NeshamaCast

Rabbi Scott Klein serves as a U.S. Army Chaplain with the rank of Captain and is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and as the Garrison Rabbi at Fort Bragg, NC - the largest military installation in the world by population. A champion of communication, education and leadership, Rabbi Klein holds a doctorate in educational leadership.  His rabbinical ordination is from the Academy for Jewish Re...

Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of Jewish Sacred Aging . Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and b...

Rabbi Lynn Liberman, BCC, is the President of NAJC. She works as the Jewish Community Chaplain of the Twin Cities.   Ordained in 1993 from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Lynn worked over 20 years in congregations before moving into full-time chaplaincy.   In addition to her Community Chaplain position, Lynn also works as a Per Diem Chaplain at two area Hospitals, including a Trauma On...

"Raising Awareness of Intergenerational Trauma for Jewish Patients and Families" is a recording of a presentation that took place at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida on January 21, 2026. Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD., is the keynote speaker.  Panelists: Keynote Speaker: Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD. Psychotherapist & Author of Wounds Into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational...

Reva Judas is the Founder and Director of NechamaComfort. For more information on the organization's work supporting Jewish families through pregnancy and infant loss, click here or go to www.nechamacomfort.org.  Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn, BCC, is the Immediate Past President of NAJC. For information and resources related to Jewish spiritual care and chaplaincy, click here or go to www.najc.o...

This episode is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Chaplain Ilisia Kissner, BCC (1953- 2026) Chaplain Ilisia Kissner, of blessed memory, served the Jewish community as an educator for over 25 years, both as a teacher and principal in synagogue schools. Her B.A. is from Queens College in New York, M.A. from New York University and Principal’s Certification from the Jewish Theological Seminary of A...

Chaplains in healthcare settings are often called upon to work in clinical ethics. In this episode of the Neshamacast, Chaplain Karen Lieberman, Rabbi Jason Weiner and Rabbi Neal Loevinger discuss the intersection between the fields of chaplaincy and clinical ethics and challenges and opportunities that arise as a result. About the guests on this episode Chaplain Karen Lieberman , JD, MSJS, MA, BC...

Bassie Taubes, RN, is the Director of Community Outreach for Ematai. Go to www.ematai.org for more information and resources.  Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn, BCC, is the President of NAJC. For information and resources related to Jewish spiritual care and chaplaincy, go to www.najc.org.  About our host: Rabbi Edward Bernstein , BCC, is the executive producer and host of NeshamaCast. He serves as...

NAJC and NeshamaCast are pleased to share this edition of the Exit Strategy podcast in which host, Stephanie Garry leads a conversation with Dr. Diane Meier — Founder and Director Emerita of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) — and Rabbi Dr. Edith Meyerson, BCC — Director of Pastoral Counseling and Bereavement Services at the Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in...

Rabbi Fredda Cohen recently retired after a distinguished tenure as Director of Pastoral Care & Education at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York. She managed a staff of six chaplains and numerous volunteers. She has rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary and is a board certified chaplain under the auspices of NAJC. Rabbi Cohen received the prestigious Chaplain of the...

Rabbi Mia Simring was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary, in her native New York City. She also holds a certificate in Pastoral Care and Counseling and has focused her rabbinic work on chaplaincy in hospitals, long term care facilities, and now, correctional facilities. She is currently serving as a Jewish Chaplain for the New York City Department of Correction, working with both pre- and...

Rabbi Myrna Matsa, BCC, D. Min., was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and served as a congregational rabbi both as senior rabbi in a small southern congregation and as an assistant in a large mid-western synagogue.  She has earned a Doctor of Ministry degree which brings together psychology and theology, and she is also a Board Certified Chaplain.  She has worked in a variety of medical...

NeshamaCast is off for the summer, gearing up for an engaging Season 3. But in the meantime, we’re pleased to bring you this special bonus episode featuring NAJC’s Vice President Rebecca Kamil, BCC. Rabbi Kamil serves as a chaplain for the CLL Society in the Minneapolis area. The CLL Society supports and advocates for cancer patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma...

