Life, Faith, and Cancer - Softcover

Rabbi Douglas J. Kohn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807410594 ISBN 13: 9780807410592

Publisher: URJ Press, 2007

Synopsis

When the diagnosis of illness shatters the veneer of our normal, comfortable, predictable course of life, we are embittered and confused. Why me?; is a question that reverberates uncontrollably in our heads. Cancer, especially, provokes such a response. With time, Why me is replaced by, What now?; Today, more and more people are surviving cancer. How do we keep going afterward? How do we maintain the connection to Judaism and God that we once had? Do we need to rethink everything we once unwaveringly believed in? This moving volume of essays written by rabbis, cantors, and other Jewish professionals who have all experienced cancer deal with these questions and many more. Their personal stories are interwoven with Jewish texts and teachings. Part I. Diagnosos: So, You ve Got Cancer 1. Discovering Vulnerability Rabbi Sue Elwell 2. Not Knowing Could Be Your Biggest Heath Risk Joy Wasserman 3. Why Me Rabbi Doug Kohn 4. Facing Mortality Rabbi Michael Balinky 5. Leaening and Discovering Systems of Support Rabbi Hirshel Jaffe, Rabbi James Rudin, and Marcia Rudin 6. Developing a New Reality Rabbi Elaine Zecher Part II Treatment 7. How to Pursue : The Obligation to Heal Rabbi William Cutter 8. Facing Treatment Rabbi Stacia Deutsch 9. Leaving it Behind Harriet Levine 10. A Spiritual Dimension Cantorial Soloist Diane Becker Kransnick 11. Convention and Experimental Options Rabbi Andrew Sklarz 12. Beginning Recovery, Finding Blessings Cantor Vicki Axe Part III Recovery 13. A New Routine, A New Me - Rebecca Meyer Carr 14. The Lump, The Bump, or the Swallow: Is it Cancer? Rabbi Randi Musnitsky 15. Cancer Time: A Month, Six Months, Twelve Months Rabbi Jonathan M. Brown 16. We, The Licky Ones Rabbi Myra Soifer 17. Surviving the Valley: A Journey without a Beginning Rabbi Stanley Davids 18. Our Sacramental Personality Rabbi Gary Phillip Zola 19. The New Can Become Holy Rabbi Yael Ridberg

About this title

About the Author:

Rabbi Douglas Kohn became the fifth Rabbi of San Bernardino s 150 year-old Congregation Emanu El in 2001, coming from Illinois where he had been Rabbi of Beth Tikvah Congregation in Hoffman Estates for seven years. Previously, Rabbi Kohn was Assistant Rabbi at Buffalo s Temple Beth Zion and Associate Rabbi at Baltimore s Temple Oheb Shalom. At Congregation Emanu El, Rabbi Kohn has invigorated Israel programming, generated creative worship observances, introduced conversational Hebrew and family education in the Religious School, and developed communal study programs. Concerned with social justice, community relations and Israel, Rabbi Kohn served for eight years on the Reform Movement s National Commission on Social Action, and currently serves on the National Board of ARZA the Association of Reform Zionists of America. In the summer of 2006, Rabbi Kohn was an ARZA delegate to the 35th World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem, at which he participated in deliberations, debate and decision-making on the future of Zionism. A speaker at many national and regional conferences, especially on Israel matters and teaching Hebrew, Rabbi Kohn also has taught Judaism and The Holocaust at local colleges. Locally in Inland Southern California, Rabbi Kohn is involved in community life. He regularly is a speaker or participant in community events, and has spoken or taught at the University of Redlands, California State University San Bernardino and Loma Linda University. Rabbi Kohn serves on the boards of several local organizations, including the Arrowhead United Way, and is a Past President of the San Bernardino Clergy Association. Rabbi Douglas Kohn graduated from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, in 1981, and received his Masters Degree in Hebrew Letters from the Hebrew Union College (Los Angeles) in 1985. Rabbi Kohn was ordained at the Hebrew Union College (Cincinnati) in 1987. He has published numerous articles in the secular press and in Jewish periodicals, and has published in his initial academic interest, American Jewish History and American Jewish archives. Also, he likes to call himself the foreign correspondent for the San Bernardino Sun, as he has written four series of feature stories during his travels to Israel and Europe. Rabbi Kohn was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. After surgeries and radiation, he is thankfully recovered, and has edited a book addressing cancer from the experience of Jewish clergy. Entitled, Life, Faith and Cancer: Jewish Journeys Through Diagnosis, Treatment and Recovery, the book includes his story and teachings, and those of eighteen other Jewish clergy and leaders who also have endured cancer, and is published by URJ Press (December, 2007) Rabbi Kohn is married to Susan Reva Bloom, a Holistic Health Practitioner, and is the father of Benjamin and Elena. He resides in Redlands, CA. (10/07)

About this edition

• Publisher: URJ Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0807410594
• ISBN 13: 9780807410592
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 255
• Editor: Rabbi Douglas J. Kohn