EP 56 :: Memory Minyan :: Rabbi Michael Goldman

Rabbi Michael Goldman is the Director Emeritus of Seivah, a non-profit organization whose work and mission is to create better emotional and spiritual lives for people with dementia and their care partners.

Rabbi Goldman began rabbinical school the year his grandmother, who had vascular dementia, died. Observing how she became less attached to worrying and more attached to nature, great grandchildren, and other things that she loved, Rabbi Goldman concluded that having dementia does not preclude having a spiritual life.

A Memory Minyan is a meditative, melodic, joyous Sabbath service, followed by a traditional meal.  It is tailored to a minyan – group – of people with dementia and their loved ones, joined by a group of volunteers.

“Prayer and music is just something that is best community experienced and that's part of the mission and work of my organization. It's hard for me to conceive of a definition of spirituality without that communal aspect,” Rabbi Goldman said.

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