14 | MARCH 14 • 2024
see us,” Ashin said. “Being in
the hospital over a holiday is
the worst. Patients feel very
alone and miss their families.
They were so grateful for a
visit and to receive our little
turkey cupcakes.”
Each week, the experience
is different. Patients are
admitted and released.
Mothers in the maternity
ward are proud and happy
to show off their new babies.
For other patients, these
visits are a regular highlight
in a long hospitalization, and
relationships are sometimes
formed.
Many patients gratefully
accept the offer of Shabbat
candles and find comfort
in them. One patient kept
the candles “lit” during
her entire hospitalization
because they made her feel
connected to God and to the
Jewish community.
On one memorable visit,
Pichette visited intensive care
and saw an elderly patient,
eyes closed, hooked up to all
different machines.
“I walked over to him
and said, ‘I just wanted to
wish you a good Shabbos’
… and he started crying,”
remembered Pichette. “His
eyes were closed, but tears
were rolling down his face
and he kept saying ‘Someone
here is Jewish, someone’s
Jewish.”
SUPPORTIVE
HOSPITAL TEAMS
This segment of Bikur
Cholim of Detroit is
successful thanks to the
support of the hospitals and
the Spiritual Care offices.
Both Pichette and Ashin said
Beaumont and Ascension are
extremely accommodating
and a pleasure to interact
with. They wanted to ensure
that all Jewish patients know
that many local hospitals
have Jewish chaplains, just
ready and waiting to help
them, as well as devoted and
caring staff in the Spiritual
Care departments.
Those chaplains and staff
think just as highly of the
Bikur Cholim volunteers.
“The volunteers are so
sweet,” raved Amity Lovette,
manager of
Spiritual Care
for Ascension.
“They’re
enthusiastic,
passionate, caring
and dedicated.
They clearly love
what they do. They even
prayed for me when I had
health stuff going on! Their
visits make a tremendous
difference to patients, who
feel so out of sorts when
they’re in the hospital.”
Rabbi Jeremy Yoskowitz is
a staff chaplain and clinical
ethicist at
Corewell Health
in Southeast
Michigan, a
position he has
held on a full-
time or part-time
basis since 2015.
“The Bikur
Cholim volunteers are
incredibly thoughtful and
kind people who work hard
to enhance the lives of our
Jewish patients so they
can observe Shabbat and
chagim,” he said. “They’re
here only to give. People love
their visits.
“The volunteers are
fulfilling the idea of walking
in God’s ways. The Rabbi
Hama bar Hanina teaches
in the Talmud on Sotah 14a
that this refers to acting in a
way that emulates God. Just
as our tradition teaches that
God visited Abraham as he
was sick, so, too, should we
visit the sick.”
According to Yoskowitz,
about 4-6% of patients at
Corewell Health William
Beaumont University
Hospital in Royal Oak are
Jewish. He shared that
the hospital is working on
expanding a kosher menu for
their Jewish patients.
“As a chaplain, I see that
many really need spiritual
care, which, of course we’re
happy to provide,” Yoskowitz
said. “But others just need
to feel acknowledged and
remembered.
“The fact that members of
our community voluntarily
walk through this huge
hospital building, just to
visit them … well, that’s just
powerfully healing for them,
on both a practical and
spiritual level.”
Bikur Cholim of Detroit is seeking
more volunteers of any gender and
any age to join the visitors program.
They also hope to expand to other
hospitals. To volunteer or for further
information, email volunteers@
bikurcholimdetroit.com.
OUR COMMUNITY
Amity
Lovette
Rabbi
Jeremy
Yoskowitz
continued from page 13
Volunteers Jeff Lazar, Sue Lazar, Sarah Wayntraub,
Barbara Pichette, Deedee Berman, Tzipi Ashin and Iris Farhi