Jewish communities grapple with baby boomer retirement boom

Published on October 11, 2012

Every Jewish community wants more Raymonde Fiols among its active retirees. The question is whether those communities are prepared to meet the needs she and hundreds of thousands of "younger seniors" and older ones will have in the near future.

Wanted: One Bubby and Zaidy willing to adopt

By Lauren Bottner
Published on May 11, 2011

Is the time right for universal health care?

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Published on November 22, 2008

Searching for the soul

Published on October 22, 2008

In my new capacity as the son of an Alzheimer's victim, I have many questions. Some of them are Jewish questions. One kept me up for hours the other night, leading me to my bookshelf at 3 a.m., combing through volumes to see what insights I might glean. What happens to the soul during Alzheimer's?

My ‘great schlep’ to Florida pays off in politics and grandma’s food

Published on October 15, 2008

The 2000 election had come down to literally hundreds of votes, and if I could convince my grandparents and their friends that Obama is the best choice, it might really affect the outcome.

With the Republican base on the ropes, all eyes are on Florida —again

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Published on October 8, 2008

It is already ugly out on the campaign trail, and reporters in the field are feeling the heat of the rising anger of a Republican base on the ropes.

Rosh Hashanah means frank talk with family, not just apples and honey

By The Web Guy
Published on September 24, 2008

Falling dollar hurts seniors in former Soviet Union

Published on June 19, 2008

After his wife died, the worker still came but less often, until global economic pressure forced the JDC to scale back operations for the "least needy" in the former Soviet Union. Six months ago, Zheleznyak began having to fend for himself.

The emotional landmines of family caregiving

Published on June 19, 2008

A painful situation for the primary caregiver occurs when another close relative does little or nothing to help, but they are adored and praised by the senior anyway.

The emotional landmines of family caregiving

Published on June 19, 2008

A painful situation for the primary caregiver occurs when another close relative does little or nothing to help, but they are adored and praised by the senior anyway.

Eve Marcus: Soul of the Food Pantry

By Jane Ulman
Published on December 28, 2006

"Eve is the soul of the Food Pantry. She just knows that people cannot be hungry and we need to do whatever is necessary," said Joy Grau, a member of St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church in Studio City and a 15-year volunteer.

American-style retirement for Israel’s seniors

By Miriam Bulwar David-Hay
Published on December 21, 2006

Although old-age homes have always existed in Israel for those who cannot care for themselves, it is only in recent years that the American idea of retiring to a comfortable community of seniors has taken off here.

Congress OKs bill barring military chaplains from mentioning Jesus in official prayers

Published on October 5, 2006

Briefs courtesy of Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Drug Plan Proving Bitter Pill for Seniors

By David J. Silverman
Published on May 11, 2006

After sorting through piles of brochures, Millie Topper thought she had finally found the right Medicare

Graybeards Pull Off Israel Election Upset

By Helen Schary Motro
Published on April 6, 2006

Israeli politics were shaken to their core by dark horse newcomers belonging to a party few had heard of. Close to a quarter of a million Israelis voted for the Pensioners Party, also known as GIL (age), a party run by nonpoliticians that didn't even exist three months ago; a party founded only after the regular political parties ignored the pleas of its constituents and relegated their demands low on the totem poll.

Center’s Studies Aid Care for Frail Elderly

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on March 9, 2006

Weight-loss prevention is one of the principal areas of investigation at the Borun Center, a joint venture between JHA and UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine. Housed on the JHA campus in Reseda, the center was established in 1989 to identify and test nonmedical measures that could improve daily care and quality of life for nursing home residents.

Ways to Care for a Parent Who Didn’t

By Dr. Rachelle Zukerman
Published on February 2, 2006

Some 10 million older Americans need some kind of assistance to get through every day. Family members (mostly grown children) provide about 80 percent of that help. Lots of those adult children welcome the opportunity to give back to their parents a portion of the love and care they received as a child.
But what happens when an abusive or absent parent, now well along in years, turns to his or her adult child for help? How in the world do you care for an elderly mother or father who showed you no love, compassion or understanding when you were young?

