Dear friends,
August is flying by but we are making every day a full one for our residents at the Jewish Home Family. Jewish Home Assisted Living residents enjoyed one their regular visits to the Cleveland Museum of Art. We do this through the power of technology and the residents choose what they want to see and an art museum docent takes them through the exhibit. It is a wonderful program and one that the residents truly enjoy. Our knitting club met this week at well. This group of residents, along with some community volunteers, sits and knits together and creates projects that they use or donate. Right now they are making lap blankets in preparation for the cooler months ahead. On Wednesday we held our monthly birthday party with a “tropical” theme and the celebrants enjoyed rum punch! We are looking forward to Sunday and Monday when we will be packing backpacks for the Supplies for Success, a project for school age children in need, that is coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey.
As we hope you know, we are getting ready for our upcoming Mission to Israel with residents. Jewish Home Assisted Living has their Western Wall replica in place already and folks are already putting notes in the wall. This week residents of Memory Lane worked on notes and placed them in the wall. Another replica will be installed shortly at the Jewish Home at Rockleigh.
The construction of this wall is done by our residents and Activity staff and they truly are amazing. We very carefully empty all of the notes out of these replicas before we leave for Israel. When we visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, we pass out the collected notes (last time we had nearly 300) and each of us, staff and residents, places these notes with great care in the Wall. It is a very meaningful experience for all of us, not only being at this most sacred of places, but to have the opportunity to bring thoughts and prayers from home and making sure that they are placed in the Wall.
In the Gallen Day Center this week, we had some great programs as well. Our specialized Parkinson’s program continues to grow and to make a difference in the lives of individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Those Tuesday and Friday programs include boxing, tai chi, education, support and so much. The Gallen participants also had their August birthday party this week. It was highlighted by a performance by Mark Wright. Participants also enjoyed lots of games this week, which are always a hit. In addition to the “old standby” Bingo, we also had fun with charades and a lively game of balloon toss. We took advantage of the nice weather and spent some great time on the patio, enjoying some programming and discussion groups. And we ended the week with a special “Day at the Gallen Cinema” and our very own film festival!
The Jewish Home at Rockleigh began the week with an “afternoon of music” featuring Mark Richards. It made for a lively and well attended Sunday afternoon. Monday evening featured another performance in the Leonora Messer Concert series featuring Randy Accardi. He played music from the 1920’s to the 1980’s and residents, visitors and staff enjoyed singing along and doing a little dancing.
On Wednesday we celebrated National Chocolate Chip cookie Day. We baked chocolate chip cookies with the residents and had a lively discussion about baking, baking ingredients and baking memories. It was a lively discussion and culminated, of course, with delicious cookies! The new Community Choice program continued again this week and residents chose their afternoon activities, this week opting for Bingo and Trivial Pursuit. We also had chair yoga on Thursday, which was a bit hit and on Friday a very lively conversation about “the King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis Presley!
All the best,
Carol Silver Elliott
President/CEO
The Jewish Home Family
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Upcoming Events
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Volunteer Opportunity of the Week
Safely@Home volunteers are helping the region’s older adults and physically challenged individuals build the festive hut – called a sukkah – for the upcoming Jewish festival of Sukkot. Building a sukkah is a fun and rewarding project for both individuals and families. It is also a meaningful mitzvah. The huts recall the way the Jewish people lived in the desert following the exodus from Egypt, as well as the harvest-time huts built by Israelite farmers once they settled in Israel. Assisting our seniors enables them to celebrate the holiday in the manner they are accustomed to.
The sukkah construction will take place on Sunday, September 9th, and Sunday, September 16th at 10:00 AM. Assistance with disassembly is also needed on Sunday, October 7th. All ages are welcome, but volunteers under 16 must be accompanied by a participating adult.
Register in advance by contacting Stacey Orden, Director, Safely@Home at sorden@jewishhomefamily.org or 201-518-1175 to reserve the build date and location you prefer. High school community service letters are available upon request.
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10 Link Drive Rockleigh, NJ 07647 | 685 Westwood Ave. River Vale, NJ 07675