Recorded presentation

Gila S Silverman, MPH, Shleimut Institute, 18 Ingleside Road, Lexington, MA 02420, 617-417-4668, gila@shleimut.org and Lisa Kodmur, MPH, Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 3077 University Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90007-3796.

SHLEIMUT is the Hebrew word for “wholeness”. SHLEIMUT is also the name of a new national initiative dedicated to creating programs to promote health, wellness and healing in the Jewish community. SHLEIMUT provides continuing education programs and on-line resources to train and support community-based care teams. These partners work together to create a network of service that responds to the needs of the whole person in a Jewish context. SHLEIMUT is a unique partnership of rabbis, nurses, social workers and public health professionals. The project represents a new effort among Jewish organizations to work in the areas of health promotion and community-based support services.

The SHLEIMUT initiative is part of the growing movement to involve faith communities in promoting health among their members. Key activities of the initiative have included the development of a professional training curriculum that weaves together public health theory and practice and the epidemiology of religion, with study of Jewish texts on health and healing, and concrete skills-building in program development and implementation. The project has also developed a website designed to provide resources to, and promote communication among, SHLEIMUT professionals around the country, as well as catalyzing partnerships with other faith communities doing similar work.

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