Chaplain Hagar Ben-Eliezer, BCC, is a Chaplain and Wellness Therapist for Hillel at UC Berkeley. She previously worked in pediatric chaplaincy at both UCSF and Stanford hospitals. She teaches medical school students on Trauma Informed Care, Somatic Healing and has created workshops in veterinarian chaplaincy she leads for staff at animal hospitals. In  the summer of 2024 Hagar served as the Hillel Birthright International Grief and Trauma Specialist in Israel. Chaplain Hagar is active in NAJC and serves on the board as well as co-chairs the conference committee and leads the fundraising committee. She is also a mentor to chaplains preparing for their certification.

Rabbi Drew Kaplan currently serves as the campus rabbi for Cincinnati Hillel. Before that, he served as the rabbi and director working on behalf of institutions addressing the needs of young people such as the Jewish Student Services and Jewish Young Adult Enrichment as well as Long Beach Hillel, all in Southern California. He also served our most vulnerable population throughout the pandemic, when he was the rabbi/director of pastoral care for Cedar Village in Ohia. Rabbi Drew is a prolific content creator and has a special interest in the history of Jewish drinking that he discusses on the Jewish Drinking Show Podcast.

About our host:

Rabbi Edward Bernstein, BCC, is the 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 Rabbi Katja Vehlow was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary and is Director of Jewish Life at Fordham University. She trained as a chaplain at Moses Maimonides Medical Center in New York. Previously, she served as Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of South Carolina. A native German speaker, she is planning a forthcoming German-language podcast on the weekly Torah portion with a focus on pastoral care.

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 Bikur Cholim Conference. 

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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.

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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.