Seekers of Meaning 01/14/2022: Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW

Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW

Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, LCSW, retired in 2020 from his position as Rabbinic Director of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City.  For more than 25 years, through the National Center of Jewish Healing and the New York Jewish Healing Center, he wrote and taught about the use of Jewish spiritual resources in confronting illness, loss, and trauma. With treasured colleagues in the Jewish Healing world, he developed approaches to Jewish spiritual counseling and support groups, and a broad range of workshops and materials that integrate Jewish traditional resources with mental health perspectives. 

He has trained thousands of social workers, rabbis, chaplains, doctors, nurses, and others around the U.S., Canada, and Israel, and took part in numerous Jewish and interfaith conferences on subjects ranging from The Legacy of 9/11, Domestic Violence, Depression, Suicide, Forgiveness, Shame, Family Relationships, and more. 

For nearly 15 years, he was an Adjunct Lecturer in Pastoral Skills at JTS, teaching courses in Loss and Bereavement, Jewish Spiritual Counseling, and Behavioral Health. 

Among his many writings are Healing of Soul, Healing of Body (Jewish Lights, 1994) and Guide Me Along the Way: A Jewish Spiritual Companion for Surgery (NCJH/Jewish Board, 2001), as well as many essays, articles, prayers, and rituals.

In 1999, Rabbi Weintraub founded M’kom Shalom, a monthly support group for Jews (and others) who have lost a close one to suicide, now marking its 22^nd  year of offering spiritual, emotional, and communal support.