Seekers of Meaning
The Seekers of Meaning podcast features news and interviews on the subject of Jewish sacred aging.
About the host: Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min., is the founder of JewishSacredAging.com and the host of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast.
A nationally recognized speaker and seminar leader, he is the author of several books on Judaism and aging, including his most recent work, Seekers of Meaning: Baby Boomers, Judaism, and the Pursuit of Healthy Aging (2011: URJ Books).
Rabbi Address has devoted his career to helping transform synagogues into caring communities that recognize the unique spiritual challenges facing older members and their families. His work has been based on the belief that a congregation, to be a true “caring community,” must be founded on a theology of sacred relationships.
Before serving for several years as senior rabbi at Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ, he previously was the specialist and congregation consultant for the North American Reform movement in the program areas of Caring Community and Family Concerns.
A major part of Address’s work has been in the development and implementation of the project on Sacred Aging, which is embodied in his popular web resource for Baby Boomers seeking spiritual help with issues of aging and eldercare, www.JewishSacredAging.com. This project has been responsible for creating awareness and resources for congregations on the implication of the emerging longevity revolution with growing emphasis on the aging of the baby boom generation. This aging revolution is affecting all aspects of Jewish communal and congregational life. Rabbi Address was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Cincinnati (1972) and served congregations in California before joining the staff of the Union for Reform Judaism (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations) in 1978. He directed the Union’s Pennsylvania Council from 1978 through 2000. In 1997, he founded the Department of Jewish Family Concerns.
He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Hebrew Union College, New York, and the Wurtzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University. He is co-chair of the Interfaith and Diversity Group for the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), and chairs the Sukkat Shalom Jewish Advisory Group for Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice in Voorhees, NJ.
Rabbi Address holds a Certificate in Pastoral Counseling from the Post Graduate Center for Mental Health and a Doctor of Ministry from HUC-JIR. He also received an honorary Doctorate from HUC-JIR in 1997.
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Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter, leader of the South Philadelphia Shtiebel
Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter is the leader of the newly formed Modern Orthodox congregation known as the South Philadelphia Shtiebel (southphiladelphiashteibel.org)
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Tia Newcomer, CEO of CaringBridge.org
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, the guest is Tia Newcomer, CEO of CaringBridge.org, a nonprofit social network that helps people connect with family and friends during a health journey.
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Rabbi Stephen Karol's new book, "Embracing the Supernatural in Judaism"
This week, Rabbi Stephen Karol discusses his new book, "Embracing the Supernatural in Judaism: Signs from Our Deceased Loved Ones and Stories About The World-to-Come."
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, the National Council of Jewish Women
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Address's guest is Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar-in-residence for the National Council of Jewish Women, author of a continuing newsletter on the Torah called "Life is a Sacred Text," and author of a new book, On Repenta...
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Seekers of Meaning: 6/3/2022
On this episode, Rabbi Ilan Glatzer and Cantor Hinda Labovitz discuss their support group for bereaved Jewish parents, Our Love Continues, and Rabbi Glatzer's support group for substance abuse recovery, Our Jewish Recovery.
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Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, Ph.D., New Approaches to Liturgy and Worship
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, Ph.D., the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor Emeritus of Liturgy, Worship and Ritual at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, discusses new ways of looking at worship ritual a...
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Rabbis Rifat Sonsino and Richard Agler, editors, "A God We Can Believe In"
This week’s guests on the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast are Rabbis Rifat Sonsino and Richard Agler, editors of a new collection of essays, A God We Can Believe In.
Do you believe in God? So many people answer this question in the negative because the God they have been taught to believe...
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David Bernstein, Jewish Institute of Liberal Values
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, David Bernstein, founder of the Jewish Institute of Liberal Values, discusses the Institute's work in encouraging principled debate over political and social issues.
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Kyle Ruffin, author of "In Stroke's Shadow"
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Kyle Ruffin, author of "In Stroke's Shadow: My Caregiver's Story," talks about caring for her mother after she suffered a debilitating stroke.
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A Humanitarian Mission to Help Ukrainian Refugees
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbis Jeffrey Salkin and Gregory Marx discuss their recent humanitarian mission to the Polish border with Ukraine to deliver aid to Ukrainian refugees from the Russian invasion.
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A Passover Message from Rabbi Address
On this episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Richard Address offers a message for Passover
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Jerold Rothkoff, Elder Care Attorney
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, elder care law attorney Jerold Rothkoff discusses issues surrounding elder care and elder law.
Jerold E. Rothkoff, a practicing New Jersey and Pennsylvania attorney, is the Principal of the Rothkoff Law Group, where he dedicat...
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Rabbi Cheryl Weiner reflects on chaplaincy, spiritual journey
In this episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Cheryl Weiner reflects on her work in chaplaincy and her spiritual journey.
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Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, founder of YATOM: The Jewish Foster & Adoption Network
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz discusses his work establishing YATOM: The Jewish Foster & Adoption Network.
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Catherine Fischer, creator of SacredPractice.com
On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Catherine Fischer, the creator of Sacred Practice: Reimagining Synagogue Engagement, discusses her work for the past two decades to strengthen relationships between people and organizations and their connection to Judaism.
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Karen Hoffman, founder/CEO of Living on Purpose
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Karen Hoffman, Founder/CEO Living on Purpose, discusses her company's mission to develop workshops, activities and resources to facilitate shared connections and personal growth.
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Sarit Wishnevski, executive director of Kavod v'Nichum
Rabbi Address chats with Sarit Wishnevski, newly appointed executive director of Kavod v'Nichum (jewish-funerals.org), which provides information, education, training, and technical assistance for bereavement committees and Chevrah Kadisha groups in synagogues and communities to support their org...
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Rabbi Barry Block, editor of "The Social Justice Torah Commentary"
On this week's episode, Rabbi Address chats with Rabbi Barry Block, editor of The Social Justice Torah Commentary: A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life, is this week's guest on the Seekers of Meaning Podcast.
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Rabbi Noam Zion, Author of "Sanctified Sex"
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Address chats with Rabbi Noam Zion, author of the new book, Sanctified Sex: The Two-Thousand-Year Jewish Debate on Marital Intimacy.
Sanctified Sex draws on two thousand years of rabbinic debates addressing competing asp...
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Dr. Robert Singer, Virtua Health cardiologist
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Address discusses heart health with Robert Andrew Singer, M.D., F.A.C.C. Dr. Singer is the chief of cardiology and medical director of the non-invasive cardiology lab at Virtua South, Voorhees, New Jersey.
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William Peters, author of "At Heaven's Door"
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, the guest is William Peters, a practicing grief and bereavement therapist and author of the new book, At Heaven's Gate.
In 2000, Peters was volunteering at the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco when he had an extraordinary ...
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Richard Brownstein, author of “Holocaust Cinema Complete”
On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, the guest is Richard Brownstein, author of Holocaust Cinema Complete: A History and Analysis of 400 Films, with a Teaching Guide, just published by McFarland Press.
Holocaust cinema is so venerated that one-third of all Americ...
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Dr. Jessica Zitter, director of "Caregiver: A Love Story" film
On this week's episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Address chats with Dr. Jessica Zitter, director and producer of the documentary, Caregiver: A Love Story.
Over the past decade, we’ve gotten better at caring for the dying. But now we have a new crisis on our hands: the...
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Rabbi Michael Perice, Senior Rabbi, Temple Sinai, Cinnaminson, NJ
This week, Rabbi Michael Perice, senior rabbi of Temple Sinai, Cinnaminson, NJ, discusses his calling to the rabbinate and his decision to reveal his battle with substance abuse.
