The library provides a great

opportunity for the many seniors who attend

the Senior Center to engage their interests,

enrich their lives, and further their learning.

Battery-Operated Tea Lights

The CMC is grateful for the Gluck

family’s recent donation in memory of Baila

Chaya bat Elazar Eliyahu Hakohen, to help

sponsor our Shabbat tea lights project. These

beautiful candle-lighting packages will help

ensure that thousands of hospital patients and

others may have a safe, authentic and uplifting

candle-lighting experience.

Chumashim/Siddurim Volumes

Donated for Hospital Patients

The CMC thanks the Davis family for

sponsoring the combined Chumash/Siddur

volumes that were recently distributed to local

hospitals, in memory of Simcha Eliezer Dovid

ben R’ Yosef Chaim shlit”a. The newly

donated volumes will be of great benefit to

patients and visitors who may need to arrive at

the hospital in a hurry, without having time to

bring their own siddur along.

Community Sponsorships Continue to

Benefit CMC Programs

continued on page 4

Growing Opportunities for Kosher Food and Amenities Near Local Hospitals

CHICAGO MITZVAH CAMPAIGN 1-866-MY-RABBI (1-866-697-2224)

For more information concerning any of the above services, please contact the CMC office, or you may contact the CMC’s newly-appointed hospitality and food

coordinator, Mrs. Leah Moscowitz, at 773-988-6486

Free Kosher Guest TraysCMC sponsors free kosher guest trays for family members and caregivers while visiting with their loved ones in the hospital.

Bedside Refrigeration Many hospitals now have available “desk top” refrigerators for patients who want to keep additional refrigerated food nearby. Call the hospital’s pastoral care office or the CMC to obtain your “bedside” refrigerator.

Hospitality Suites• CMC’S EVANSTON HOSPITALITY SUITE (opening soon

in the summer of 2014) is located at 1022 Central St.

• CMC’S SKOKIE HOSPITALITY SUITE is located at 9631 Gross Point Rd.

In addition, CMC carries an extensive list of kosher food and sleeping accommodations that are available near many other local hospitals. Patients, family members, caregivers and hospital faculty are welcome to a variety of services.

PantriesIn the following hospitals, shelf-stored food and snacks are available in the pantries that were introduced and are managed by local organizations.

• LURIE CHILDREN’S (in the 15th floor family room) (A project of Chai Lifeline – Chicago)

• ST. FRANCIS (in the surgical waiting room on the 2nd floor) (A project of Chicago Mitzvah Campaign)

• SWEDISH COVENANT (near the ER – ask security for access) (A project of Chicago Center for Torah V’Chesed)

24-Hour Hot Food and Sandwich DeliveryCMC will deliver hot food 24/6 in the following uncommon circumstances:

• Patient requires unusual dietary restrictions• Patient adheres to selective kosher specifications (e.g. cholov

Yisroel, yoshon, special shechita) • There are no hospitality or pantries available

Catered Shabbos and Yom Tov meals For Shabbos and Yom Tov, CMC provides full-course catered meals for hospital patients and their family members at bedside.

Share Your Simcha with Hospital PatientsAre you making a Kiddush in honor of a bar or bat mitzvah, sheva brachot, yohrtzeit, birthday, or any other family simcha or important occasion? If so, the CMC encourages you to consider making your event even more meaningful and special by contributing at least two meals to be distributed to hospital patients. All you need to do is ask the caterer to set aside the meals, which will be picked up by the CMC on Friday morning, packaged and delivered directly to hospital patients in time for Shabbat.

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them became as close as family members. The volunteer accompanied SD on all of her pre-operation visits with the doctor, and on the day of the surgery she stayed with her in the preparation room and in the recovery room. During the post-operation phase the volunteer spent hours with SD every day, and before she returned home to Israel she even took her shopping! As it has done many times in the past, the CMC is always prepared to care like family and to extend every possible manner of assistance for Israeli patients travelling to Chicago for medical purposes.

Plumber Recalls CMC Inspiration When Rabbi Wolf recently needed a plumber to take care of a home plumbing concern, he arbitrarily selected one of the business listings from the local phone directory. But upon mentioning his name to the randomly chosen plumber, “VS,” Rabbi Wolf was surprised to hear that not only did VS immediately recognize his name, he also retained very significant memories of how Rabbi Wolf and the CMC had an important impact on him at a major time of his life. For several years VS had been through enormous challenges as both his parents and his mother in-law suffered one serious health setback after another. Seeing such important people in his life struggling with dialysis, falls, broken bones, and heart attacks, created a huge amount of stress, which had been, in VS’ words, “unbelievably challenging.” Amidst all the stress and emotional turbulence of that time period, one of the experiences that touched VS deeply was meeting Rabbi Wolf during the Rabbi’s pastoral care visits to his mother at the hospital. “Sometimes you feel like nobody’s helping you,” says VS, “but then Rabbi Wolf came along and his presence was just so very comforting. He said prayers with me and helped me lay tefillin, and it was very reassuring to know that he was there for my mother and the entire family. I probably didn’t recognize it at the time, but Rabbi Wolf’s prayers and his presence helped me get more in touch with my spiritual side, and ultimately, become closer to my heritage. The work that the CMC does is fantastic, and I wish that their programs will continue to expand and accomplish even more!”