Jack and Katy Seror: Help Knows No Age

By Meira Held
Published on January 5, 2006

At first glance, 87-year-old Jack seror and his wife, Katy, are a kind, yet unassuming elderly couple, members of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel and loving grandparents. However, they are also leaders of the Greek Jewish community that resisted and survived the Nazis to build flourishing new families in America.

Feeling Squeeze of Long-Distance Care

By Ronda Wilkin
Published on May 5, 2005

Dad's first bypass surgery was 25 years ago. I don't think any of us realized he was living on borrowed time.

PowerPoint Purim

By Kelly Hartog
Published on March 17, 2005

Given that fulfilling the mitzvah of Purim requires that we hear the reading of Megillat Esther, the Orthodox Union (OU) has come up with a unique way for the deaf and hard of hearing to participate in the mitzvah.

Problems Abound in Pampering Parents

By Ellie Kahn
Published on February 3, 2005

My mother and father are both in diapers. I wasn't at all prepared for this possibility. Dealing with the visual and olfactory aspect of my son's end products when he was a baby was an expected part of being a mom, but it's a completely different matter when it's my parents wearing the Pampers.

Community Braces for Flu Shot Scarcity

By Nancy Sokoler Steiner
Published on October 21, 2004

Michael Gabai is on a quest. The owner and administrator of Ayres Residential Care Home has spent the last two weeks calling physicians, senior centers, grocery stores and pharmacies in search of flu shots for about half of the 18 residents in his facilities who have been unable to get one.

Jewish + Humor = ‘Jumor’

By Stefanee Freedman
Published on September 2, 2004

"'Jumor' is a look into our own culture through our elderly community," Aaron Krinsky said. "The more homes we visited, the more we realized we were interested in the stories itself, not the comics who told them."

Elder Rage: What I Know Now

By Jacqueline Marcell
Published on August 5, 2004

For 11 years. I begged my obstinate elderly father to allow a caregiver to help him with my ailing mother, but he adamantly insisted on taking care of her himself. Every caregiver I hired to help him said, "Jacqueline, I just can't work with your father -- his temper is impossible to handle. I don't think you'll be able to get him to accept help until he's on his knees himself."

Aging: A Jewish Community Issue

By Molly Forrest
Published on January 29, 2004

When I first met Sarah, she was bent over her walker intently making her way through the gardens of the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA). While her steps were merely a shuffle, her brown eyes were lively.

I often walk through our Grancell Village and Eisenberg Village campuses to visit with our 800 residents. I frequently ask the question: "What makes the Jewish Home Jewish?"

Sarah had a ready answer.

Helping Your Parent Defeat Depression

By Dr. Rachelle Zukerman
Published on December 18, 2003

For elderly people, mild disappointments and grief can set off depression. According to estimates from the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 750,000 older Californians suffer from depression each year. Put in another way, 50 percent of all seniors will endure a depression at some point in their later years.

Depression can affect the entire family -- but the family can also help intervene.

Jewish Elderly May Pay More for Drugs

By Matthew E. Berger
Published on December 11, 2003

A law that was supposed to ease the burden of prescription drug costs for the elderly may force some Jewish seniors to pay more than they do now.

Sharif Import Takes Boy on Trip to Islam

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 20, 2003

"I was filming 'Funny Girl' with Barbra Streisand in 1967, when the Six-Day War broke out, and the Arab press called me a traitor for kissing a Jewish woman," actor Omar Sharif reminisced.

"When I told Barbra about it," Sharif added, "she said, 'You should see the letter my aunt wrote about kissing an Arab man.'"

Sharif was in town to promote "Monsieur Ibrahim," the latest of his more than 70 movies and a different kind of relationship -- between an elderly Muslim and an abandoned Jewish boy.

American Jewry By Numbers

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on September 11, 2003

The National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01, dubbed "Strength, Challenge and Diversity," offers key findings on demographics, intermarriage, Jewish "connections" -- that is, communal behavioral trends -- and such "special" topics as the elderly, immigration and poverty.

