SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 | 35

R

eflecting on relation-
ships is a part of the 
High Holidays every 
year, but it’s taken on a new 
meaning in the context of this 
past year.
The isolation brought about 
by the pandemic is challenging 
people to recalibrate and ask 
themselves what really matters 
at the end of the day: To reflect 
on what they can release and 
what overall relationships they 
can reengage with in a mean-
ingful way. 
For Rabbi Joseph Krakoff, 
senior director of the Jewish 
Hospice and 
Chaplaincy 
Network (JHCN), 
these are ques-
tions that come 
up throughout the 
year. He’s involved 
with helping people 
reflect on their lives 
daily as part of the spiritual care 
the organization provides.
This gives people a chance to 
explore their lives and legacies 
— and allows JHCN clients to 
see the impact their lives have 
had and the ways they’ve lived 
with purpose. 
However, this message, now 

more than ever, is for everybody, 
he explains, and part of more 
conversations because of the 
pandemic and the approaching 
new year. 
“I think it can be very uplift-
ing, especially going through a 
pandemic. It gives us a chance to 
step back and say, ‘wait a minute 
here, my life is a blessing,
’ and 
‘am I living my best life?’ — and 
if not, what do I have to do to 
make it happen,
” he says. “Those 
are all opportunities to make 
positive changes.
” 
People don’t have to wait until 
the end of their lives to open the 
door to this kind of introspec-
tion and what adjustments they 
might want to make, he says. 
It can be an optimistic and 
forward-thinking process, he 

adds, as people wake up to 
the message of living more in 
the moment, appreciating the 
moment and not putting things 
off because of life’s unpredictabil-
ity. Exploring one’s relationships, 
connections to family, expres-
sions of gratitude and the ability 
to put their authentic selves into 
their interactions are all mean-
ingful places to start.
“It’s real and it’s relevant, 
as a result of what we’ve been 
through as a world. It resonates 
more powerfully than it may 
have resonated previously, with a 
larger swath of people.
”

END-OF-LIFE SUPPORT 
As the High Holidays approach, 
George Glassman of Sylvan Lake 
is thinking about the tight family 

bonds his late parents, Debbie 
and Jerry, valued so much. They 
instilled those values of family, 
and of being caring and compas-
sionate, from the start. “That’s 
how we were raised,
” he says. 
“My father lost both of his par-
ents as a teen … for him, family 
was everything.
”
He’s mindful of those messag-
es every day. They were passed 
on to him and his siblings, and 
then to the next generation. 
As he and his sisters, Lenore 
and Judith, worked together to 
support their parents during the 
ends of their lives, their bond 
grew stronger. The whole family 
came together as a unit. 
“It reinforced all the things 
we always knew were import-
ant,” he explains. “This was a 
perfect example of taking care 
of those who needed help.” It 
also highlighted the impor-
tance of being there for each 
other, he says. 
“It was very comforting that 
we were all there together. 
Whether we were there for 
painting, singing, whatever it 
was, it was spending quality 
time.”
Glassman also savors the time 
Jerry spent interacting with 
great-granddaughter Elsa, and 
the intergenerational connection 
they had in the last weeks of his 
life. “It was this incredibly touch-
ing moment … there was this 
incredible bond,
” he explains.
In dealing with loss, the hol-
iday tropes are magnified, he 
says. He’s making sure to take 
the time to enjoy life and fami-
ly — seeing his granddaughter, 
visiting with his daughter and 
son-in-law who recently moved 
back to Michigan, and more. 
“You never forget, nor should 
you ever forget, those who have 
enriched our lives,” he says. “It’s 
a special time of year, a time 
of reflection — of reassessing 
what’s important, hopefully 
living the following year as a 
better person, and doing more 
good for others.” 

HIGH HOLIDAYS

LEFT: George Glassman and family. RIGHT: George Glassman’s late 
parents, Jerry and Debbie.

High Holidays are the perfect time 
to concentrate on relationships.
Time for Refl
 ection

Rabbi 
Joseph 
Krakoff

KAREN SCHWARTZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

