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NeshamaCast

NeshamaCast

Written by: Rabbi Ed Bernstein
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Exploring Jewish spiritual care today Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living Judaism Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Spirituality
Episodes
  • Sacred Partnerships: Integrating Jewish Spiritual Care into Clinical Teams with Rabbi Bruce Pfeffer

    Sacred Partnerships: Integrating Jewish Spiritual Care into Clinical Teams with Rabbi Bruce Pfeffer
    Oct 19 2026
    Episode Dedication:This episode of NeshamaCast is sponsored by Dr. Shahrad and Ruth Mabourakh of Plantation, Florida, in loving memory of Ruth’s mother, Marilyn Gamse Potter, who passed away in August 2026. Zichrona livracha—may Marilyn’s memory be for a blessing.Spiritual Care Week:Observed annually during the fourth week of October, Spiritual Care Week (also celebrated as Pastoral Care Week) is an international observance sponsored by the COMISS Network (Congress on Ministries in Specialized Settings) to recognize and celebrate the vital contributions of professional chaplains, pastoral counselors, and spiritual caregivers. Longtime NAJC leader and past president Rabbi Joe Ozarowski represents NAJC on the COMISS Network Board. Learn more at spiritualcareweek.org.Related Listening:Hear how Rabbi Bruce Pfeffer’s colleagues at Indiana University Health—Dr. Alex Lion and Rev. Anastasia Holman—reflect on clinical team dynamics and utilizing the Jewish concept of hevruta at the bedside on the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) podcast:The Chaplain’s Compass: Spiritual Care in Healthcare | How Clinical Teams Use Spirituality to Improve Patient OutcomesIn this episode, we discuss:Passing the NeshamaCast mantle from founding host Rabbi Ed Bernstein to Rabbi Scott Klein.Rabbi Bruce Pfeffer’s journey from industrial engineering to the rabbinate and healthcare chaplaincy.Bringing hevruta (paired text study) to secular and interfaith healthcare professionals at the Conference on Medicine and Religion.Why clinical teams need structured tools for lament to address burnout, grief, and moral distress.Implementing Team-Based Spirituality (TBS) within the Neurology Movement Disorders Clinic at IU Health.PRN chaplaincy, building immediate trust with nursing staff and physicians, and serving as an interventionist in clinical research using the SCAI (Spiritual Care Assessment and Intervention) tool.Words of Torah and wisdom on holy listening, presence, and Pirkei Avot for Spiritual Care Week.About Our Guest:Rabbi Bruce J. Pfeffer, DD, BCC, has been a rabbi and chaplain since 2000, following an initial career as an industrial engineer. He serves as a chaplain at Indiana University Health, where his work has included the ALS Multi-Disciplinary Clinic, the Neurology Movement Disorders Clinic, hospice care, and research intervention. He collaborates with the Daniel F. Evans Center for Spiritual and Religious Values in Healthcare on projects including Team-Based Spirituality Care Training, and currently serves as a Congregational Care Network (CCN) chaplain in Fort Wayne, IN. Rabbi Pfeffer leads prayer at Temple Beth El in Muncie, IN, and DePauw University Hillel in Greencastle, IN, and has taught religious school for more than 18 years. At home, he is a baker of bread, yogurt maker, and student of bookbinding, crochet, origami, and haiku. About our host:Rabbi Scott Klein, Ed.D., is the host of NeshamaCast. He serves as a U.S. Army Chaplain with the rank of Captain, assigned to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and as the Garrison Rabbi at Fort Bragg, NC. A champion of communication, education, and leadership, Rabbi Klein holds a doctorate in educational leadership and received rabbinical ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY. Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the creator of NeshamaCast and hosted its first three seasons. He continues as a contributor and consultant to the program. He serves as Chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida. He is a member of the Board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to his chaplain career, he served as a pulpit rabbi in congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. He is also the host and producer of My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives. NeshamaCast contributor Chaplain David Balto is a volunteer chaplain at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. and Western Correctional Insitution, Maryland’s maximum security prison. He coordinated the annual National Jewish Healing Conference. Support NeshamaCast and NAJC with a tax deductible donation to NAJC. For sponsorship opportunities as either an individual or institution, please write to Rabbi Ed Bernstein at NeshamaCast@gmail.com Thank you to Steve Lubetkin and Lubetkin Media Companies for producing this episode. Transcripts for this episode and other episodes of NeshamaCast are available at NeshamaCast.simplecast.com and are typically posted one week after an episode first airs. Theme Music is “A Niggun For Ki Anu Amecha,” written and performed by Reb-Cantor Lisa Levine. Please help others find the show by rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or other podcast providers. Opinions expressed on NeshamaCast reflect those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official positions of NAJC. We welcome comments and suggestions for future programming at ...
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    34 mins
  • Hope is not a promise: Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn on The Grief Journey Podcast

    Hope is not a promise: Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn on The Grief Journey Podcast
    Aug 28 2026

    What does a hospital chaplain actually do?

    What can you possibly say to a mother sitting beside her critically ill child? To a family facing an impossible medical decision? To someone who has just received devastating news?

    Rabbanit Alissa Thomas-Newborn, BCC is a board-certified Jewish chaplain who has been there for people during some of the most painful and frightening moments of their lives. And often, she says, her job isn't to have the right answer. It's to know how to be there when there isn't an answer.

    In this episode, Alissa takes us inside the world of hospital chaplaincy and shares what she has learned about suffering, grief, faith, hope, and simply being present.

    We talk about what families actually need when they're in crisis, why listening can sometimes be far more powerful than talking, and the things well-meaning people say that may hurt instead of help. Alissa also discusses the unique needs of Orthodox Jewish families in the hospital, the role of halacha and rabbanim in difficult medical decisions, and how a chaplain can help bridge the gap between families and medical teams.

