Hebrew SeniorLife Blog

Tips and resources to help you navigate the joys and challenges of aging, from Boston's trusted expert in senior care.

We Empower Seniors to Live Their Best Lives

For more than a century Hebrew SeniorLife has provided care and services to seniors. Today, we’re focused on redefining every aspect of the aging experience for the better.

We’re committed to preserving independence, quality of life, and dignity, and we do this through:

  • Providing vibrant senior living communities
  • Delivering a range of quality, personalized health care
  • Conducting influential research on aging
  • Teaching the next generation of geriatric care professionals

We’re Open to All

Hebrew SeniorLife welcomes patients and residents of all faiths and backgrounds. Every person receives the same level of care regardless of religion, culture, race, sexual orientation, gender expression, or class background. We are committed to providing all individuals access to high quality health care and senior living.

Our Mission Statement

In the spirit of the Fifth Commandment, as illuminated by the traditions of the Jewish people, our mission is to honor our elders, by respecting and promoting their independence, spiritual vigor, dignity, and choice, and by recognizing that they are a resource to be cherished.

As part of our mission, we accept special responsibility for the frailest and neediest members of our community who are most dependent on our care. Everything we do flows from these tenets and is further inspired by the duty of tikkun olam - to heal the world. We seek to fulfill this mission by:

  • Providing a complete and integrated spectrum of the highest quality health care and housing facilities and services for seniors
  • Conducting medical and social gerontological research to improve seniors' health and quality of life
  • Teaching future generations of health care professionals
  • Advocating for policies and programs that benefit seniors and their families
  • Providing national and international leadership in the fields of senior health care, housing, research, and teaching
  • Raising standards in senior health and housing through innovation and leadership at the local, state, national, and international levels

Mission-Driven Senior Living and Care

An older man and woman sit in the lobby at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston; they are smiling at each other, with the woman having her arm around the man and her hand on his face

Providing Care

Health and Wellness Services

Affiliated with Harvard Medical School, Hebrew SeniorLife provides unsurpassed care to seniors and their families at every stage in their life journey.

View Health Care Services
Two older women standing at a counter with juice in front of them; they are looking at each other and laughing.

Building Community

Senior Living Communities

Find independence, community, and support at our five senior living communities in the Greater Boston area.

See Our Communities
A researcher at the Marcus Institute stands in front of a screen presenting to two other researchers.

Making Discoveries

Aging and Geriatric Research

The Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research is a renowned center for discovery and collaboration affiliated with Harvard Medical School.

See Our Research
A female pharmacist and a male pharmacy student standing in the pharmacy at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center in Boston.

Training Professionals

Academic Opportunities

Each year, we provide education programs to more than 1,000 future doctors, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists, and other providers.

View Opportunities

Hebrew SeniorLife at a Glance

1903

year established

7th

largest nonprofit in Massachusetts

4,500

seniors served each day throughout Greater Boston

500

students trained each year
Louis J. Woolf, Interim President and CEO
A headshot of HSL interim president and CEO Lou Woolf.

Louis J. Woolf became interim president and CEO of Hebrew SeniorLife in May 2024, after serving as president of the organization from 2009-2013 and president and CEO from 2013-2023. Previously, he was executive vice president and chief operating officer at Partners Healthcare System's North Shore Medical Center, a multi-site, integrated health care delivery system. He also spent eight years in leadership at the CareGroup Healthcare System, where he held key positions, including executive vice president and COO of New England Baptist Hospital and senior vice president of system development and communications for all CareGroup's hospitals. Read Lou's full bio.

 

Richard J. Henken, Board Chair
Richard Henken headshot

Rick Henken has been a volunteer leader at Hebrew SeniorLife for 15 years. He is president of The Schochet Companies, including Schochet Development, Schochet Investments, and Schochet Property Management (Schochet Companies’ wholly owned property management subsidiary). Rick officially joined the Schochet Companies as its Executive Vice President in 1997, after having been affiliated with, and an advisor to, the company for more than a decade. He has been responsible for closing transactions with a total value approaching $1 billion, including the acquisition and preservation as affordable of over 3,500 apartments in 16 developments.

Rick earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Economics from Tufts University, and a Master of Science degree in Management, with concentrations in Marketing and Finance, from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Prior to joining The Schochet Companies, Rick was a marketing and strategy consultant to Fortune 500 companies and held senior marketing positions in the financial services and consumer packaged goods industries.

