Sayva: A New Approach to Positive Aging

Amount:: $250,000
Year:: 2022
Field of Interest:

Program Name:: Sayva: A New Approach to Positive Aging
Grant Type:: Cutting Edge
Grant Website: Visit their site >

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

GRANT PURPOSE

To launch Sayva: A New Approach to Positive Aging across three synagogues (VBS, Temple Ramat Zion and Temple Judea) that will engage hundreds of Jewish older adults in a holistic curriculum of opportunities for personal growth, creative expression, generativity, and community. The program aims to create a new culture of Later Adulthood, characterized by its own special opportunities, experiences, and values that provide opportunities for older adults to feel connected, appreciated, and useful in their community.

Sayva means the wisdom and depth that comes in our later years. Unlike American culture, Jewish tradition never saw old age as a time of diminishment, disability and loss. The old were never retired, removed or isolated. The Jewish tradition recognized that elders possess a capacity to see life from higher perspectives. The tradition honored and celebrated the unique contributions of elders to our collective life. The goal of Sayva is to make the years of Later Adulthood joyful, interesting and purposeful – a time of life to be anticipated, celebrated and cherished.

Ed Feinstein
Rabbi, Valley Beth Shalom