Program Spotlight: Baskin Jewish Community Chaplaincy

This month, we're excited to spotlight our Baskin Jewish Community Chaplaincy program. We sat down with Rabbi Rick Brody, Jewish Community Chaplain, and Lisa Soicher, Jewish Community Liaison, to learn about this remarkable team and their work throughout JFS and our communities.

Tell us about your program:

RRB: Jewish Life includes all the work of the Baskin Jewish Community Chaplaincy program and Jewish content within the agency. The Chaplaincy program offers spiritual care to anyone in distress or need within the greater Denver Jewish community who desires support from a rabbi but doesn't have their own. We visit patients and clients in hospitals, hospice care, older adult facilities, law enforcement detention or incarceration, and in their homes or wherever they may be—officiating funerals and memorial services for those needing a rabbi for such occasions. The program receives referrals from other chaplains and care professionals and direct inquiries from those seeking help. Additionally, I lead Shabbat and holiday services in a few older adult facilities with Jewish populations. A team of volunteer para-chaplains lead services in numerous other facilities and supports our work.

Within the agency, the program oversees offering a d'var torah, which is a short teaching of Jewish inspiration, at each monthly all-staff meeting, often by guest rabbis, cantors, and other Jewish educators and leaders within the community.

LS: My position was created because a 2019 study of our Greater Denver Jewish community revealed nearly 20% of respondents struggled to make ends meet. Mental health issues were so pervasive even before coming out of the pandemic, and many reported they couldn't find a job. Yet, so few (6%) were reaching out to a Jewish agency or synagogue for help. My focus as the Jewish Community Liaison is to make sure clergy, heads of partner agencies, their staff, and lay leaders know about the more than 30 programs and services JFS offers, especially the ones particularly relevant to Jewish people like The Community Table meals at the Jewish Community Center, Kosher Meals on Wheels, services for Holocaust survivors, kosher food programs for Thanksgiving and Passover, and our chaplaincy program that serves the spiritual needs of the unaffiliated and disconnected. I also work with the Jewish community to support all JFS clients by managing our food drives and coordinating projects with b'nai mitzvah students, day schools, and others looking to connect and "do good." I also have the immense privilege of working 1:1 with people who hear about what we do and reach out to request support. 

What impacts does your program make?:

RRB: The Chaplaincy program fills the void of Jewish spiritual care in people's most vulnerable moments and adds community, meaning, and joy for older adults.

LS: Every day, I see first-hand the difference we make, whether by setting up a homeless Jew in an apartment and providing food from our pantry and counseling from one of our employment coaches or watching a class full of kids bring the food they've collected to JFS and stock our shelves with it themselves. We help schools and youth groups work to cultivate mentsches and create a culture of giving to others less fortunate by providing meaningful and fun hands-on experiences. By building relationships throughout the community, I now have a network of colleagues at other agencies and synagogues and connected lay leaders who work with me to ensure vulnerable Jews who could benefit from JFS programs and services are not overlooked. 

What is the team working on now?:

RRB: At this very moment, we are deeply focused on providing High Holiday experiences for all the older adult communities we serve. We held two sessions for the para-chaplains to learn deeper content related to the holiday and plan to use the High Holiday service booklet. We are excited about having a major impact on the residents who will attend these services.

LS: We're about to kick off our High Holiday Food and Hygiene Drive, in partnership with Justice Necessary, in more than a dozen synagogues and schools, so look for one of our collection barrels throughout the city! 

Please share a fun fact about your team:

RRB: Our para-chaplains range in age from 16 to 70+. Some are brand new, and others have volunteered for over a decade.