
Jewish Learning, Mem Global
5 Forms of Jewish Self Care
By Rabbi Brad Greenstein, Senior Director of Jewish Learning
This past Monday night, my wife Sarah and I got a last-minute babysitter so we could show up for a vigil in response to the shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue. We usually only get sitters once in a while for date nights, but we were both pretty shook to our core and needed to be around other people and do something. When we got to the football field at Poway High School, we found some 4,000 other local San Diegans, many of them not Jewish, singing and chanting, “No place for hate.” In high school, I used to come here for sports tournaments; I never imagined back then I would be sitting in the bleachers years later because someone walked into a local synagogue and started shooting people.
There were soothing, inspiring speakers: rabbis, preachers, mayors, policeman. However, when the head of Jewish Family Service Michael Hopkins started giving practical ways to take care of yourself and mentioned that he was also a social worker, Sarah (who also happens to be an LCSW) rose to her feet and started clapping. I realized that the wisdom we all so desperately needed was not only from our sacred texts, but also from the best practices of modern self-care professionals. Here are five Jewish ways to take care of yourself:
- Don’t Go It Alone
- Get Outside
- Take a Break from the News
- Volunteer
- Do You