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What The Doctor Ordered
Jennifer Tisdale, first rabbinic intern for the Jewish Hospice
and Chaplaincy Network, deepens her connection to the community.
SHARON LUCKERMAN
Staff Writer
R
abbi E.B. "Bunny" Freedman, director of the
Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network in
Southfield, was in a quandary this spring.
He wanted — needed — an intern to help
him with his growing chaplaincy program.
The Orthodox rabbi observed Jennifer Tisdale, 24, a
Reform rabbinical student, from the summer before
when she was one the first of two rab-
binic interns at William Beaumont
Hospital's Clinical Pastoral Education
(CPE) program.
"Jennifer was a very outgoing and capa-
ble chaplain," the rabbi said. But still he
had some trepidation before she started.
"Frankly," he said, "I worried she'd be a
drag on my style. I'm always going."
Rabbi Freedman wears many hats —
organizational, pastoral, administrative —
and works with rabbis from all streams of
Judaism. Would Tisdale get lost and need
more direction than he had time to give?
So young, would she be overwhelmed by a
focus on end-of-life experiences? How
would she be able to interact with the
other CPE rabbis?
Jennifer Tisdale
But Tisdale hit the road running as his
intern, to the great relief of Rabbi Freedman.
He had met his match in the young rabbinical student.
"Rabbi Freedman and I decided we work great together
because neither of us can sit still," said Tisdale, a third-year
student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion in Cincinnati.
Tisdale didn't wait for the rabbi to get her started, he
said. She took the initiative to call the other hospice rabbis
and found her own work.
She also took a second credit of CPE (400 hours of work)
at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak and, midway through
her summer, got involved in a pilot project with Jewish
Family Service.
"She's so energetic, we piled a lot on her," said the rabbi.
"I was afraid she would become dispirited and disillusioned,
but she just kept running."
The Inspirational Moment
If you picture a bookish student, weary from overwork and
too busy for family and friends, think again. Jennifer
Tisdale is a buoyant young woman whose warmth and
openness belie her strong sense of purpose in life. She has a
deep-seated desire to serve others and especially the Detroit
Jewish community where she grew up.
Over the phone, she sounds like the "girl next door,"
with a little twang her generation has that draws out its syl-
lables [Hiiyyy].
"Becoming a rabbi is something Jennifer talked about for
a long time, said her father David Tisdale of West
Bloomfield, executive director of Temple Israel. "She saw it
as a way to interact with people and to help."
It was a particular incident five years ago that pointed her
in the direction of chaplaincy work.
Tisdale was very close to her aunt
dying in a Chicago hospital. "A
rabbi came into her room serving as
the chaplain," said Tisdale, "and I
was in awe of his calm and the way
he respected my aunt and my fami-
ly."
The rabbi brought peace to her
family, Tisdale said, and she decided
then that if she became a rabbi she
would do this kind of work in
honor of her aunt.
"The experience changed me," she
said.
This summer Tisdale had a chance
to develop her chosen direction.
She found she had many teachers
in the other rabbis in the hospice pro-
gram.
"The rabbis I worked with this summer were wonderful
and I took something away from each of them."
Orthodox Rabbi Hershel Klainberg, for example, "had a
high level of respect and a sense of humor that brought so
much healing to people," she said. Once they visited a man
with dementia who only remembered Yiddish. "So Rabbi
Klainberg joked with him in Yiddish," she said, "which
probably made his week."
Hospice work is not always easy. Sometimes, Tisdale
drives home from the hospital wishing she could do more
for a patient. But other times, "she's thrilled" by her suc-
cesses in helping.
One who was wheelchair-bound had difficulty getting to
services. Tisdale arranged to have her picked up by the syn-
agogue, where she also was connected to a group of other
physically challenged adults.
Rabbi Freedman summed his thoughts about Tisdale:
"Jennifer's dream is to come back to the community. She's
her family s gift to us.
"You can probably read between the lines," he added.
"I'm hoping that by nurturing Jennifer, we will get her to
come back and become part of our network." ❑
Remember
When •
From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.
1991
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.,
became the first American allowed
to use a passport marked with an
Israeli visa to enter Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait.
Dr. Abraham Nemeth, a retired
mathematics professor, was
appointed by Gov. John Engler as
chair of the Michigan Commission
for the Blind.
1981
Twenty students in Israel completed
classes in Krav Maga, the Israeli
self-defense technique, and will
begin teaching it in the U.S.
Beth Olem Cemetery on Smith
Street in Detroit's Poletown has
been temporarily closed due to con-
struction in the area; it will be sur-
rounded by the General Motors
plant.
Detroiter Rosemary K. Wolock,
immediate past president of the
Women Lawyers Association of
Michigan has been appointed by
the governor to the State Board of
Law Examiners.
1971
A new $40 million shopping devel-
opment is planned for the center of
Tel Aviv, along Dizengoff Street.
Zubin Mehta and the Israeli
Philharmonic planned a benefit
concert in Tel Aviv for the refugee
children of East Pakistan families.
1961
Three Israeli actors left Tel Aviv for
Poland by invitation of the ministry
of culture to give readings of works
by Sholem Aleichem.
1951
Forty-three students of the Israel
Air Force graduated from the Cal-
Aero Technical Institute in
Glendale, Calif.
Rabbi Leon Fram of Temple
Israel was one of the narrators for
the "City of Freedom," Detroit's
250th birthday pageant.
'
—Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant
8/31
2001
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