The Art of Accompaniment: Rabbi Nancy Wiener on spiritual care in the Torah and today

Rabbi Nancy Wiener, D. Min., was ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and now serves on the faculty of its New York City campus as: Founding Director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling; Dr. Paul and Trudy Steinberg Distinguished Professor in Human Relations; and Fieldwork Coordinator. Rabbi Wiener, along with Rabbi Jo Hirschmann, is a co-author of Maps and Meaning: Levitical Models for Contemporary Care. Rabbi Wiener serves on the board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. For a more extensive biography, click here

 

Much of this conversation centers around texts from the Book of Leviticus, specifically, Chapter 13 and Chapter 14 . These texts are read in the annual Torah reading cycle as part of the weekly portions Tazria (Leviticus 12:1-13:59) and Metzora (Leviticus 14:1-15:33). These portions will be read in synagogue shortly after this episode is published. Rabbi Wiener also refers to the Haftarah reading for Metzora taken from II Kings 7:3-20.

 

Glossary of key Hebrew terms in this episode: 

Haftarah: Prophetic reading that accompanies the liturgical weekly Torah reading. 

Livui Ruhani: Spirtual accompaniment; "Livui" comes from the same root as Levi, the tribe of the priests, the class of people who accompanied the nation through sacred rites; the modern Hebrew term for chaplaincy.

Mleaven (male)/ Melavah (female) Ruhani: One who provides spiritual accompaniment; the modern Hebrew term for chaplain. 

Metzora: A person afflicted with the disease of tzara'at (see below). 

Ohel Moed: Tent of Meeting

Tahor: Pure

Tamei: Impure

Tzara'at: a skin disease referred to in Leviticus 13 and 14. It has often been translated as leprosy, but many modern Biblical scholars reject this translation. 

About our host:

Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the producer and host of NeshamaCast. He serves as Chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida. He is a member of the Board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to his chaplain career, he served as a pulpit rabbi in congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. He is also the host and producer of My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives.

 

NeshamaCast contributor Rabbi Katja Vehlow was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and is Director of Jewish Life at Fordham University. She trained as a chaplain at Moses Maimonides Medical Center in New York. Previously, she served as Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of South Carolina. A native German speaker, she is planning a forthcoming German-language podcast on the weekly Torah portion with a focus on pastoral care.

 

NeshamaCast contributor Chaplain David Balto is a volunteer chaplain at Washington Hospital Center  in Washington, D.C. and Western Correctional Insitution, Maryland’s maximum security prison. He coordinated the annual National Bikur Cholim Conference. 

 

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