What is a Jewish Chaplain?
A Jewish Chaplain is a specifically trained spiritual leader who provides Jewish spiritual care and support to individuals, families, and communities dealing with illness, grief, and loss. They are able to offer resources, counseling, and support groups. They may work in hospitals, hospices, or other settings to provide spiritual guidance and comfort.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Mount Zion Health Fund, the Northern California Board of Rabbis is currently able to provide a Jewish Chaplain to unaffiliated patients who are in San Francisco hospitals. He is often able to visit in person and connect with both the patient and family members when appropriate. When it is not possible to get to the facility, our Chaplain will provide telehealth visits via phone or video.
When we are notified of unaffiliated patients in hospitals outside of San Francisco that are in need of support, we do our best to find a volunteer Rabbi or Chaplain that can visit; however, we cannot guarantee this service.
San Francisco Jewish Chaplain
Our Chaplain serves unaffiliated Jewish hospital patients in San Francisco who need acute spiritual and pastoral care.
The Northern California Board of Rabbis’ Jewish Chaplaincy Program fills a need for Jewish hospital patients who are unaffiliated with a synagogue, and who need spiritual care. This program is being supervised by Rabbi Jill Zimmerman, Executive Director, with support from Rabbi Chaya Gusfield, Palliative Care Interfaith Chaplain and Spiritual Director, and Rabbi Eric Weiss, Executive Director Emeritus of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center. Their years of experience provide excellent professional guidance for this program.
Jonathan Furst: Our Jewish Chaplain for San Francisco
Jonathan brings nearly 20 years of Jewish pastoral care and spiritual leadership experience to the position, including serving in adult and pediatric hospice Chaplaincy/Spiritual Care. Chaplain Furst completed Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) training at Sutter Health – California Pacific Medical Center and is a member of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC). He looks forward to bringing his presence and willingness to support those in need with the best care possible.
Are you or a loved one Jewish and currently a patient in a San Francisco hospital and not a member of a synagogue? If your answer is yes, our Jewish Chaplain is available to visit. Please call 415-209-5972 or email chaplaincy@norcalrabbis.org. If you are outside of San Francisco, please using the button below and complete our form.
We appreciate Mount Zion Health Fund for providing us with our anchor grant that allows us to create this program. We also acknowledge the support of the Bay Area Jewish Federation.
Participating Hospitals
- California Pacific Medical Center Davies Campus
- California Pacific Medical Center Mission Bernal Campus
- California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness Campus
- Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center
- San Francisco VA Medical Center
- University of California San Francisco Health Saint Francis Hospital
- University of California San Francisco Health Saint Mary’s Hospital
- University of California San Francisco Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights
- University of California San Francisco Medical Center at Mission Bay
- University of California San Francisco Medical Center at Mount Zion
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
Torah ReflectionsTM
These are short commentaries and reflection prompts based on the Hebrew scriptural reading cycle and themes from the Jewish holidays. They are written by people immersed in the worlds of illness and healing.
Healing Prayers
These prayers are shared for those that are looking for guidance during times of illness and grief.
Community Resources
These resources are shared for those who are in need of support and are looking for community resources that might be able to assist them or their loved ones.
For Patients & Their Loved Ones
This area was specifically created to support patients and their loved ones during their illness and/or grief.
