Rabbi Brings Spiritual Comfort to Jewish Patients & Families

Rabbi Leah Herz

Hospice care encompasses comfort for the body, mind and spirit. Suncoast Hospice provides spiritual care to patients of all faiths. We honor their beliefs and customs and help foster internal peace at the end of life. Our care also includes spiritual support for families of patients.

Rabbi Leah Herz is part of our spiritual care team through our Toby Weinman Jewish Hospice Program partnership with Menorah Manor. Rabbi Herz provides spiritual care and support to our Jewish patients and families, primarily those who don’t have their own rabbis. She also works as Menorah Manor’s full-time rabbi and director of spiritual care serving seniors in their facilities.

Healing In The Here And Now

Our chaplains make referrals to Rabbi Herz when patients request a rabbi. Her care involves learning her patients’ life stories and helping them find peace within themselves and with their loved ones.

“I’m very focused on who our patients are and what they did in their lifetimes. I want to support them if they are feeling stress, pain or guilt, listen to their concerns and provide a calming presence. As a rabbi, I can look at it from the Jewish perspective and help them address their concerns about life after death and concerns for their family members. Judaism has a primary focus on what you can do in the here and now. My goal is to help them through this process,” Rabbi Herz said.

Her care may include prayer and rituals. “We have what’s known as the final confession. It can be said on behalf of patients if they are nonresponsive and can’t say it themselves. It can provide an opportunity for forgiveness,” she said.

Using The Arts In Care 

Rabbi Herz is vocally-trained in classical music and certified in creative arts therapy, and has drawn upon those skills when working with her patients and families. She has created some wonderful connections using poetry, songs and Hebrew readings.

“I find that with our hospice care patients and Menorah Manor’s seniors, the songs connect them to their youth. I had an amazing experience singing to one of our care center patients. She was a Jewish woman who was imminent and not affiliated with a congregation here in Florida. I went to her bedside and stood very close but she was unresponsive. I spoke in her ear and sang a song. When I was done I asked, “Is that ok?”, and she replied, “Marvelous”. I was blown away,” she said.

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