About Us

Mission

Our mission is to provide compassionate care for those individuals affected by serious illness and other life crises through a multi-faceted approach to healing, based on the wisdom of the Jewish tradition. We serve the entire community, regardless of affiliation.

History

Jewish Healing Center of Los Angeles (JHCLA) is an outgrowth of Jewish Hospice Project of Los Angeles (JHPLA), the city's first Jewish hospice program. As a founder and Executive Director of JHPLA until its reorganization in 2006 as JHCLA, Rabbi Howard oversaw an organization that served over six hundred families during its existence. Including additional family members, JHPLA served over 2400 individuals in its five years.

Experience in tending to the spiritual needs of dying patients in a hospice setting led to the awareness that the need for spiritual care arises at the onset of any life crisis, and not just in the final stages of terminal illnesses. It is to address this broader need that we have formed JHCLA, and our goal is to provide such care under one roof, beneath the canopy of Judaism.

Established as a California religious corporation in May of 2006 under the name Jewish Healing and Hospice Center of Los Angeles, Inc., JHCLA has been granted tax exemptions under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and corresponding California statutes. All contributions to JHCLA are deductible to the full extent of the law.

Rabbis

Rabbi Carla Howard is the Founder and Executive Director and CEO of JHCLA. Rabbi Howard combines rabbinic ordination with a unique background of pre-medical studies, clinical work in women's medicine and midwifery, and success as an entrepreneur. She has served as Rabbi for Gateway's Beit Tshuvah, Associate Rabbi of Metivta — A Center For Contemplative Judaism, and Director of Bikkur Cholim (a program carrying out the Biblical commandment, or mitzvah, of visiting the sick) for Temple Beth Am. For five years, Rabbi Howard was Co-Founder and Executive Director of Jewish Hospice Project - Los Angeles. Rabbi Howard began her hospice chaplaincy to the dying and their families immediately following her ordination in 2000, with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, then moved to Trinity Care Hospice in 2001. Rabbi Howard is on the faculty of UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and the Academy for Jewish Religion rabbinical seminary, and serves on the Bio-Ethics Committee of Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center. She also writes articles and speaks about spiritual care and end-of-life issues to both lay and medical organizations here and abroad. She is a member of the American Academy of Bereavement, National Hospice Foundation and Hospice Foundation of America.

Rabbi Howard can be reached at

Articles by and about Rabbi Howard

Rabbi Ronnie Cohen is the Program Director of JHCLA, a position he assumed immediately upon his ordination from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies of the American Jewish University in May, 2007. Rabbi Cohen had been the rabbinic intern for JHCLA since its inception, and as a CPA with many years of experience in non-profit organizations, has served as its CFO as well, from the beginning. Rabbi Cohen was the founding CFO of Parents' Action for Children (formerly I Am Your Child Foundation), and served as the Vice-Chairman of the Board of Investments for the Los Angeles County Employee Retirement Association, which manages a $30 billion retirement fund. Rabbi Cohen is the administrative coordinator for the organization and its programs.

Rabbi Cohen can be reached at

Vision

Our ultimate vision is the creation of a bricks and mortar dedicated healing center, a place where one will come, to be alone or with others, to access a multi-faceted approach to spiritual healing. It may be finding quiet for contemplation, meditation, or spiritual direction; it may be finding cleansing in the healing waters of a mikveh, or awakening one's own creativity as a healing force through the use of art, music, writing, movement, cooking, gardening, etc., bringing Jewish wisdom to bear in each of these approaches, all in a tranquil and beautiful setting. We envision Jewish Healing Center of Los Angeles being centrally located in an urban environment, serving as a resource for the entire community.