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A forum for the Jewish Community with resources and texts which feature discussions on the implications of the revolution in longevity for Baby Boomers and their families.
D'VAR TORAH - We Welcome Rabbi Alan Berg
Thought Piece: Making a Difference in Caring
by Rabbi Anne Brener
February, 2010 FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION A few weeks ago I had one of those encounters that reinforce my belief that many of our generation really do live in what I call the "club-sandwich" generation. It was a Tuesday afternoon. I was working at home most of the day. About 2pm I left home to drive to visit my mom, who is 94 and in an assisted living facility about 40 minutes away. We had, what is now, a standard 2 hour visit; reviewing her issues about the facility, staff, medication and general life concerns. I left her and drove across town to meet my son-in-law at the local JCC to then pick up my 9 month old grand daughter to drive her back to meet her mom. A typical act, a typical day for so many boomers who flow back and forth over the care-giving spectrum in the course of a day. From one generation, and one set of relationships; to another. From being son to grandfather in a few moments; while still being husband, father and, oh yes, working. This is no longer untypical. The multi-generational care-giving issue is now a fact of life for many of us. It is, at the same time, a joy and a challenge; managing schedules, logistics, commitments and needs. An additional challenge, of course, is when some of these logistics involve long-distance care-giving. This issue creates even more stress as some of us have to negotiate travel schedules as well as parental and grandparent demands. One of the underlying challenges in all of this is the need to keep taking care of our own self. It is easy to get lost in the sea of logistics and schedules. Jewish tradition teaches the need for balance in life. Maimonides referred to this as his "golden mean"; the need to live life in balance, for when we allow our lives to be out of balance, illness strikes. Let me suggest that this is a most important message. Many of us have friends (or are ourselves) involved in multi-generational care-giving issues. The demands can be overwhelming. The stresses can be powerful. Remember the tradition's caution; take time for your self, take time to recharge and renew and to allow the balance of life to be recalibrated. Shalom, Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min
WELCOME TO JEWISHSACREDAGING.COM
Close to 20% of the contemporary North American Jewish Community is age 65 and older. Medical technology and health awareness has now produced the longest living, healthiest, most mobile, affluent and most spiritually challenging cohort of older Jewish adults that has ever lived. Indeed, this multi-generational cohort has done much to challenge stereo-types of aging. Now, that group is being joined by the first wave of their children’s generation; then baby boomers. According to Shalom,
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min
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