FW: More about Bikkur Cholim

[Estee Portnoy]

Wexies,

Here is an email from Erica Brown for those of you who missed last night.

As an FYI, Erica did not charge us for her class last night, so we made a donation of $180.00 to Bikur Cholim in her honor. 

Enjoy the heat….

Estee R. Portnoy | Senior Vice-President | JUMP.DC

(:: 202.721.7209/ 202.686.5050 fx
8:: estee....@jumpdc.com 
*:: 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 720 | Washington DC | 20015

From: <ericab...@gmail.com> on behalf of Erica Brown <er...@ericabrown.com>
Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 9:09 AM
To: Estee Portnoy <Estee....@jumpdc.com>
Subject: More about Bikkur Cholim

Estee,

Thanks so much for opening up your home last night and for having your boys join us. I was hoping you could send out this follow-up e-mail with more information to the group - even those who were not able to join us. Hugs - Erica

Dear Friends,

I want to thank those of you who joined us for the collaborative Wexner session on the mitzva to visit the sick: bikur cholim. It was an important text-based discussion on the centrality of kindness in our tradition and the isolating impact of illness. And while you can "visit" the sick through a phone call in Jewish law, this is only when a person refuses visitors or is simply too far away for your company. Rabbi Moses Feinstein, one of the great Jewish legalists of the last century, stresses that the visit is not only about companionship but about prayer. When we see a person in a state of vulnerability, our own compassion and awareness is triggered. Many of us who are care-taking for aging parents, who have lost friends to the ravages of sickness or who suffer ourselves from chronic pain understand the gift of company and the kindness of strangers.

As I mentioned last night, we have not only a personal responsibility to nurture the sick, we have this as a collective, communal opportunity. We are privileged in the DC area to house the NIH, one of the most highly regarded health facilities in the world. Right now, Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington is in the process of renovating a respite house for Jewish patients seeking treatment at the NIH. Think of it as a kosher Ronald McDonald house. For those seeking experimental treatment, the NIH may be their last stop, and we as a Jewish community can help them find support and friendship in this frightening time in the life of a family.

I volunteered to give last night's class to create an awareness of this mitzva and this house - that many of us pass on a daily basis: 9014 Old Georgetown Road. We should be really proud that the DC area will now offer this facility. Bikkur Cholim has been operating in this area for 20 years yet many of us do not even know about the services it offers. If you would like to donate or volunteer, please click on https://bikurcholimgw.org/. If you and your family would like a tour of the house, please contact Audrey Siegel at aud...@bikurcholimgw.org.

As we studied last night: "The world rests upon three things: Torah, service and acts of loving-kindness" [Ethics of the Fathers 1:2]. Caring for the sick is identified as one of those acts of loving-kindness. As leaders in the community, you can help others overcome some of the discomfort of this mitzva and help people face illness with greater dignity and love. Thank you for doing so and for all you do.

Erica

Dr. Erica Brown

www.ericabrown.com

One Page a Day!

[Mindy Berger]

Thanks and so sorry I couldn't be there last night!

Mindy

Sent with AquaMail for Android
http://www.aqua-mail.com

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WHP Washington DC 13" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to whp-washington-d...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.