Dear Rabbis and What Matters Leadership,

I hope you have had an opportunity to look at the High Holidays resources we recently sent to you, offering some ideas to draw upon through a What Matters lens.

Many of the powerful themes of What Matters—death and mortality, the fragility of life, living our lives fully and meaningfully, and leaving legacies—are closely tied to those of the High Holidays.  The resources listed below—teachings, course curricula, and innovative learning materials—have been developed over the course of What Matters by members of the What Matters community. They share an intention to draw people into conversations about these often difficult topics, within safe environments, encouraging them to consider their goals and values and communicate their end of life preferences to those who matter most in their lives. 

We hope they will be inspirational and useful to you as you create sermons, classes, services, programs, and other learning opportunities. This may also be a fitting time to bring attention to the What Matters initiative in your community.   

The first piece by Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, "Averting the Severity of the Decree," was written specifically for this compilation. He talks about how the themes of life and death that are so pervasive during the holidays are really about framing our lives. He relates a What Matters conversation to the climactic line in the liturgy: teshuva, prayer, and tzedakah avert the severity of the decree. In a second piece, he presents a rabbinic text with questions that could be used for a study session or discussion.   

We thank you for your valued involvement in What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life. Together we are changing the culture to destigmatize death and dying, educate our communities about the importance of advance care planning, and help individuals communicate their wishes about end of life care.

We wish you much enjoyment over the remaining weeks of summer. 

Sally Kaplan
Program Director, What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life
 

SERMONS/SPEECHES/TALKS

Rabbi Michael Strassfeld, Rabbi Emeritus, Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ)
Averting the Severity of the Decree: The Questions You'll Be Asked When You Get to Heaven
2019

Rabbi Angela Buchdal, Senior Rabbi, Central Synagogue. 
Parashat Vayigash: Talking About "What Matters"
January 2017

Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann, Senior Rabbi, SAJ Synagogue
A Jewish Values-Based Conversation About Advance Care Directives
March 2019

Rabbi David Ingber,  Founder and Senior Rabbi, Romemu 
Just in Case–Difficult Conversations 
December 2018

Rabbi Peter Rubinstein, Rabbi Emeritus, Central Synagogue; Director of Jewish Community and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life,  92nd Street Y
Caring Conversations: Facing Our Mortality
January 2017  

Rabbi Shaul Robinson, Senior Rabbi, Lincoln Square Synagogue
Necessary Conversations
February 2017

Rabbi Mychal Springer, Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, NYC; former director of the Center for Pastoral Education at JTS. 
Living with the Fragility of Life
Yom Kippur, September 2017

Site Team Leader, Hillel Hirschbein, delivered a What Matters-related message during High Holiday services at the invitation of Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann, SAJ Synagogue
What Matters High Holiday Message
Yom Kippur, October 2019

RESOURCES FOR STUDY AND LEARNING

Rabbi Sharon Brous, Senior Rabbi, IKAR
In the Valley of the Shadow of Death 
Kol Nidre, October 2016

Rabbi Juliana Karol, Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Rodeph Sholom
Images of Mortality: Being Mortal
Study resource sheet from adult education class, Winter 2019

Rabbi Joy Levitt, Executive Director, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
A Good End Podcast, Episode 2, "Planning for a Good Death"
Jewish conversation around death and dying; part of a series by 70 Faces Media and UJA 

Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
The Jewish Ethical Wills Project
Resources for communities to engage in creating ethical wills, including a two-part curriculum, Ethical Wills: A Values Vault for Future Generations©.

Dr. Lois Perelson-Gross
Never The Right Time
A comic anthology using cartoons to facilitate advance care planning
(also available in hard copy on request) 

What Matters
Understanding Advance Care Planning as a Jewish Process
Created by the JTS Center for Pastoral Education
Includes multiple Jewish resources including Sage Voices, in which a diverse group of rabbis and religious leaders speak about end of life issues and how they integrate Jewish tradition into their own teaching and care for others.