In addition to Hebrew SeniorLife, Rick sits on several Boards of Directors, including the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, NewLease for the Homeless, and Discovering Justice. Other volunteer leadership includes the Catholic Schools Foundation, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, the Massachusetts Apartment Association, the National Apartment Association, and Jewish Family Services of MetroWest. He is a member of the Economics Advisory Board of the Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Rick is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Tufts University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Retirement Housing Foundation Friend of the Elderly Award; the B'nai B'rith Housing Distinguished Achievement Award, the RHA’s Industry Excellence Award; the Lawyers Clearinghouse Stephen M. Nolan Leadership Award; and the Carolyn and Peter Lynch Award for his service to the Catholic Schools Foundation.

2024-2025 Board of Directors

Richard J. Henken, Chair    
Jay L. Webber, Vice Chair  
Marsha R. Cohen, Treasurer and Secretary  
Harrison Bane  
Howard E. Cohen  
Thomas J. DeSimone  
Jeffrey D. Drucker  
Jane C. Edmonds  
Todd B. Finard  
Steven Flier, M.D.  
Reese Genser  
Harold G. Kotler  
Hinda L. Marcus  
Julie Rosen*  
David Rosenthal, M.D.  
Susan Florence Smith  
Roberta S. Weiner  
Ellen Zane  
Mark Zeidel, M.D.

* ex officio

Senior Leadership Team

The senior leadership at Hebrew SeniorLife is made up of experts in the fields of health care, senior services, and research.

View All Profiles
View All Profiles
Cover of HSL's digital annual report shows two women smiling sitting on a bench outdoors.

Leadership in Action

Read Hebrew SeniorLife's latest annual report to learn about our latest innovations, and the philanthropy that makes it happen.

Read the Report

Harvard Medical School-Affiliated Care to Help You Stay Well

Hebrew SeniorLife offers a comprehensive range of outpatient clinics and health services that provide specialized care to seniors in the Greater Boston area. From primary care and rehabilitative services to adult day care and wellness programs, our outpatient services are here to help you stay healthy and independent, and enjoy the best quality of life possible.

Younger woman kneels to listen to a seated older relative reminisce.

Turn to Us

Wolk Center for Memory Health

From initial consultations, diagnostic assessments, care planning, and care management to family counseling and referrals, the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health helps seniors and their families forge a path forward and coordinate often disparate resources.

Explore Our Wolk Center for Memory Health
Harvard Medical School students confer with Dr. Jennifer Rhodes-Kropf

A World-Class Collaboration

Our Harvard Medical School Affiliation

Our connection to one of the richest biomedical research collectives in the world benefits our patients, residents, and students. As the only senior care organization affiliated with Harvard Medical School, we use our expertise in geriatric medicine to train the clinicians and researchers of tomorrow. 

Learn About Our Affiliation

Offered at:

Getting Back to You

By asking what matters most to you, our therapeutic services can focus on your goals and empower you to live your best life as you define it.

Our outpatient therapists are geriatric specialists who have earned some of the highest designations in their fields and include certified hand therapists, orthopedic clinical specialists, and many with advanced training in Parkinson’s disease.

We specialize in adult physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and lymphedema management using state-of-the-art mobility and treatment equipment including manual therapy, joint mobilization, and therapeutic modalities to maximize function and independence. Our services are open to all residents of Boston and surrounding communities. Most major insurances accepted; please call for details.

Our Offerings

Assessments and consultations related to:

  • Assistive devices for mobility 
  • Adaptive equipment for self-care and joint protection
  • Fall prevention and balance 
  • Low vision 
  • Off-road clinical driver evaluation
  • Safe swallowing 
  • Voice production

Therapies to support your recovery from:

  • Joint replacement or repair 
  • Orthopedic injuries
  • Operations and/or hospitalization 
  • Shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand injuries 
  • Spine injuries
  • Stroke
  • Sports injuries
  • Work injuries

Management of chronic conditions including: 

  • Arthritis and joint stiffness 
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Incontinence 
  • Lymphedema and swelling 
  • Memory loss
  • Osteoporosis 
  • Pain 
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Speech/language impairment

See Our Patients in Action

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Offered at:

Hebrew Rehabilitation Center offers consultative specialty Palliative Care as an “added layer of support’ to patients and families facing serious illness/frailty. Palliative Care is focused on enhancing the relief of physical symptoms and distress often experienced by individuals and their caregivers during the course of their serious illness. Palliative care is appropriate for any age and any stage of a serious illness.

Our specially trained physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains work closely with patients, their families and primary care teams at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center to provide:

  • Treatment of pain and other symptoms
  • Information on what to expect during the course of a serious illness
  • Guidance with difficult treatment choices
  • Ways to secure practical assistance in the community
  • Ways to secure emotional and spiritual support for patients and family members of all faiths
Close up of the hand of an Orchard Cove geriatrician as she counsels a patient.