Santa Monica Tragedy Mirrors Israel Terror

By Wendy Jaffe
Published on July 24, 2003

Last week at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market, I got a taste of what it is like to be an Israeli. Going about the ordinary tasks of life one moment, standing next to a corpse the next.

California Jews Lobby for Medi-Cal

By Marc Ballon
Published on May 22, 2003

Nearly 200 Jews descended on Sacramento this week to lobby California's most powerful politicians to protect major programs that serve the poorest and frailest Jews and other Californians from the budget ax.

JVS Program Heals Immigrants’ Lives

By Marc Ballon
Published on May 8, 2003

Balancing a large tray on her shoulders, Nahide Kafri dashed from table to table serving dinner to patients with Alzheimer's disease at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA).

A Wish Is Granted

By Marc Ballon
Published on February 27, 2003

NORCs have cropped up around the country, with an estimated 5,000 now dotting the U.S. As the population grays -- an estimated 75 million Americans will be over 55 in 2010 -- the number of NORCs is expected to jump, said Andrew Kochera, senior policy advisor at AARP in Washington.

‘Justice’ for All

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 14, 2002

This is the second of two articles examining the status of Holocaust restitution and reparations as The Journal observes the 64th anniversary of Kristallnacht (Nov. 9).

The Mitzvah’s in the Mail

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal
Published on September 19, 2002

We need more stamps," a little boy yells. "How many cards do we have left?" asked a dark-haired woman. "I have more envelopes!" shouts a girl in a skirt.

Jewish Aging Crisis Looms

By Sharon Samber
Published on August 1, 2002

With the number of Jewish elderly expected to soar over the coming decade, leaders at the national and local levels realize they must move beyond traditional methods of caring for the elderly to develop new plans and policies.

Alzheimer’s Home

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on May 9, 2002

Imagine you are 90 years old and the world you once knew, even your own home, feels like a frightening and unfamiliar place. Sometimes you find it hard to recognize even your closest family members. You don't understand why people get angry when you wander away or when you cannot finish a sentence. You may be fit physically, but psychologically you are at a loss -- and so are your family and friends. Imagine you move to a small, lovely village. There are strangers there, but they are gentle and caring. There are places to walk, and no one gets angry if you get a little lost. They just calmly lead you back to where you need to be. When you are in the mood, there is plenty to do, but no one gets angry when you just want to sit. Best of all, your family doesn't seem so worried anymore. This scenario is the aim of the new Goldenberg-Ziman Special Care Center located at the Jewish Home for the Aging's Eisenberg Campus in Tarzana.

Still Kicking

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on April 4, 2002

Residents and staff of the Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA) gathered March 26 at Eisenberg Village on Victory Boulevard to celebrate the institution's 90th anniversary. About two dozen residents participated in blowing out the 10 candles (one for each decade and one for good luck) on the massive birthday cake.

The decorous moment was not without humor. As one bright-eyed resident in her 80s hovered nearby, a staff member asked if she wanted to move closer to watch her friends blow out the candles.

"Oh, yes," she replied. "I want to make sure they don't spit on the cake!"

Grand Marshal,  Grand Lady

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on November 29, 2001

Sitting in her seat at the Max Factor Family Foundation Recreation Center of the Jewish Home for the Aging (JHA), 103-year-old Sylvia Harmatz cannot recall the first state to give women the right to vote. But, she remembers very clearly the first day she voted, in 1936. "I wasn't a citizen until I married my husband, and so I used his papers and got a ballot so I could vote for [Franklin D.] Roosevelt," she said. "I was very active in politics from that time on."

Senior Seders

By Leilah Bernstein
Published on April 13, 2000

The Passover holiday contains countless traditions. There's the matzah and the sweet wine, the charoset and haggadot, the gefilte fish and the good fortune we celebrate. But perhaps most importantly, there is the gathering together of family and friends -- the people who make the singing, reading and eating around the seder table meaningful and special.