4419 Brigantine Avenue
Brigantine NJ
A Thanksgiving Support Group; Offering Thanks While Navigating the New and Complex Dynamics of Today’s Relationships —
Please join us via Zoom on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, at 7:30 PM with Rabbi Sandra Berliner, MSW, as we explore our upcoming experience of managing the challenge of creating connection in the midst of our needs and the different needs of our loved ones, friends, and our neighbors.
This Thanksgiving will be different for all of us because of this pandemic AND because of the different needs that various vaccination requirements, differing perspectives, and behavioral choices present to each one of us. The iconic gatherings to which we had been so accustomed for decades, sharing the bounty of the harvest — both the physical joys of food and drink as well as the spiritual fruits of our relationships — will be different again this year, but perhaps in less obvious ways. How do we greet this new reality without getting overwhelmed by the complexity of meeting this moment fully while maintaining our heritage’s guidance on righteousness and respectfulness?
We will explore and acknowledge the challenges facing us this year with the real-life impacts of COVID-19 and the feelings of loss and difficult interpersonal relationships that will likely be present. Perhaps, this year we may be facing the harsh reality of a direct loss of someone near and dear to us who succumbed to this disease or has been diminished by it.
How do we express thanks (Modeh Ani L’fanekha . . . ) when we do not feel the fullness of God’s blessings?
Please note: Though this is NOT therapy, we will insist that our gathering remain a confidential setting as we honor our humanity and our privacy. And, of course, we will endeavor to make it a non-judgmental and supportive space where everyone may be heard and acknowledged as best as possible in our limited time. Thank you for bringing all of yourself to this special experience.
We thank Rabbi Fox for his seeing this need as well as for organizing and supporting this response.
Though this event is free and open to the community, if you plan to join us, you must register by Tuesday, November 23, 2021, by 6:30 PM by using this Google form: https://bit.ly/3C5ZzdL
After you register for the event, you will receive a form acknowledgment. You will then receive the invitation link (sometime prior to Tuesday evening) to attend the program that begins at 7:30 p.m.
If it is easier for you, you may also register by Tuesday, November 23, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. by contacting the Office at [email protected] or via phone at (609) 266-0403 so that we can plan our preparations accordingly, including sending you the Zoom invitation.
More about Rabbi Sandra Berliner, MSW:
Rabbi Sandra Rosenthal Berliner presently serves as the Rabbi/Chaplain for the independent senior living apartments of Federation Housing, Inc., and the KleinLife Senior Adult Department in Philadelphia. She also serves as service coordinator for Federation Housing and is accredited as a Certified Elder Service Coordinator from Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority and Indiana University, Indiana, PA.
She also serves on the Spiritual Care Coalition of the Philadelphia Corporation on Aging and has been presenter at several of their Clergy Conferences. In addition, Rabbi Berliner serves on the Cultural Diversity Commission of the Pennsylvania Department on aging.
Rabbi Berliner directed Yedid Nefesh, the Jewish Hospice Program of Philadelphia for 12 years, as well as serving Congregation Temple Menorah Kenesseth Chai in Northeast Philadelphia.
She is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she received her Rabbinical Ordination and a Masters of Hebrew Letters. She has also received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity Degree from RRC. Rabbi Berliner received a Masters degree in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and her Bachelors degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Rabbi Berliner is certified as a Jewish Chaplain by the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and is a past-President and founding member of that organization. At last year’s annual convention, Rabbi Berliner was honored with the award for outstanding service.
Rabbi Berliner has published many articles for the Philadelphia Jewish press and consults on areas of Jewish healing, especially as it relates to aging and end of life issues.
Rabbi Berliner is married to Roy Berliner and is blessed with three sons, Benjamin, Jonathan, and Jacob, two daughters-in-law, Ben’s wife Imelda and Jake’s wife Ece, and two beautiful grandsons.