This conversation will be an exploration of the challenges of honoring another’s end-of-life wishes, and what Jewish wisdom has to say about it all. Grounded in the movie, Last Flight Home, a recent award-winning documentary that captures Rabbi Rachel Timoner’s father’s dying days and his choice to utilize aid in dying in California. Rabbi Timoner, in conversation with Rabbi Melanie Levav, will share reflections on this journey and her dual roles as a Rabbi and daughter.

Rabbi Rachel Timoner is the senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim (CBE) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where her passions are community building, social justice, spiritual life, and lifelong learning. Previously, she served as associate rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles, where she was a beloved teacher of Torah, a community organizer, and a leader in Reform California which achieved major statewide victories in immigrant rights, affordable housing, and police reform. She is a graduate of Yale University, received s’micha from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, was a Rockefeller Next Generation Leadership Fellow, and a Wexner Graduate Fellow. Rabbi Timoner serves on the board of the New York Jewish Agenda, the Brooklyn Community Foundation, the New York Board of Rabbis, the UJA-Federation of New York, Plaza Community Chapel, Community Help in Park Slope (CHiPS), and the International Council of the New Israel Fund. She is a T’ruah chavera and is a graduate of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Clergy Leadership Program and the Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training. She is the author of Breath of Life: God as Spirit in Judaism.