Jewish Community Programs

Addiction is a challenge that affects millions in the United States, with 46.3 million people struggling with substance use disorders. In the Jewish community, however, addiction is often treated as a silent issue—something that feels isolated or exceptional.

A unique offering to JCFS Chicago’s chaplaincy program is a Russian Jewish chaplain who serves the Russian faction of the Jewish community and provides something they may not have experienced before: spirituality.

Grieving the loss of a close loved one is a profound and overwhelming experience. For young adults in their 20s and 30s, this journey can be especially disorienting.

When Larry’s wife Ardis died in late 2022, people suggested he try grief support...

“What I really appreciate about this group is that I get some insights and I can talk about my loss in a way that other people in the room understand,” Larry said

Death is a normal part of life. We all face it ourselves, and we all lose people about whom we care. But it is helpful to know how it affects us, as well as the helpful tools Jewish tradition in its wisdom has developed to guide us through these tough times.

In honor of National Recovery Month, we are sharing words that are both familiar and precious to those involved in a 12-Step recovery program.

In grief work, we often devote considerable time to discussing death, the loss of a beloved family member or a dear friend. But what about non-death losses? How does one grieve something that is undefined and intangible?

In mid-November, my mother fractured her shoulder from a fall following a stroke. After a short hospitalization, she was sent to a rehab facility

Most of us in the Chicagoland Jewish community will gather for a Passover seder in a few weeks. This annual ritual often brings together different generations of family, friends, and sometimes new faces. This diversity can add to the richness of the experience.

At a time when the Israel-Hamas War has been dominating the concerns of much of our community, it presents us with some challenging moments. It behooves us to consider in advance if and how we might address the war at the seder table. Do we avoid discussion of the war altogether? Address it directly? Guide a discussion? Introduce themes of the war into the Passover rituals?

We all have ancestors, even if we don’t know much about them. Our family lineage has a direct impact on our present day lives in ways of which we are not fully cognizant, according to Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone, who recently led Moving Toward a Healing-Centered Care, a JCFS sponsored training for Chicago area clinicians and other professionals.