I am an interfaith hospice chaplain who on average handles 20 deaths every week; at times I manage 40. This number may sound staggering but it’s not. As people age and society understands death, more people will choose to die with the dignity of hospice.

The career of a chaplain is not one of the most appealing for new clergy. Why would someone want to hold the hand of a woman as she goes in and out of consciousness surrounded by her family and friends? Did I, someone Jewish, think that I would perform a cremation? As a side note, more people are asking for cremation due to the expense of burial.

As a Jewish communal leader who overcame learning difficulties, my spiritual calling to be a chaplain has been one of the more fulfilling aspects of my life both personally and professionally. Before my shift to hospice, I spent a year in residency as the first Jewish chaplain in the Deep South doing hospital chaplaincy.

The work of a chaplain in healthcare is fundamental to both how systems operate and the complete betterment of the patient. I split my time between bedside care which involves being there as the patient and family deal with a death to the weekly grief therapy I call “Cognitive Behavioral Spirituality.” This form of therapy includes weekly pastoral sessions that end in homework for my client. By doing homework like getting a massage or eating something fatty and delicious, I help walk them back into life. Grief is not a straight line. The path towards finding meaning and purpose is different for each person.

When I moved to the Bay Area to work for my company, I took this job knowing that I would primarily see non-Jews. Since Oct. 7 and its aftermath, I have been an advocate for more Jewish professionals to work in non-Jewish spaces. To put it in Talmudic language, the sage Hillel had it right when he said, “If I’m only for myself who am I”? If we want allies, we must expand how we’re seen in the communities we inhabit.

Another term for what I do is “death doula.” Similarly to helping women give birth, I am there at the time when it really matters. In one encounter, I went to lead an extubation at our local San Jose hospital where life-support tubes were removed from a patient. As a member of the clergy who takes pride in my appearance, most of my shoes come from Cole Haan, a brand I love. As I entered the hospital room, the daughter of the patient looked at me and through tears told me how much she loved my shoes! This, as her father was dying. I am so fortunate to have these and many more stories to share and to help guide and facilitate these conversations.

In another encounter with a family I served, I led my first celebration of life at a local Mexican restaurant. Surrounded by loved ones there to honor their matriarch, we toasted with Reposado tequila. How meaningful that was!

Due to my personal circumstances that led me to pursue chaplaincy in all of its raw and beautiful moments, I feel I have found my calling, and I look forward to helping more members of clergy become chaplains so that this career can be one that helps others thrive!

Jonah Sanderson is a chaplain and interfaith hospice provider. His training includes his master’s degree from theAcademy Jewish for Religion, as well as a residency in Gastonia, North Carolina.

As voting for the U.S. elections in the 39^th World Zionist Congress nears conclusion—voting closes May 4—American Zionist Movement (AZM) Executive Director Herbert Block said there were few barriers of entry to voting in what Jewish leaders are describing as a consequential election.

In fact, it costs just $5 per person to vote—essentially the cost of a cup of coffee, the AZM leader said during a recent Zoom interview.

“The price is low,” Block said, “but the value is high.”

What is the World Zionist Congress?

Known colloquially as the “global parliament of the Jewish people,” the Zionist Congress meets every five years in Jerusalem and influences appropriations of $1 billion in annual funds and the decisions of four of global Jewry’s national institutions and programs: World Zionist Organization (WZO), the Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet LeIsrael (KKL-JNF), The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and Keren Hayesod.

This year, more than 2,900 candidates from 43 U.S. states and territories—including approximately 200 candidates from the Los Angeles area—are running in the World Zionist Congress elections on a record-high 21 slates, which span the ideological spectrum. The candidates are vying for the 152 seats allocated to the U.S. Jewish community in the 525-seat Congress.

As in a parliamentary system, seats are distributed based on what percentage of the vote each slate gets.

All Jews who are age 18-or-older by June 30, live in the U.S. and accept the “Jerusalem Program,” the global statement of beliefs of the Zionist movement, are eligible to vote.

Voting is done at zionistelection.org.

For the current election, the slates span the spectrum. Some are representing Orthodox values; others are liberal; and there are those that advocate for pluralism. But despite their differences, the slates are all Zionist, Block said.

“The diversity of the slates really reflects the diversity of the American Jewish community,” the AZM leader said.

Some of the slates have participated in previous elections, while others are participating for the first time. The slate with the largest number of Los Angeles candidates, “ANU: A New Union,” is a new slate, with 27 local candidates. It describes itself as “A NextGen Big Tent for the Jewish American Consensus.”

Another slate with a large numbers of Los Angeles candidates is “Orthodox Israel Coalition-Mizrachi,” a religious Zionist slate. Its members include Orthodox Union, Yeshiva University and Rabbinical Council of America, among other institutions. The group’s platform notes a disproportionately large percentage of the fighting forces in the IDF identify as religious Zionist. The slate has 24 local candidates, including Young Israel of Century City (YICC) Senior Rabbi Elazar Muskin, who spoke with the Journal about the election.

“I support this philosophy very strongly,” Muskin said. “Our community, YICC, is a religious Zionist synagogue. It’s part of our mission statement. You walk into YICC, you know it’s a religious Zionist organization. The beautiful tapestries in the main sanctuary, the sculpture in the backyard, a model of the Knesset menorah, is prominently displayed. Everywhere you turn in Young Israel, you can see we are religious Zionists.”

“A lot of people go on a slate to show their support for the slate,” Lizz Berney, national director of research and special projects at Zionist Organization of America, said in a phone interview.

Berney is a candidate on the slate, “ZOA Coalition,” which represents more than 30 organizations, including Zionist Organization of America; Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA); and Lawfare Project.

In a phone interview, Berney said there was “more visibility about the election this year than in previous years.”

Block concurred, saying, “By all signs, more people are interested, and more people are engaged than they were in the past.”

“Kol Israel” slate, associated with pro-Israel education organization StandWithUs and Zionist youth movement Young Judaea, has 17 local candidates.

On the opposite end of the ideological spectrum are slates “Vote Reform” and “HaTikvah: The Progressive Slate.” Groups including Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, NFTY and Central Conference of American Rabbis support “Vote Reform,” while “HaTikvah” is endorsed by JStreet; Reconstructing Judaism, the voice of the Reconstructionist movement; and Jewish Labor Committee, among others.

The Conservative movement’s “Mercaz USA” slate, supported by Cantors Assembly, Jewish Theological Seminary and Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, has 15 local candidates. Recently, Yizhar Hess, vice chairman of the WZO, spoke at Temple Beth Am, a Conservative congregation, as part of a get-out-the-vote effort for the Mercaz slate.

Other new slates include “Israel365 Action,” “Israeli-American Council (IAC)” and “Aish Ha’am.”

Another new slate, “AID Coalition (American-Israel Democracy),” which advocates strengthening the bond between Israeli Americans and Israel, has 13 local candidates.

Voting began March 10. As of April 21, 147,414 votes had been cast in the election, exceeding the 123,575 votes recorded during the entirety of the 2020 election, according to AZM.

Block said the role AZM plays in the election process is an unbiased, administrative one, which he likened to the function the nonpartisan League of Women Voters has in U.S. elections.

“Our job is to run an open, fair and democratic election,” Block said. “We don’t endorse any particular slate. We’re in charge of the election.”

Ultimately, he hoped as many pro-Zionist Jews as possible casted their vote before voting concluded on May 4.

“We want to make sure the voice of the Diaspora Jewish community, and particularly the American Jewish community, is heard at the Congress,” Block said, “and so if our vote collectively is backed up by a larger number, that gives us a stronger voice.”