It was a delight to see coverage highlighting some of my work in my current position as the director of pastoral care at the senior living facility where I work! In the July 1st issue of The American Israelite (on page 4 in the print edition), an article discussed how various efforts around Cincinnati serving senior citizens in the Jewish community have come about due to the pandemic.
One of the aspects that was included in these various highlights was mentioning the video entertainment that I have provided to the residents at the senior living facility where I work:
The “Cedar Village Channel” became a communication hub for Kaplan. He curated a variety of video content for the residents, and also produced original broadcasts for Shabbat, holidays, and general entertainment. “It was really great,” Kaplan said. “To have me — a familiar face from the building — coming to their screens, I think that added a personal touch, and it helped keep our residents intellectually stimulated.” Kaplan even created a video about the art exhibit the Mayerson JCC presents every year in its courtyard during Sukkot: Under One Roof. “We broadcast that show to the residents numerous times,” Kaplan said. “So even though we couldn’t bring folks to the exhibit, we brought the exhibit to them.”
I appreciated this highlighting of my work of over this past year of largely curating entertainment for the residents from YouTube videos and sharing with them on the in-house broadcasting channel at the senior living facility where I work. In addition to these curation efforts, there have also been a variety of content that I have created, which includes Torah portion discussions, art videos, and more. (If you are interested in checking out these lineups I have created for Shabbats and holidays for the residents, I have made them available for the general public.)
It was also nice to see the exciting line towards the end of “The Cedar Village Channel has permanently arrived — as has the inimitable ‘Rabbi Drew’.”
It is lovely to receive this published professional praise and I am appreciative of this coverage highlighting this aspect of work I have been doing during the pandemic in my current professional position. Although I have recently begun dialing back the amount of content that I am creating and curating for the residents, I am still continuing to do so, as many residents are not necessarily going out from their rooms all that much, and many still greatly enjoy this entertainment being delivered to them in this fashion.