Calvary’s Rabbi Rachmiel Rothberger; Judy Pollack, LCSW; and Christopher P. Comfort, MD, medical director
Calvary’s Rabbi Rachmiel Rothberger; Judy Pollack, LCSW; and Christopher P. Comfort, MD, medical director
Calvary’s Rabbi Rachmiel Rothberger; Judy Pollack, LCSW;
and Christopher P. Comfort, MD, medical director

On November 9, Calvary Hospital co-sponsored the JBFCS 27th Annual Bikur Cholim Coordinating Council Conference with the UJA Federation of New York on the topic, “When the Healer Needs Healing: Illness and the Bikur Cholim Conference.” Calvary led a workshop titled “Visiting with Someone at the End of Life: What do I say? What if they can’t speak? Can I make a difference?” Christopher P. Comfort, MD, medical director, Calvary Hospital; Rabbi Rachmiel Rothberger, Jewish pastoral care provider and Jewish communal outreach liaison, Calvary Hospital and Home Hospice; and Judy Pollack, LCSW, a social worker affiliated with Calvary@Home led the 32 participants in a lively, interactive discussion.

Kosher hospitality room at Calvary Hospital
Kosher hospitality room at Calvary Hospital

The hospital’s goal was to help educate the attendees on how to understand their unique role, handle their own fears, and increase their comfort as they offer valuable support to those who are seriously ill. The real-life anecdotes from Calvary’s three presenters were very effective in helping to maximize the value of this workshop.

Two years ago this month, Calvary and Yeshiva University/RIETS announced a collaboration to provide the observant Jewish community with information and options for end-of-life care in accordance with Jewish law, or halachah. Jewish patients and families at Calvary can look forward to a comprehensive range of services such as end-of-life counseling by the hospital’s three rabbis in accordance with Jewish tradition, kosher hospitality room stocked weekly with delicious glattkosher food, Shabbat lounge, and inclusion in the Einstein and Pelham Parkway eiruv.

The hospital cares for hundreds of Jewish patients annually at its 200-bed Bronx hospital, 25-bed Brooklyn satellite at Lutheran Medical Center, and the Dawn Greene Hospice, as well as in private homes and nursing facilities in the greater New York area. To learn more about Calvary care for Jewish patients, please visit www.calvaryhospital.org, and go to the “What’s New” section on the home page

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