
Barbara Mancini, a Pennsylvania nurse prosecuted for allegedly aiding the attempted suicide of her dying father, is the guest on this week’s Seekers of Meaning Podcast. Mancini has written a memoir about her experience with the medical and legal system, Cruel Death, Heartless Aftermath.
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About the Guest
In 2013, Barbara Mancini was arrested and prosecuted in Pennsylvania on the charge of aiding the attempted suicide of her dying 93-year-old father after handing him his prescribed morphine. A hospice nurse and police authorities ignored his written advance directives, and he was hospitalized and treated in defiance of his end-of-life wishes. Her case garnered national attention and was roundly criticized throughout the media. A year later, a judge dismissed the case against her.
Her case was featured on TV’s 60 Minutes and National Public Radio.  She has traveled the country speaking about her experience, and has become a vocal advocate for honoring wishes, improving care and expanding options at the end of life. Her memoir, Cruel Death, Heartless Aftermath, was published by Sunbury Press in November 2019.
Barbara’s experience with the criminal justice system also led her to advocate for a more fair criminal justice system. She completed an internship with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, and later worked as a pre-trial assistant with the Montgomery County (PA) Office of the Public Defender.
Barbara has a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, and a Master of Science degree in Burn, Emergency, and Trauma Nursing. She worked as a nurse for over three decades and also holds a certificate in paralegal studies. Her advocacy focuses on self-determination and decision-making of the dying, the broader issues that influenced the ordeal she and her family experienced, and the social and ethical implications regarding how people are allowed to die.
 
 

Barbara Mancini, nurse-memoirist prosecuted in her father’s death, discusses book on Seekers of Meaning Podcast

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Rabbi Address chats with author Lisa Skinner on this week’s Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast



On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, the guest is Lisa Skinner, author of the book, Truth,Lies and Alzheimer’s; Its Secret Faces.



According to the Alzheimer’s Association, it’s estimated that nearly 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s in 2021. That number is, in fact, projected to nearly triple to approximately 14 million by 2060. 



Even though this disease continues to increase in prevalence and severity in our society, it is still quite a misunderstood disease. No one patient is the same… making it difficult for caretakers and loved ones to find beneficial solutions tailored specifically to the individual. 



That is why it is crucial for both those struggling with the disease, and loved ones looking for answers and guidance, to be able to identify key symptoms, behaviors, and possible solutions in order to promote their overall health and wellbeing. 




Lisa Skinner, behavioral expert in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, navigates the heartbreaking challenges of having a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in her recently revised book, Truth, Lies and Alzheimer’s: It’s Secret Faces.




Through a rich trove of stories culled from her years in the eldercare industry, Lisa Skinner offers insight into the difficult questions families face, including:



* How do I respond to a loved one’s false belief? * Am I abandoning my parent if I place them in the care of professionals? * How do we make the best of our time left together? 



Skinner’s original thinking and counter-intuitive solutions provide family members, spouses, children, caregivers, and others with the tools they need to effectively manage the symptoms of brain disease. Readers of her book will feel empowered to work through the difficulties of the disease, and return to what matters — enjoying their remaining time with their loved one.



Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast Now Available on Roku Streaming Service



You can add the Jewish Sacred Aging TV channel to your Roku streaming subscription by visiting this page: https://channelstore.roku.com/details/600964/jewish-sacred-aging.



You can also watch this week’s show in the player below.









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About the Guest











Lisa Skinner



Lisa Skinner is a behavioral expert in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. In her 20-year career as a community counselor and reg...

Seekers of Meaning 12/3/2021: Lisa Skinner, author of “Truth,Lies and Alzheimer’s; Its Secret Faces”


 Rabbi Address interviews Rabbi W. Jack Romberg, author of a book about his great-uncle’s experiences as a German solider in World War I and an American solder in World War II.



On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi W. Jack Romberg discusses his book,  A Doorway to Heroism: A decorated German-Jewish Soldier who became an American Hero, an account of his great-uncle’s life as a decorated German soldier in World War I, a resister in Cologne at the start of Hitler’s reign of terror, and a Silver Star decorated U.S. Army soldier.  



Imagine a German Jew who was a decorated German soldier in World War I, a resistant in Cologne at the start of Hitler’s reign of terror, and a Silver Star decorated U.S. Army soldier.  Three heroic actions, at three different times, in three different places.  This is the story of Richard Stern, whose photograph of his protest hangs in multiple German museums, showing a rare Jewish protest in Nazi Germany.  He was Rabbi Romberg’s great uncle.




We have just passed the 75th anniversary of World War II.  Most of those veterans are gone, and their stories should be preserved, especially those as unique as Richard Stern’s.  How many American soldiers served the opposing army in World War I, let alone as decorated German soldiers?  How many German war veterans actively opposed the Nazis in the 1930s?  How many Jews, after making it safely out of Germany decided they had to get into the American army despite their age exemption to fight Nazi Germany?  His actions that earned him the Silver Star got a burst of publicity in New York City.  Richard Stern’s history connected to the Holocaust is unique. There have been articles published about him by CNN and a newspaper in Israel.  This book tells his full story along with how the Shoah impacted his family.




Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast Now Available on Roku Streaming Service



You can add the Jewish Sacred Aging TV channel to your Roku streaming subscription by visiting this page: https://channelstore.roku.com/details/600964/jewish-sacred-aging.



You can also watch this week’s show in the player below.









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About the Guest











Rabbi W. Jack Romberg



W. Jack Romberg retired as the rabbi of Temple Israel in Tallahassee, FL in the summer of 2019.  It was his second career.  He intended to enter rabbinic school after graduating from University of Pittsburgh in 1976 with a BA in history focusing on Germany, but his father asked him to help in the family’s furniture manufacturing business.  In 1995 he decided to pursue the lifelong dream to be a rabbi, entering Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1996, earning a master’s degree in 1999 and ordained in...

