For 20 years, Rabbi Laura Geller has encouraged congregants to discover holiness in their lives, and to fulfill Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills’ mission statement, which reads: “We honor each individual’s unique Jewish journey at every stage of life.” Recently she led the congregation and the wider L.A. Jewish community to honor a new stage of life, between midlife and frail old age. It has led to an extraordinary transformation in the lives of many individuals as we explore what it means to understand that there is less time ahead of us than behind. Along with other congregational leaders, Rabbi Geller spearheaded the Next Step Boomer and Beyond Initiative. Over 200 members aged 50-75 met to reflect on such questions as: What does this stage of life mean to you? What keeps you up at night? What gets you up in the morning? What do we need to do in our community to help us make meaning and purpose out of the time we have left? These conversations led to a new focus on spirituality, building community, giving back, and supporting each other through attention to health care issues, end of life choices, and economic challenges. Rabbi Geller is leading the way to help us use our accumulated wisdom to make a difference in the world.

— Julie Beenhouwer

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount