OU and Partners to Present When Serious Illness Strikes, at Congregation Shaaray Tefila, November 14

26 Oct 2007

OU AND PARTNERS TO PRESENT WHEN SERIOUS ILLNESS STRIKES, AT CONGREGATION SHAARAY TEFILA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14

In recognition that when serious illness strikes in an Orthodox family a whole range of difficult decisions — medical, legal and financial — have to be made in accordance with Jewish law, the Orthodox Union, the Metropolitan Jewish Health System and The Jewish Healing and Hospice Alliance, an initiative of UJA-Federation of New York will present a free communal symposium, When Serious Illness Strikes and Decisions Have to Be Made: Who Decides – the Patient, the Physician, the Rabbi, the Family? A Practical Guide for Orthodox Families.

The conference is a national program of the OU Department of Community services. It will be held Wednesday evening, November 14, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. at Congregation Shaaray Tefila, 25 Central Avenue in Lawrence.

“When there is very little time, families are faced with tremendous pressure to make the right choices. The evening’s presenters are experts in their fields and will guide today’s families to make appropriate and informed choices for their loved ones,” declared Frank Buchweitz, OU Director of Community Services.
The program will consist of a panel discussion featuring the following speakers and topics:

• Halachic Considerations, with Rabbi Hershel Schachter, halachic consultant to OU Kosher; Rosh Yeshiva, Rosh Kollel of Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary;

• Legal and Financial Aspects, with Eytan Kobre, Esq., eldercare attorney;

• Medical Challenges and Concerns, with Beth Popp, MD, Associate Program Director of Hematology/Oncology, Maimonides Medical Center; Associate Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine;

• Family Support Services, with Rabbi Jay Yaakov Schwartz, MSW, Rabbinic Liaison, Metropolitan Jewish Health System.

For more information, contact Frank Buchweitz, OU Director of Community Services, at 212-613-8188, or frank@ou.org, or visit www.ou.org or call Toby Weiss at 718-759-4342, or tweiss@mjhs.org.