The sacred work of showing up
Hospital opens new bikur cholim room in Summit
Bikur cholim — visiting the sick — is one of Judaism’s most tender and demanding mitzvot.
Sometimes bikur cholim means a visit. Sometimes it’s a phone call, a meal, a ride to an appointment, or simply sitting quietly beside a hospital bed. The mitzvah doesn’t demand perfect words — only presence, empathy and respect.
It is not about curing illness; it is about showing up. We visit those who are sick so they are not alone. All you need is a chair, a few minutes, and a listening heart; that is bikur cholim.
Many hospitals have a bikur cholim room (sometimes called a hospital hospitality room). It is a dedicated space that supports Jewish patients, their families, and visitors.
On February 17 this year, the new bikur cholim room was dedicated at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center in Summit. In this space, which was specially redesigned by the hospital, visitors can find kosher food, a refrigerator, two microwave ovens (one for meat, the other for dairy), a warming closet (that keeps food warm over Shabbes) and two sinks. There are prayer books, books of tehilim, and benchers, so the room becomes a quiet space where visitors can go to breathe before or after they go onto the floor.
Thanks to an extremely generous gift from a friend of the Overlook Foundation and the extremely generous donations of kosher food and supplies from Chesed 24/7, we put this dream into action.
The facilities department at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center worked with pastoral care to choose the location, hire an architectural firm, and develop plans and amenities before construction began.
Stephanie Schwartz, the president of Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center, welcomed the hospital’s leaders and team members, as well as supporters from the Jewish community, to discuss how the new space aligns with Atlantic Health Overlook’s long tradition of supporting caregivers along with patients.
Dr. David Hoffman supplied a mezuzah and a klaf. (The word mezuzah actually means doorpost. What we refer to as a mezuzah is the protective case that holds a small parchment scroll — a klaf — upon which a trained scribe has handwritten the Shema (Deut. 6:4–9 and 11:13–21). It is attached to the doorposts of Jewish homes and many other Jewish spaces, and it symbolizes God’s presence, Jewish identity, and the mitzvah to “write these words on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Attaching a mezuzah to a doorway transforms the space beyond that doorway into a place that is spiritually rooted and protected.
Rabbi William “Bill” Horn, who is not only rabbi emeritus of Congregation Ohr Shalom/Summit Jewish Community Center but also was the Jewish chaplain at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center for 40 years, from 1962 to 2002, accepted the honor of reciting the blessing, and the mezuzah was put up on the doorpost.
There are so many people who worked tirelessly — most of them behind the scenes — to make this dream a reality that naming them would be impossible. That said, they know who they are and have our undying appreciation.
The Talmud tells us that visiting someone who is ill “removes one-sixtieth of their suffering.” That’s not because the visitor cures the illness, but because suffering is lighter when it’s shared. Isolation is often the heaviest part of being sick; companionship disrupts that loneliness.
May we find the courage to show up, the wisdom to know what someone needs, and the compassion to lift even a small portion of another’s burden.
Rabbi Lenny Mandel of West Orange is the chazan at Congregation B’nai Israel in Emerson. He’s also the staff chaplain at Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center in Summit.
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