We often teach that we look to the past to help guide our future and that with age comes greater wisdom. How can we age wisely in a society that shuns aging? We can all — regardless of our current age or life stage — tap into our lived experiences and extract deep meaning, wisdom and spirit. In this next call, Rabbi Rachel Cowan will speak about her new book, Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit (co-authored by Dr. Linda Thal). Rabbi Cowan draws on Jewish and other religious sources, neuroscience, psychology and gerontology, as well as mindfulness and meditation, to help us explore and enhance relationships, forgiveness, gratitude, loss, well-being and legacy. And of course this call is absolutely intended for all ages, because we all deal with aging on a personal, familial and communal level every day.
Please mark your calendars for this interactive videoconference session exclusively for our constituents, which will include concentrated teaching from Rabbi Cowan and allow for questions and discussion. The conversation will last approximately 45 minutes.
Monday, July 13
10:00 AM PT - 1:00 PM ET – 20:00 Israel time
with Rabbi Rachel Cowan
facilitated by Cindy Chazan, Vice President, The Wexner Foundation
“Growing Older, Staying Vital and the Jews”
Click here to RSVP and receive dial-in instructions
Tech and RSVP Information
We will be using a new technology called Zoom, which is similar to Skype and Google Hangout. Zoom allows up to 100 people to participate and is free to use. You will need to be at a computer, iPad or smartphone with internet, camera, a mic, and speakers to participate fully. If you don’t have a camera or mic you can still “zoom in” — as long as you have internet and speakers you will be able to listen just like a conference call. You can also dial in from a phone. To register and receive instructions, please email Aliza Storchan. As registration is limited to 100 participants, please only register if you are certain to attend.
Rabbi Rachel Cowan, formerly the Executive Director of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality is working on a special project on "Aging with Wisdom." She was named by Newsweek Magazine in 2007 and in 2010 as one of the 50 leading rabbis in the United States, and by the Forward in 2010 as one of the 50 leading women rabbis. She was featured in the PBS series, "The Jewish Americans." Rachel received her ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1989. From 1990-2003 she was Program Director for Jewish Life and Values at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Rachel's work has been included in Moment and Sh'ma as well as in anthologies, including Illness and Health in the Jewish Tradition: Writings from the Bible to Today, and The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. She is the author, with her late husband Paul Cowan, of Mixed Blessings: Untangling the Knots in an Interfaith Marriage. Her latest book Wise Aging: Living with Joy, Resilience, and Spirit (co-authored by Dr. Linda Thal) was published this month. Rachel lives in New York City, near her two children Lisa and Matt, and four grandchildren — Jacob, Tessa, Dante and Miles.