    And perhaps most importantly: when someone you care about is going through something terrible and you have absolutely no idea what to say or do—what do they really need from you?

    NAJC thanks Mayrim for allowing this episode to be shared with the NeshamaCast audience. Check out other episodes of The Grief Journey Podcast.

    About our host:


    Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the executive producer and host of NeshamaCast. He serves as Chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida. He is a member of the Board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to his chaplain career, he served as a pulpit rabbi in congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. He is also the host and producer of My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives.

    NeshamaCast contributor Chaplain David Balto is a volunteer chaplain at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. and Western Correctional Insitution, Maryland’s maximum security prison. He coordinated the annual National Jewish Healing Conference.

    Support NeshamaCast and NAJC with a tax deductible donation to NAJC. For sponsorship opportunities as either an individual or institution, please write to Rabbi Ed Bernstein at NeshamaCast@gmail.com

    Thank you to Steve Lubetkin and Lubetkin Media Companies for producing this episode.

    Transcripts for this episode and other episodes of NeshamaCast are available at NeshamaCast.simplecast.com and are typically posted one week after an episode first airs.

    Theme Music is “A Niggun For Ki Anu Amecha,” written and performed by Reb-Cantor Lisa Levine.

    Please help others find the show by rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or other podcast providers.

    Opinions expressed on NeshamaCast reflect those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official positions of NAJC.

    We welcome comments and suggestions for future programming at NeshamaCast@gmail.com. And be sure to follow NAJC on Facebook to learn more about Jewish spiritual care happening in our communities.
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    47 mins
  • America at 250: Perspectives from NAJC Military Chaplains

    America at 250: Perspectives from NAJC Military Chaplains
    Jun 30 2026
    Rabbi Scott Klein serves as a U.S. Army Chaplain with the rank of Captain and is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and as the Garrison Rabbi at Fort Bragg, NC - the largest military installation in the world by population.A champion of communication, education and leadership, Rabbi Klein holds a doctorate in educational leadership. His rabbinical ordination is from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, NY. Rabbi Klein was recently featured in The Forward. Rabbi Yoni Warren, BCC joined the Navy following graduation from the Jewish Theological Seminary in May 2011. While in active service, he served first with the Marine Corps in Okinawa Japan where his duties took him across the Western Pacific and to Afghanistan. His next tour was at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. where he worked with Midshipmen from all faiths and no faiths while also serving as the rabbi for the Commodore Levy Chapel and Jewish Center. In 2018, he was assigned as Command Chaplain aboard the USS Oak Hill, out of Norfolk VA with a deployment to the waters off Europe and the Middle East. Completing a residency in Clinical Pastoral Education, Rabbi Warren was next assigned to Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va., Chaplain Warren where he was assigned to Labor and Delivery, NICU, and Pediatrics. Back to sea again, he deployed aboard the USS Harry S Truman for its 2024-5 Combat Deployment into the Red Sea. Selected to Commander Milestone, Rabbi Warren is now the Command Chaplain at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, the Navy’s only Boot Camp, where he leads the largest single religious ministry team in the Navy with 12 Chaplains, 7 Religious Program Specialists and 1 civilian in supporting 46,000 recruits each year as they transition from civilians to basically trained sailors. Rabbi Benjamin Flax serves as the Battalion Chaplain for the 101st Engineer Battalion, Massachusetts Army National Guard, part of one of the oldest unit lineages in the United States Army. In that role, he provides religious support, pastoral care, and command advisement to Soldiers and their families in training, in the field, and through the ordinary and extraordinary stresses of military life. In 2025, Rabbi Flax deployed to Kuwait in support of Passover, leading seders, Shabbat services, and Jewish holiday observances for service members downrange. In civilian life, he serves as the rabbi of Tifereth Israel of Winthrop, Massachusetts, where his work centers on pastoral care, Jewish teaching, lifecycle moments, and community leadership. Rabbi Flax earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama, a master’s degree from Harvard University, rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim, and a graduate certificate in Gerontology and Palliative Care from Yeshiva University. He lives in Revere, Massachusetts with his family. He is a former Executive Director of NAJC. About our host:Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the executive producer and host of NeshamaCast. He serves as Chaplain at Boca Raton Regional Hospital of Baptist Health South Florida. He is a member of the Board of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains. Prior to his chaplain career, he served as a pulpit rabbi in congregations in New Rochelle, NY; Beachwood, OH; and Boynton Beach, FL. He is also the host and producer of My Teacher Podcast: A Celebration of the People Who Shape Our Lives. NeshamaCast contributor Chaplain David Balto is a volunteer chaplain at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. and Western Correctional Insitution, Maryland’s maximum security prison. He coordinated the annual National Jewish Healing Conference. Support NeshamaCast and NAJC with a tax deductible donation to NAJC. For sponsorship opportunities as either an individual or institution, please write to Rabbi Ed Bernstein at NeshamaCast@gmail.com Thank you to Steve Lubetkin and Lubetkin Media Companies for producing this episode. Transcripts for this episode and other episodes of NeshamaCast are available at NeshamaCast.simplecast.com and are typically posted one week after an episode first airs. Theme Music is “A Niggun For Ki Anu Amecha,” written and performed by Reb-Cantor Lisa Levine. Please help others find the show by rating and reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or other podcast providers. Opinions expressed on NeshamaCast reflect those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official positions of NAJC. We welcome comments and suggestions for future programming at NeshamaCast@gmail.com. And be sure to follow NAJC on Facebook to learn more about Jewish spiritual care happening in our communities.
    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
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