Rabbi Dr. Shira Stern, BCC, serves as Disaster Spiritual Care Manager for the American Red Cross and as ARC Division Advisor for the Northeast and Lead for Massachusetts and Northern New England.  Her ARC deployment to the 2025 LA Fires was featured in the Berkshire Eagle .  She previously appeared on NeshamaCast in Episode 2 . She served as Consulting Editor for Mishkan Refuah: Where Healing Resi...

Rabbi Gabe Kretzmer Seed serves as a Jewish chaplain in the New York City Department of Correction where he provides religious services and spiritual support primarily for Jewish inmates. He also teaches and tutors for children and adults in the community, and provides research support for a number of Jewish Studies scholars, including as a research assistant to Rabbi Irving Greenberg for his accl...

Rabbi Aaron Lever serves as Director of Spiritual Care at Menorah Life in St. Petersburg, FL. He received rabbinical ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary and became a Board-Certified Chaplain through NAJC. He is a Reiki Master Teacher, a musician and a puppeteer. Rabbi Lever is a co-author, along with Rabbi Simcha Weintraub, of " Guide Me Along the Way: A Spiritual Guide to Surgery ," Jew...

Rabbi Jack Riemer is a master story teller and preacher and one of the most frequently quoted rabbis in the U.S. who artfully describes the relevance of timeless Jewish wisdom in our modern world. He is often referred to as the “rabbi’s rabbi” among Jewish clergy, because he has taught and mentored so many of his colleagues.  The late Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel wrote: "Jack Riemer’s words are song...

David Balto is a volunteer chaplain at Washington Hospital Center  in Washington, D.C., the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington and Western Correctional Insitution, Maryland's maximum security prison.  He and his wife Naomi are actively involved in bikur cholim (care for the sick) with Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington and are co-sponsors of the annual National Bikur Cholim Conference.  David is al...

Rabbi Ed Bernstein delivered the talk "Beyond Cleaning Our Room: Responsibilities and Opportunities in Honoring Our Parents As They Age" to Valley Beit Midrash on May 16, 2024. Special thanks to Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and Alix Cramer of Valley Beit Midrash for allowing the rebroadcast of this talk on the NeshamaCast feed.  ABOUT THE EVENT: The Fifth of the Ten Commandments is “Honor your father a...

NeshamaCast host Rabbi Ed Bernstein travels to Israel and interviews Jewish chaplains from Israel and across North America  attending a rabbinic conference in Israel.   Chaplains interviewed in this episode are, in order of appearance:   Rabbi Mary Brett Koplen , BCC, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York Rabbi Barbara Speyer, BCC, VA Medical Center, Los Angeles Mati Halperin, CPE stude...

Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida hosted a symposium, "Caring for Jewish Patients and Families at End of Life," on December 4, 2024. The keynote speaker was Dr. Barry Kinzbrunner, with responses from Dr. Claudio Kogan, Dr. Jessica Eichler and Rabbi Ed Bernstein.  Dr. Barry Kinzbrunner , MD, FACP, is Former Chief Medical Officer, VITAS Healthcare. He is board certified in...

NeshamaCast is pleased to rebroadcast this edition of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, hosted by Rabbi Richard Address. In this episode,  Chaplain Barry Pitegoff, BCC, of Neshama-The National Association of Jewish Chaplains, and Missy Stolfi from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention join Rabbi Address to discuss their upcoming virtual webinar, “Through a Jewish Lens,” for surv...

NAJC, as the Jewish chaplaincy organization, takes seriously our role in advocating for and supporting our membership, as well as in educating those in our field on how to identify and respond to antisemitism, particularly in light of its rise since October 7, 2023. Recently, NAJC hosted a panel discussion on "Defining and Combating Antisemitism in the Chaplaincy Workplace"  that was held on Septe...

Rabbi Valerie Stessin is the Director of Kashouvot: The Center for Spiritual Care in Israel . A native of France, Valerie earned a BA from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, majoring in Special Education and Jewish Philosophy and received a teaching degree from the Kerem Institute. Valerie studied at the Schechter Institute , earned two M.A. degrees and had the honor to be the first woman ordaine...

Rabbi Mychal B. Springer is the manager of Clinical Pastoral Education at NY-Presbyterian Hospital. She founded the Center for Pastoral Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in Manhattan in 2009. Over a ten-year period she oversaw an intensive hospice chaplaincy training program in collaboration with Metropolitan Jewish Health System’s Hospice. She began her career as a hospital chapl...