Holistic Care Focused on Quality of Life

Palliative Care at Hebrew SeniorLife

Learn more about palliative care and the other ways Hebrew SeniorLife provides this specialty to area seniors.

Explore Palliative Care

Offered in your home throughout Greater Boston and at the following locations:

What is Palliative Care?

Just like cardiology or oncology, palliative care is a medical specialty. While other members of your health care team focus on treating your underlying illness, palliative care providers focus only on treating the symptoms associated with that illness that may be standing in the way of you living your best life.

Palliative care can help by:

  • Taking a holistic view of your illness and working to reduce pain as well as emotional distress
  • Helping you consider your goals for illness management based on what matters most to you
  • Working with your doctor in developing a plan of care consistent with those goals
  • Delivering an integrated portfolio of services which may include massage and music therapy, to manage symptoms

Palliative Care at Hebrew SeniorLife

Hebrew SeniorLife offers palliative care to homebound seniors through Hebrew SeniorLife Home Health and as a specialty for patients at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center. If you are interested in palliative care but not homebound, your physician can refer you to an outpatient palliative care clinic.

Through Home Health Services

If you are homebound due to a chronic illness or recent hospitalization, and within our in-home care service area or in a Hebrew SeniorLife senior living community, palliative care can come to you.

Explore Home Health

During Rehabilitative Care

During your stay at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for short-term rehabilitative care, our palliative care team is available to address symptoms that are not relieved by other treatments and therapies.

Learn about Post-Acute Care

For Families Facing Dementia

At the Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health, we offer outpatient palliative care as one part of our whole-person care for people with dementia and their families. Our palliative care specialists work with patients and their families to understand how the disease impacts their life, suggest medical and non-medical ways to alleviate the effects of dementia, and help families define and document goals of care. 

See Our Outpatient Memory Care Offerings

As Part of Long-Term Chronic Care

Hebrew Rehabilitation Center offers palliative care as a compassionate and innovative response to the pressing end-of-life needs of our patients and families. Palliative care is focused on relief of pain, symptoms, and emotional stress brought on by serious illness.

View Palliative Care at Hebrew Rehabilitation Center

Older man with walker stands at doorway of his home as he waves goodbye to his home health nurse

More on the Benefits of Palliative Care at Home

Palliative care is for patients who do not need hospice care, but would benefit from care focused on symptom relief, even as a curative treatment is sought. Our home-based palliative care program is designed to fill a critical gap in the care of patients with chronic illness who want to prevent frequent hospitalizations and enjoy a better quality of life.

Read Our Blog Post

Pastoral Commentary Helps Famlies and Friends Negotiate End of Life

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Students of the Hasidic masters wrote down the stories of the last months, days, hours and moments of the lives of their rebbes. A compilation of their experiences, called The Book of Departure (Sefer haHistalkut), first published in Hebrew in 1930, brings together the rich end-of-life stories of forty-two holy men who died between 1760 and 1904, as well as their philosophical forebearer, Isaac Luria.

“Most of Torah’s teaching is about how to live. But there is a special section within its wisdom that also speaks to us about how to die. Since we are all mortals, our lives fashioned somehow around the awareness that death is inevitably to come, this is one of the important lessons,” writes foreword author Arthur Green, in DEATHBED WISDOM OF THE HASIDIC MASTERS: The Book of Departure and Caring for People at the End of Life, translated and annotated by Rabbi Joel H Baron and Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow (Jewish Lights / August 2016 / Quality Paperback / $19.99). “There is something profound to be learned about the way of dying, and it is best learned from the wisdom and stories of those who have gone before us.”

Featuring new pastoral commentary in a unique facing-page format, this English presentation of heart-touching deathbed tales sheds light on Jewish traditions about death, the afterlife and how to care for people in their final days. Joel H Baron and Sara Paasche-Orlow, both rabbis and Jewish chaplains, draw insights and suggest helpful teachings on end-of-life care from The Book of Departure. They approach these deathbed stories as narrative theology, bringing their own experiences, clinical pastoral education training and rabbinic knowledge into conversation with those of the Hasidic masters and of their biblical, rabbinic and intellectual forebearers.

By following the pathways into the texts to which the stories refer, and by extracting modern pastoral lessons, Rabbis Baron and Paasche-Orlow help caregivers and chaplains of all kinds make Jewish meaning out of the experience of caring for others at the end of life.

Rabbi Joel H Baron is a hospice chaplain at Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL) Hospice Care in Boston.

Rabbi Sara Paasche-Orlow is the director of Spiritual Care at Hebrew SeniorLife.

Arthur Green, renowned spiritual leader, author and teacher, is one of the world’s preeminent authorities on Jewish thought and spirituality. He is author of Judaism’s Ten Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers, among other books.

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