COVID-19 and Family Distancing

Join us for a conversation about the Jewish value of visiting the sick, the challenges facing families experiencing enforced distancing from loved ones in assisted living and nursing facilities, and what we can do to face the challenges of caring for our loved ones during this difficult time.

Pamela Gottfried serves as a rabbi at Congregation Bet Haverim and Your Jewish Bridge, a project of CBH that is partially funded by a Propel Innovation Grant from the Federation of Greater Atlanta to serve the needs of unaffiliated Jews in Metro Atlanta. She believes the essential meaning of rabbi is “my teacher” and strives in her rabbinate to help individuals reach their potential. Since moving to Atlanta from New York in 1999, Rabbi Gottfried has taught students of all ages in churches, colleges, community centers, mosques, retreat centers, schools, summer camps, and synagogues. She and her spouse are currently experiencing family distancing from their parents and other loved ones that live in the northeast, midwest and Florida.  

Nancy L. Kriseman, L.C.S.W, has worked with older people and their families for over 35 years. Nancy also presents workshops and seminars on caregiving and dementia across the country. She has written three books, Meaningful Connections: Positive Ways to Be Together When a Loved One Has Dementia (2017) The Mindful Caregiver: Finding Ease in the Caregiving Journey (Roman and Littlefield, 2014), and The Caring Spirit Approach to Eldercare: A Training Guide for Professionals and Families (Health Professions Press, 2005). Nancy received her master’s in social work and specialist in aging degree from the University of Michigan, 1982.

Dave Schechter is a veteran journalist whose career includes writing and producing reports from Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. A freelance writer, Dave has written extensively during the last few months about how the Jewish community is affected by and responding to COVID-19 for the Atlanta Jewish Times.