Seekers of Meaning 11/26/2021: Rabbi W. Jack Romberg, author of “Doorway to Heroism”


Rabbi Address with Dr. Jessica Zitter, director and producer of Caregiver: A Love Story.



On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Address chats with Dr. Jessica Zitter, director and producer of the documentary, Caregiver: A Love Story.



Over the past decade, we’ve gotten better at caring for the dying.  But now we have a new crisis on our hands: the plight of those who care for them. Caregiver: A Love Story highlights an essential, yet largely unseen workforce—the family caregivers of America. 



While most documentary films about death focus on people who are dying, Caregiver: A Love Story directs our attention to the millions of family caregivers who support them at home. 



When 59-year-old Bambi decides to forgo further treatment for her cancer and die at home, her husband Rick leaves his job to become her primary caregiver—a role for which he has no experience and little support.  



Their journey begins on a high note. Her pain is finally under control and family and friends flock to her bedside. Death may be fast-approaching, but there is an air of celebration, even optimism. The atmosphere changes quickly when family members must return to their homes abroad and Rick is left to manage Bambi’s growing needs on his own. Without a full night’s sleep in months, the around-the-clock responsibilities eventually send Rick into a state of physical, financial, and emotional exhaustion.



Caregiver: A Love Story challenges viewers to acknowledge the growing strain placed on family caregivers and to envision a new approach.



Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast Now Available on Roku Streaming Service



You can add the Jewish Sacred Aging TV channel to your Roku streaming subscription by visiting this page: https://channelstore.roku.com/details/600964/jewish-sacred-aging.



You can also watch this week’s show in the player below.









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About the Guest











Dr. Jessica Zitter



Dr. Zitter practices critical and palliative care medicine at a public hospital in Oakland, California. She is a passionate advocate for humanism in medicine, utilizing her broad platform as a speaker, writer, and producer of media.



Dr. Zitter is the author of Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life, which chronicles her personal evolution as a physician. It’s stories depict the burdens placed on patients and families as they approach the end of life in our ICUs and hospitals.



Her work is featured in the Netflix short-documentary Extremis, which was nominated for an Oscar and two Emmys in 2017.



She is a regular contributor to The New York Times, and her articles have appeared in The Atlantic, Time Magazine,

Seekers of Meaning 11/19/2021: Dr. Jessica Zitter, producer/director of “Caregiver: A Love Story” film


Rabbi Address chats with Julea Gasner of Yad LaKashish about the group’s services for aging residents in Jerusalem.



On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Julea Gasner of Yad LaKashish describes the challenges the social service organization faces providing resources for aging residents in Jerusalem.



Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast Now Available on Roku Streaming Service



You can add the Jewish Sacred Aging TV channel to your Roku streaming subscription by visiting this page: https://channelstore.roku.com/details/600964/jewish-sacred-aging.



You can also watch this week’s show in the player below.









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You can listen to the audio podcast version in the player below, or subscribe to the podcast in one of the popular platforms by clicking one of the buttons below the player.







About the Guest











Julea Gasner



Julea Gasner has been with Yad LaKashish for 4 years and has been working in the non-profit world for over 35. Originally from Toronto, she has been living in Israel since 2009 with her husband and family.



Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast 11/12/2021: Julea Gasner, Yad LaKashish


Rabbi Address chats with this week’s guest, Rabbi Stephen Fuchs



On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, former president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, and author of the new book, And Sometimes the First Jew, which chronicles the accomplishments, adventures, and “firsts” in Germany for Rabbi Fuchs and his wife Vickie, who are both children of Holocaust survivors. Rabbi Fuchs tells of the arrest and brutal treatment that his father, Leo Fuchs, received at the onset of Kristallnacht and how he was able to survive. 



Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast Now Available on Roku Streaming Service



You can add the Jewish Sacred Aging TV channel to your Roku streaming subscription by visiting this page: https://channelstore.roku.com/details/600964/jewish-sacred-aging.



You can also watch this week’s show in the player below.









Listen to the Audio Podcast



You can listen to the audio podcast version in the player below, or subscribe to the podcast in one of the popular platforms by clicking one of the buttons below the player.







About the Guest











Rabbi Stephen L. Fuchs



Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs was born in East Orange, New Jersey on March 16, 1946. Upon graduating from East Orange High School, he matriculated at and graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. After five more years and four summers of full-time study, he was ordained as a Rabbi at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio where he earned his MA in Hebrew Letters and a graduate certificate in Jewish Communal Service from the Hebrew Union College branch in Los Angeles, CA.Rabbi Stephen Fuchs and Victoria Steinberg Fuchs, a now-retired elementary school teacher, married on June 9, 1974 in San Francisco, CA. They currently reside in Sanibel Island, FL where Rabbi Fuchs is the spiritual leader at Bat Yam Temple of the Islands. They have three children and five grandchildren.​While studying at Hamilton and at HUC, Rabbi Fuchs worked as a teaching tennis pro at Spring Garden CC in Florham Park, NJ and at the famed Concord Hotel in the Catskills Mountains.“I’ve learned more about people through teaching and  dealing with them during those five summers than I did in all the years I’d studied in college and graduate school,” he says.​In 1992, Rabbi Fuchs earned a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree in biblical interpretation from Vanderbilt University Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. He received a Doctor of Divinity Degree, Honoris Causa, from the Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion in New York in March of...

Barbara Mancini, nurse-memoirist prosecuted in her father’s death, discusses book on Seekers of Meaning Podcast

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