Forward by Sherwin B. NulandAs Jack Riemer demonstrates in this collection of Jewish resources for mourning and healing, the Jewish tradition has much to offer those who seek its help in time of need. Here are personal as well as practical writings by contemporary authors about the Shivah period, Kaddish, Yizkor, Yahrzeit, and less familiar practices to honor the dead and comfort the living. Some writers describe new rituals that were created to fill special needs. Others ...

“Rabbi Riemer offers us the kind of wisdom that we need in order to survive and thrive,” writes Dr. Bernie Siegel, best-selling author of a dozen books about spirituality and healing. The late Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel adds, “Jack Riemer’s words are songs of hope and faith. Listen to them as I do.”Widely sought after as a master storyteller and teacher, Riemer is one of the most frequently quoted rabbis in the U.S. That’s because of the winding paths he takes in describing the rel...

With this book, anyone, from any tradition, can write an ethical will.Words that come from the heart enter the heart.” Many of these wills come from plain ordinary fathers and mothers, yet they touch the hearts of all who read them. And so I suggest that you read these wills, and then that you try your hand at writing one of your own. If you do, you will leave a gift to the future, and the not-yet-born children of your children’s children will thank you and ble...

Ethical wills are precious spiritual documents, summing up what the writers have learned in life, and what they want most for, and from, their families. This unique combination of “what is” and “how to” offers a step-by-step process to help you prepare an ethical will of your own and provides a wide range of contemporary ethical wills for examples.

Leave your loved ones a legacy of blessings, wisdom, gratitude and hope. "Done right, an ethical will is a gift of love, a way of saying, 'This is what I found gave me satisfaction and gave my life meaning. It animated my relationship to you and to your mother (or father). May it do the same for you. I send this to you with much love.'" —from the Foreword by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner Ethical wills are precious spiritual documents, windows into the souls of those who write them, and are often...

Ethical wills are precious spiritual documents, windows into the souls of those who write them. Those who write ethical wills—often parents writing letters to their children or grandparents to their grandchildren—try to sum up what they have learned in life, and what they want most for, and from, their loved ones. In this unique combination of “What Is” and “How To,” Riemer and Stampfer show how to prepare an ethical will and provide as guides examples of ethical wills written by almost 100 f...