Lonely Daughter Comforted by CMC Shabbat Packages As an only child with no other close family, Mrs. MF had an extremely close relationship with her mother. Thus, when her mother’s health deteriorated and she needed to be hospitalized fifteen times in two and a half years, it hit MF very hard. “My mother had a hard life and she also suffered greatly in the lead-up to her death,” says MF. “It was difficult for me to see her like that, and there were so many complex and difficult decisions to make. I felt very stressed and alone, and my own health began to suffer as a result too.” Oddly enough, MF never met the CMC rabbis on one of their weekly pastoral care visits to Jewish patients at her mother’s hospital. But in the beautiful Shabbat packages that she found every week at her mother’s bedside, MF saw a Divine message of comfort and hope. “It was like G-d was communicating with me via this package,” she says. “He was telling me that I was not alone, because He cared about me, and because there were people who really cared about me too, even though they had never even met me.” After her mother’s passing, MF began visiting her grave every week. Months later she was ready to do a memorial service, but was having trouble finding a rabbi to lead the service. With her raw grief still very much present, the matter became a constant reminder of her loss and her loneliness. One day however, MF encountered one of the CMC’s vans while visiting the cemetery. (CMC vans are regularly seen in cemeteries as they help when needed to provide a minyan so that kaddish may be recited at a funeral.) The van’s familiar logo reminded MF of the Shabbat packages that had brought her so much comfort during the period when her mother was in and out of the hospital, and she felt moved to approach Rabbi Wolf. In response to MF’s request, Rabbi Wolf scheduled and led a moving graveside memorial service for her mother. The date of the service was exactly one year after her mother’s passing, which this year happened to coincide with the date of Mother’s Day. But more than the date, it was the manner of the CMC’s caring that touched MF and gave her a measure of solace in her bereavement. “There’s no question that G-d had a hand in it,” she said. “It made me feel that He wanted me to be comforted.”

Highlights from the CMC Diary continued from page 1

THE MITZVAH GRAM B”H Volume 4, Issue 9 Sivan 5774

CMC Chaplaincy and Senior Services Division

Hospital visitations Weekly “Shabbos

packages” delivered to hospital patients

Drop-in “Senior Center” “Senior

Friendship” (home outreach for isolated seniors)

Monthly Jewish discussion at dozens of 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

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

Family “hospitality suites”

This month’s edition of the Mitzvah Gram has been dedicated in memory of: Dr. Murray Rosenberg (Moshe Yekusiel ben Yakov Chono)

Partially funded by the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, Senior Division

and HUD (Housing Urban Development)

The following recent stories and tidbits provide a glimpse into the tremendous benefit accomplished by the CMC’s pastoral care mission.

CMC Cares Like Family for Israeli Patient Mrs. SD’s health condition required her to undergo an orthopedic procedure that was so specialized that in her entire home country of Israel there was only one doctor who had even minimal experience in it, having been involved in performing the procedure just three times. But as a mother of 14 children, SD wanted to minimize any further risk to her health. Unsurprisingly then, she was happy to learn that in Chicago there was an expert doctor in the field, having more than three hundred cases of experience in this particular procedure. But the prospect of travelling to a foreign country for a medical procedure presented

CMC’s Pastoral Care Produces Impact

June 2014

many significant issues, such as obtaining assistance with regard to translation, accommodation, food, transportation, and other logistical and personal challenges. Although SD’s husband was able to accompany her, she (and he) would still need a great deal of assistance. Fortunately for SD, the CMC undertook to help her and her husband in every possible way. From meeting them at the airport and throughout their ten-day stay, the CMC provided the couple with critical assistance, which included arranging a volunteer to assist with translation; helping with obtaining accommodation; supplying daily hot meals; bringing SD to and from medical appointments and providing for all of the couple’s transportation needs. SD developed a deep friendship with the CMC volunteer who helped her, as the two of

The CMC recently received a number of sponsorships from community members who were moved by the impact that our programs have in assisting, uplifting and enriching the lives of the elderly and infirm. Pearl Goldman Library Thanks to the sponsorship of Mr. Maurie Goldman in memory of his late wife Pearl, a large number of books were purchased to further expand the CMC Senior Center’s Pearl Goldman Library. The library provides a great opportunity for the many seniors who attend the Senior Center to engage their interests, enrich their lives, and further their learning. Battery-Operated Tea Lights The CMC is grateful for the Gluck family’s recent donation in memory of Baila

Chaya bat Elazar Eliyahu Hakohen, to help sponsor our Shabbat tea lights project. These beautiful candle-lighting packages will help ensure that thousands of hospital patients and others may have a safe, authentic and uplifting candle-lighting experience. Chumashim/Siddurim Volumes Donated for Hospital Patients The CMC thanks the Davis family for sponsoring the combined Chumash/Siddur volumes that were recently distributed to local hospitals, in memory of Simcha Eliezer Dovid ben R’ Yosef Chaim shlit”a. The newly donated volumes will be of great benefit to patients and visitors who may need to arrive at the hospital in a hurry, without having time to bring their own siddur along.

Community Sponsorships Continue to Benefit CMC Programs

continued on page 4