GTU Hosts “Jewish and Islamic Perspectives on Spiritual Care” at Stanford Medicine

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GTU Communications

GTU Hosts “Jewish and Islamic Perspectives on Spiritual Care” at Stanford Medicine

Thursday, September 26, at 7:30 pm

Stanford, CA - The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) of Berkeley is joining with cohosts at Stanford to sponsor a discussion on interreligious chaplaincy. The event will take place at Stanford Medicine on Thursday, September 26, at 7:30 pm. Chaplain Bruce Feldstein MD, BCC and Kamal Abu-Shamsieh will present views on spiritual care within a hospital setting from both Jewish and Muslim perspectives. Recognizing that spiritual care has been widely recognized as a vital component of health care, this conversation will advance our understanding of the cultural and religious aspects of spiritual care and chaplaincy. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Deena Aranoff, director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish Studies at the GTU.

The event is sponsored by the Madrasa-Midrasha Program at the GTU, a partnership between the GTU Centers for Jewish and Islamic Studies that seeks to advance study, dialogue, and understanding on Jewish and Islamic texts and contexts within academia and the larger public. This event is cosponsored by the Stanford Office of Spiritual Life, Spiritual Care Service at Stanford Health Care, and Jewish Chaplaincy Services, serving Stanford Medicine.

Kamal Abu-Shamsieh is a PhD Candidate at the Graduate Theological Union and a Muslim Chaplain specializing in end of life care. He is founder and chairman of Ziyara Muslim Spiritual Care, where he frequently conducts spiritual care training seminars in several Muslim majority countries, among them Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. He has served in different leadership positions with the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, Hinds Hospice, Muslim Public Affairs Council in Los Angeles, and the Interfaith Alliance Foundation in Washington, DC.

Chaplain Bruce Feldstein MD, BCC is the founder and director of JFCS Jewish Chaplaincy Services serving Stanford Medicine, and Adjunct Clinical Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. He received the John Templeton Spirituality and Medicine Curricular Award and was the first recipient of the Isaac Stein Award for Compassionate Care presented by the Stanford Health Care Board of Directors. He is a Board Certified Chaplain, past president of Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains, and has taught and published widely.

Jewish and Islamic Perspectives on Spiritual Care
Thursday, September 26, 7:30 pm
Stanford Medical School, Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge
291 Campus Drive
Stanford, CA 94305

The Graduate Theological Union would like to thank the Walter & Elise Haas Fund for its generous support of the Madrasa-Midrasha program.