Rabbi Rena Arshinoff
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
For many mortals, Psalm 23:4 is an exaggeration. It is scary to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, which is why I am inspired by Rabbi Rena Arshinoff, a trained nurse who works as a chaplain specializing in palliative care. Last winter, my daughter died in utero two days before her scheduled C-section. Our rabbi was out of town, but she assured us that Rena, a fellow congregant, would meet us at the hospital. Rena literally stood next to me when I doubted I could coach my wife through the delivery of a dead baby. Before joining us in the delivery room, we had barely spoken, and yet there she was when I was scared by the propinquity of the shadow of death. Rena assisted throughout active labor and advised on appropriate rituals to mark my daughter’s birth and mourn her passing. Since then, Rena regularly takes the time to check in with my wife and me during Kiddush, informally but invaluably counseling us through our grief.
— Renan Levine
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
