Blue Skies Hospice serves and will continue to serve patients and families of all faiths and no faith. Members of the Jewish faith are organizing the Jewish Hospice Network to emphasize the medical and spiritual importance of hospice.
Jewish Exponent published a
wonderful account of the JHN, and the work they are doing. The article contains a Jewish story and how one Rabbi believes it symbolizes the importance of hospice care:
Rabbi Tsurah August of the Jewish Hospice Network -- of which Wissahickon Hospice is a partner -- said that when she met with Ira at his home, she looked for his connections to Judaism. Ira played music, and August discovered a shofar in one of his instrument cases.
Since it was the month of Elul, which precedes the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, she told Ira about the hallowed tradition of blowing the shofar each day of that month.
She also talked about some of the shofar's symbolism.
One of them is that when a shofar sounds, it blasts through the boundaries between this world and the next; even though Ira had trouble breathing, he blew the shofar each day of Elul until he fell into a coma and died at the end of October.
August, who was ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion, in New York City, said this activity was meaningful for Ira and gave him something to do when he no longer had the energy for his many interests.
This, she said, reflects the importance of hospice care in enhancing the quality of a patient's life.
