Shomer Collective presenting “Life, Legacy, and Care: Navigating End-of-Life Conversations.” Presented by Susie Kessler, Program Consultant for What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life.

Join the next “What Matters” program from Shomer Collective, and take those first important steps with the support and Jewish wisdom you need! We are here to navigate tough questions together, no matter where you are in the process. 

Attendees will be guided through the process of creating an advance directive.

During this 90-minute session, you will:

• Find out what a healthcare agent is, and how to select one

• Learn the importance of documenting your wishes, and how to do it

• See what Jewish traditions and teachings have to say about planning for end of life

• Have an opportunity to ask your pressing questions

Participants will leave the session with clarity around What Matters to you at the end of life. We envision a world where these conversations are frequent, meaningful, and not nearly as hard. 

Please note that this session will not be recorded, to protect the privacy of attendees and allow for detailed questions. 

The High Holidays are a traditional time to think and talk about death, but so many of us don’t know where to start. 

Join the next “What Matters” program from Shomer Collective, and take those first important steps with the support and Jewish wisdom you need! We are here to navigate tough questions together, no matter where you are in the process. 

Attendees will be guided through the process of creating an advance directive.

During this 90-minute session, you will:

• Find out what a healthcare agent is, and how to select one

• Learn the importance of documenting your wishes, and how to do it

• See what Jewish traditions and teachings have to say about planning for end of life

• Have an opportunity to ask your pressing questions

Participants will leave the session with clarity around What Matters to you at the end of life. We envision a world where these conversations are frequent, meaningful, and not nearly as hard. 

Please note that this session will not be recorded, to protect the privacy of attendees and allow for detailed questions. 

“While 92% of Americans say it’s important to discuss their wishes for end-of-life care, only 32% have had such a conversation.”— The Conversation Project

Inspired by Jewish wisdom, “What Matters” provides you with knowledge, tools, and resources to move you to the next step in your thinking and advance care planning, no matter where you are in the process.

During this 90-minute interactive session, participants learn about the importance of selecting a healthcare agent and documenting and communicating their goals, values, and preferences so that their wishes will be known should they ever be in a position where they are unable to speak for themselves.

This experience offers Jewish wisdom related to choices around advance care planning, body disposition, burial and funeral issues/concerns, and legacy. 

The goal is to help you clarify What Matters to YOU as you think about your end-of-life wishes. 

Note: Due to the experiential nature, this will not be recorded.

“While 92% of Americans say it’s important to discuss their wishes for end-of-life care, only 32% have had such a conversation.”— The Conversation Project

Inspired by Jewish wisdom, “What Matters” provides you with knowledge, tools, and resources to move you to the next step in your thinking and advance care planning, no matter where you are in the process.

During this 90-minute interactive session, participants learn about the importance of selecting a healthcare agent and documenting and communicating their goals, values, and preferences so that their wishes will be known should they ever be in a position where they are unable to speak for themselves.

This experience offers Jewish wisdom related to choices around advance care planning, body disposition, burial and funeral issues/concerns, and legacy. 

The goal is to help you clarify What Matters to YOU as you think about your end-of-life wishes. 

Note: Due to the experiential nature, this will not be recorded.

“While 92% of Americans say it’s important to discuss their wishes for end-of-life care, only 32% have had such a conversation.”— The Conversation Project

Inspired by Jewish wisdom, “What Matters” provides you with knowledge, tools, and resources to move you to the next step in your thinking and advance care planning, no matter where you are in the process.

During this 90-minute interactive session, participants learn about the importance of selecting a healthcare agent and documenting and communicating their goals, values, and preferences so that their wishes will be known should they ever be in a position where they are unable to speak for themselves.

This experience offers Jewish wisdom related to choices around advance care planning, body disposition, burial and funeral issues/concerns, and legacy. 

The goal is to help you clarify What Matters to YOU as you think about your end-of-life wishes. 

Note: Due to the experiential nature, this will not be recorded.

“While 92% of Americans say it’s important to discuss their wishes for end-of-life care, only 32% have had such a conversation.”— The Conversation Project

Inspired by Jewish wisdom, “What Matters” provides you with knowledge, tools, and resources to move you to the next step in your thinking and advance care planning, no matter where you are in the process.

During this 75-minute interactive session, participants learn about the importance of selecting a healthcare agent and documenting and communicating their goals, values, and preferences so that their wishes will be known should they ever be in a position where they are unable to speak for themselves.

This experience offers Jewish wisdom related to choices around advance care planning, body disposition, burial and funeral issues/concerns, and legacy. 

The goal is to help you clarify What Matters to YOU as you think about your end-of-life wishes. 

Note: Due to the experiential nature, this will not be recorded.

Preparations preceding the high holidays encourage us to take an accounting of our soul in the weeks leading up to Yom Kippur, on which we enact a dress rehearsal for death. When it comes to planning for end of life, there are often things we don’t know and even more things that we don’t know we don’t know. Join lawyer Johanna Sanders for a primer on what to consider from a legal perspective, in conversation with Rabbi Melanie Levav from a Jewish perspective. Leave the session with a to-do list and peace of mind. 

Speaker

Johanna Sanders is principal at The Law Office of Johanna Sanders, Esq., PLLC. Her practice is focused on drafting estate planning documents (including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, living wills) as well as probate and estate administration. Sanders holds a Juris Doctorate from Fordham Law School, where she was a Stein Scholar, and she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Binghamton University.

For the past ten years, Sanders has been involved in advocacy and research for a range of issues affecting LGBTQ+ communities. Most recently, as Director of Policy & Organizing at The Vaid Group, Sanders co-led The National LGBTQ Anti-Poverty Action Network and served on the study team for The National LGBTQ+ Women*s Community Survey. In law school, Sanders worked on civil rights impact litigation at Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, on housing and social security disability matters at Brooklyn Legal Services in their LGBT/HIV Advocacy Unit, and traveled to Dilley, Texas with the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project to assist with legal representation at the Mexican border.

Sanders is a member of the Trusts and Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, the Queens County Bar Association and LGBT Bar NY. Sanders served on the Board of Directors for Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.  Sanders is admitted to practice law in New York and New Jersey only.

Join Rabbi Melanie Levav, as a guest speaker for July’s Happy Hour with Get Your Sh*T Together founder, Chanel Reynolds.

A High Functioning Happy Hour is a one-hour, zero-pressure gathering. Chanel will share an overview of the essential end-of-life planning basics like wills, living wills, healthcare directives, and what-if emergency plans.

And… this will be an interactive conversation focused on wisdom and advice for families navigating the monumental stage when your children become (legal) adults. You'll come away from this gathering more informed about the practical, legal and emotional preparations that will better prepare everyone for this important journey.

“Chanel Reynolds has helped millions of people for nearly a decade learn where to start, what’s important, and how to get it done. Getting the basic details and documents done that you and your family need – like wills and estate plans, end of life wishes, finances and insurance policies – is easier than you think.”

Making Plans, Letting Go
Participants will explore ideas around advance care planning, considering Jewish and personal values, communicating end-of-life wishes to loved ones, and how Jewish tradition supports the practice of conversations about how we want to live as we approach death.

This is the final session of the 3-part series, Death and Dying in Jewish Tradition: A Deeper Dive. Each session is a standalone program.

Taught by: Rabbi Melanie Levav

Rabbi Melanie Levav, founding executive director of the Shomer Collective, powered by Natan, is a board-certified chaplain and licensed social worker specializing in end of life care and conversations.