This year, Congregation Kesser Israel, together with the Hevra Kaddisha of Portland and the Portland Kollel, is hosting a Shabbat program at the shul and a Melave Malka (after- Shabbat gathering) at the Portland Kollel on January 11 to spotlight awareness of and preparation for end-of-life needs. Today, more than 500 synagogues and 135 communities in North America, England and Australia will offer Shabbos Vayechi programming – with topics ranging from ethical wills, to caring for aging parents to burial, mourning and grief.

All are warmly welcomed to attend! Robin Meyerson of Scottsdale, AZ, is the featured speaker; she is the West Coast Coordinator for the National Association of Chevra Kadisha (www.nasck.org), which has provided support and guidance to burial societies, rabbis, and individuals on the laws and rituals of Jewish death and mourning since the 1980s. Rabbi Elchonon Zohn, the founder and president of NASCK, launched the Shabbos Vayechi initiative a decade ago to highlight the wisdom, and importance, of Jewish burial traditions.

For more information, contact Rabbi Skolnik at rabbiskolnik@kesserisrael.org or Sura Rubenstein at sura.rubenstein@comcast.net.