Lesley Machon, Chaplain, Jewish Family Services Calgary.
By Lesley Machon, JFSC Community Chaplain
(Calgary) – I have always been struck by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s insistence that the truest test of a people consists in how it treats the elderly. “It is easy to love children,” he remarks, “Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.”
This quotation particularly comes to my mind as I spend time visiting the sick and dying in hospitals and hospices. At a time at which so many older Canadians are suffering loneliness and abandonment, several experiences and initiatives I have seen within the Jewish community reveal the concrete possibilities for the kind of affection and care that Heschel describes.
The first initiative is Shawl-Om. This program involves providing hand-made blankets to comfort Jewish community members as they face the challenges of new symptoms, diagnoses, and illnesses. Of course, it is not only these blankets that provide comfort, but also the warmth of human concern that goes into making every Shawl-Om gift a patient receives.
Another positive effort in our community involves a partnership with the Kinder Arts program at the Calgary Jewish Academy. Students are tasked with creating attractive posters to adorn the sterile medical rooms of hospitals for Jewish patients. When teachers explain that the artwork will be seen by those who are facing difficult times, the students eagerly enhance the colourfulness and thoughtfulness of their pieces.
On Fridays, I am touched by how the nurses wrap the fire alarm so I can light Shabbat candles with the patients. Sometimes they, or other patients in the room, join in — sharing a piece of delicious challah baked by Jewish seniors. Meanwhile, Calgary Jewish Academy alumni are engaging in a program through JFSC, where they visit seniors, play games, and offer companionship.
These are just a few examples of responding to the ways in which our character is tested. In choosing to remember that we belong to one another in these ways, we can discover those “true gold mines of [our] culture” of which Heschel spoke.
If you are a senior, student, or simply wish to get involved—or if you are in need of a visit, grief support, or companionship in a hospital, hospice, or care home—please feel free to email me at lesleym@jfsc.org.
Mazel Tov Lesley. How very lucky the Calgary Jewish community is to have you in this position!
Wishing you continued success!
Miriam Trehearne