The Shira Ruskay Center

The Shira Ruskay Center provides consultation, support and education, to three primary groups: patients and families confronting serious or life-threatening illness, as well as loss; rabbis and cantors who minister to those facing illness; and synagogues and Jewish communal organizations.

The Shira Ruskay Center trains volunteer Doulas to accompany and comfort patients at the end of life especially those with limited available supports. Partnering with many hospitals, nursing homes, and community agencies volunteer Doulas provide services to patients in need.

Services vary greatly depending on the needs of the client or organization. Many services are offered free of charge to both affiliated and non-affiliated Jews in the New York City.

Please contact us to see how we can be of assistance to you.

Individuals and Families

For Jewish patients or families who need to plan for serious or life-threatening illness, telephone or in-person consultation is available.

When a person is diagnosed with a serious or life-threatening illness.
When information about available resources is needed.
When patients and loved ones feel conflicted about choices and decisions.
When a person has an irreversible medical condition and a limited life expectancy.
When aggressive curative care is no longer helpful.

The Shira Ruskay Center offers support and referrals within a Jewish culturally and religiously informed context. Counseling, support and referrals are provided to meet individual medical, psychological, and spiritual needs. The Center can work collaboratively with health care providers to offer a larger and more individualized support system. The services provided at no fee are:

Information and Referral to Resources
Individual and Family Counseling at home, in our offices, or in a hospital
Support and Advocacy
Spiritual Counseling
Volunteer Services-Doula to Accompany and Comfort and Bikur Cholim

Jewish Bereavement and Support Groups

We offer bereavement support groups that are individualized for specific types of loss, and for various Jewish cultural, spiritual, and religious needs. Our groups include participants with similar losses such as individuals who have lost spouses, parents, children, and other loved ones. We attempt to group participants of similar age. Our eight-week groups are co-lead by a Social Worker and a Rabbi, and are offered throughout the year. Currently, many of our groups are offered in partnership with the JCC of Manhattan and within individual synagogue congregations. Pre-registration is required and fees apply.

2008 Support Meetings for Bereaved Jews:

Parental Loss: eight week group starting February 5
Spousal Loss: eight week group starting February 14
Older Adult Spousal Loss: eight week group starting February 19
Groups for Parents who lost an Adult Child: January 28, February 25, March 24, April 14, May 19, June 30, July 28, September 22, October 27, November 24, December 29
Groups for Parents who lost a Young Child: January 17, February 14
M'kom Shalom for Jewish Survivors of a close one's suicide: January 9, February 13, March 12 April 9, May 14, June 11, July 9, August 13, September 10, October TBA, November 12, December 10

[More info on Bereavement Support Groups...]

Holiday Programs

The holidays can be a difficult time when experiencing the loss of a loved one. The Shira Ruskay Center offers three programs annually — Coping with the Empty Chair, Gathering the Generations in the Sukkah, and Lights in the Darkness, — to provide assistance and comfort during those times. All programs are facilitated by a Rabbi and a Social Worker, and are open to the public at no cost. Currently these programs are being offered at the JCC in Manhattan, but can also be offered in your community. Contact us for further information.

For more information or to register for our support groups or holiday programs, call 212 399-2685 ext. 211.

Rabbis and Cantors

Rabbis and cantors are called upon to provide care for patients and families who move through the trajectory of serious and life-threatening illness. This can be a daunting responsibility as it is added to the already heavy burden of ritual, teaching, and administrative responsibility. The Shira Ruskay Center provides information and support for clergy as they provide support for those facing serious or life-threatening illness, as well as loss.

The Shira Ruskay Center can:

serve as a resource to which patients and families may be referred.
provide information and resources to meet the needs of patients and families.
provide assistance in program planning for your community. Presentation topics include Health Care Proxies, Ethical Wills, End-of-Life Care, Effective Use of the Health Care System, Caring for Parents when Roles Reverse, and Hospice Care.
provide assistance to enable members of your community to learn to "share the care."
provide speakers and workshop leaders.
provide volunteer Doulas to accompany and comfort those who are at the end of life and have limited available supports.
provide individual pastoral support to the clergy person who is dealing with a situation that touches him/her in a particularly personal way.

Synagogues, JCCs, Y’s and Jewish Communal Organizations

People who have strong support systems cope more effectively with the stress of serious illness. Synagogues, community centers and communal organizations have the potential to be natural helping networks that provide their members with information, guidance and support; their ability to cope may thereby be enhanced.

We regularly give presentations and lead workshops tailored to groups large and small. Topics we have presented include: Ethical Wills: A Spiritual Legacy; Health Care Proxies: Honoring Your Wishes; Using the Health Care System Effectively; End-of-Life Care; Caring for Parents when Roles Reverse and Hospice Care.

We provide:

Assistance for community institutions to develop or increase their capacity to function as a strong mutual support system.
Support in planning programs for your community and offering speakers and workshops for your staff or community.
Volunteer Doulas to accompany and comfort those who are at the end of life and have limited available supports.
Information and resources for rabbis, cantors, staff members and community leaders to assist them in meeting the needs of congregants and members.

When planning educational programs for congregations, community centers and other Jewish organizations
When members need assistance in coping with serious or life-threatening illness
When sharing the care and, developing mutual support or Bikur Cholim is a goal

©2008 The Shira Ruskay Center
120 West 57th Street · New York, NY 10019
Phone: (212) 664-1632 · Fax: (212) 399-2475 ·
[JBFCS site] [Jewish Connections Programs]