8 Friday, June 29, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS LOCAL NEWS Need for Jewish hospice seen ISRAEL BONDS BY HEIDI PRESS Local News Editor For the first time ever!. Norman Allan & Son will accept your Israel Bonds (old or new)* at face value, plus interest as payment towards the purchase of any diamond, ring, watch, diamond necklace or any of a large assortment of gold jewelry. If you don't happen to own an Israel Bond - NOW is the time to purchase one, and we'll accept your bond as payment towards any purchase in our showroom. Excluding 1984 bonds for $250. • Norman Allan Consultant Fine Jewelers 30400 Telegraph Rd. Birmingham, MI 48010 Suite 104/134 rhone: 642-5575 Larry Allan President f III HRS. DAILY . . . 'til 5:30 THURSDAY . . 'tiI8:30 SATURDAY '. . . 't115:00 "Retail courtesies at Wholesale Prices" •" .1 • z4i.f "4 r*1 "The Jewish community provides agencies which meet the needs of Jews for education, for health care, for social service — the need to provide hospice care under Jewish auspices is no less important." Rabbi Irwin Groner, spiritual leader of Cong. Shaarey Zedek and domes- tic affairs committee chairman of the Synagogue Council of America, told The Jewish News this week why he saw a need for a hos- pice operated under Jewish communal auspices. Rabbi Groner said the , need is multifaceted. "When we provide cure, that service is essentially not religious. It operates in- dependently of religion and faith. The hospice provides a program of care for termi- nally ill patients when curative measures are no longer possible. In provid- ing that care, religion and faith are integral compo- nents." First, he said, the hospice, under Jewish auspices, can answer questions of faith. Among these: what is the meaning of my life, what will happen to me after death, what will happen to my family, in what way will my existence and my life endure here on earth. In a hospice not under Jewish auspices these questions can be answered by anyone, but in a Jewish hospice, they can be answered Jewishly. Secondly, he said, is the matter of "clinical applica- tion of Jewish values to the dying." Rabbi Groner said that just as there is a Halachah for certain Jewish celebrations, so is there a Halachah for the caring of the dying. He said its components include: "in- forming the patient of his condition, the way in which we are to visit the sick and the manner in which we en- able the patient to find sol- ace, comfort and forgive- ness." But, he said, an issue arises out of this: "Judaism affirms the requirement to prolong life, is there also a requirement to prolong suf- fering?" Thirdly, Rabbi Groner said a hospice under Jewish auspices will be responsive to the needs of a Jewish patient, because it can pro- vide kosher food as well as the other accoutrements of a Jewish lifestyle and tradi- tion, citing Shabbat obser- vance in particular. Finally, he said the hos- pice provides an environ- ment "in which family, community and faith be- came a support system to overcome the sense of lonel- iness and abandonment the dying often fedi' , ( 4 4 4 .444 , 4 ,^4,-(roltik-4,1k. ,.., Rabbi Irwin Groner, left, was joined at the National Conference on Hospice for the Jewish Community by Detroiters Allen Juris, Madalyn Rosen and Robert A. Steinberg, president of the Jewish Home for Aged. Asked how he became in- terested in the hospice movement, Rabbi Groner said it came out of personal experience as a rabbi. As part of the mitzvah of visit- ing the sick, Rabbi Groner came in contact with many terminally ill patients and their families, and saw how the families struggle. But for the Jewish patient, hos- pitals and the Hospice of Southeastern Michigan jsut weren't fulfilling the reli- gious needs. "There needs to be a bet- ter approach — one that can improve the quality of life when the quantity of life can't be extended." He said he plans to bring to the attention of the Jewish community, the need for a hospice under Jewish auspices, and said he hopes that a communal advisory committee, formed under the aegis of the Jewish Welfare Federation can be established. He said the members of such a committee should include representatives from Sinai Hospital, the Jewish Home for Aged, Jewish Family Service, the synagogue community, Federation as well as medical and social service professionals. •And what can the Jewish community at large do? Fifst, he said, is understand the need for such a service. Secondly, at the outset, funding is needed from pri- vate donations. Thirdly, is the dire need for volunteers. But, ultimately, he said "the Jewish community must assign the important priority to support an initial hospice program." Rabbi Groner has just re- turned from the first Na- tional Conference on Hos- pice for the Jewish Commu- nity, during which leaders of the hospice movement in U.S.. Jewish communities gathered to encourage the formation of hospices under Jewish auspices and pro- vide information and re- 'sofiiiesf ' ti • • 4 . . , . e WP 41. t It :t tt r • 1 _ Jewish communities which already have hospice programs include those in Los Angeles, Calif.; the Bronx, Brooklyn and Syra- cuse, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.; and Rockland, Md. Rabbi Groner said the av- erage stay of a hospice patient is about six months, but support is provided for the family up to one year fol- lowing the death of their loved love. Parley explores plight of Jewish education Jerusalem (JTA) — The Jewish world has not taken education seriously enough, and it should adopt a more organized approach to the issue, Morton L. Mandel, chairman of the World Leadership Conference for Jewish Education, said Fri- day. The three-day confer- ence was held in Jerusalem last week. Mandel, 63, a business- man from Cleveland, has been involved in Jewish education for the past 30 years. In recent years, he said, he has come to the con- clusion that Jewish educa- tion is not taken seriously enough, and that not enough children receive a serious Jewish education. The key to improving the situation, according to Mandel, is "to enlarge the quality and the quantity of Jewish education." This can . be achieved by better understanding of the needs, by careful Planning, and by appropriate funds, the said. Mandel carefully noted that funds are placed last, because even existing funds for Jewish education are not spent wisely. "In the U.S. we spend $400 million a year on Jewish education, but we are not getting our rOrtit'