Rabbi Hannah Bender, Judea Reform Congregation, "The Jewish Wisdom of Community Care"
The Jewish Wisdom of Community Care --- Rabbi Hannah Bender Within our broader culture, mental health is often posed as an individual problem to solve. We ask ourselves, “what can I do to feel better?” We look for the right therapist, the correct medication, the right habits and routine. These are incredible options, and have an essential place in understanding one's own brain and systems for moving forward. However, this individualistic view of mental health distracts us from another vital question, “who can carry this with me?” Through a Jewish lens, this second question seems to be front and center in all facets of my tradition and my work as a rabbi. Healing and challenge, moving through suffering, has always been community based within the history of my people. Jewish practice, ritual, and law, are overwhelmingly communal. There are laws around communal prayers, obligations for supporting the sick and grieving, even celebrations that require the community to gath...