1942 - 2021
Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week
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MISSION STATEMENT The Detroit Jewish News will be of service to the Jewish community. The Detroit Jewish
News will inform and educate the Jewish and general community to preserve, protect and sustain the Jewish
people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.
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ecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the
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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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6 | MARCH 18 • 2021
guest column
How Life-Links and Jewish Hospice
& Chaplaincy Helped Us on Our
Long, Final Journey
I
write this because so many
people in our Jewish com-
munity may not know about
this amazing strong life raft,
which I found when we were
floundering.
The Jewish Hospice &
Chaplaincy Network’s Life-
Links Palliative Care Program is
profoundly integrated into the
needs of families facing months,
perhaps years, on that journey
toward a final rest. I pray our
experience may help countless
others who do not know where
to turn.
Throughout my beloved
Ellsworth’ s final few years of
his decade-long battle with
Parkinson’s, Rabbi Bunny
Freedman, Rabbi Joey Krakoff
and Natalie Rosenfeld, and
countless other support team
members, helped us main-
tain a rich and meaningful
life at home. Perhaps the first
right step I took three or four
years ago, was that phone call
I made to Jewish Hospice &
Chaplaincy.
At that time, after many
letdowns, my husband was on
the brink of despair and deep
depression.
I knew of Jewish Hospice, I
had worked in the community
with both rabbis and, in des-
peration, I called this lifegiving
hotline. Within one day, we
had our first visit from Natalie,
and our lives took on new hope
and tranquility. Through the
Life-Links program, we became
a part of a support group so
beautiful, so reassuring, that we
never again felt abandoned by a
system.
The many visits by Rabbi
Bunny, Rabbi Joey and Natalie
offered us the spiritual guid-
ance and introspection needed
to carry us through our long
continued on page 8
PURELY COMMENTARY
Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff (left) and Rabbi Bunny Freedman (right) visited
with Janet and Ellsworth Levine many times during his final years.
JANET BIRNKRANT LEVINE CONTRIBUTING WRITER