when words fail: a religious response to undeserved hurt

Rabbi Sholom Stern, spiritual leader of Temple Beth El in Cedarhurst, NY, was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in June 1966. A graduate of Yeshiva University, he is a trained pastoral counselor, having received a doctorate in pastoral counseling from the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Ill., in 1985. Currently he serves as honorary president of the Rabbi Isaac Trainin Coordinating Council of Bikur Cholim of Greater New York after having served as president for four years. The council promotes compassionate care for the sick, frail, and homebound, and serves as a national clearing house and resource center for the American Jewish Community in the area of bikur cholim (visiting the sick). Rabbi Stern is married to the former Batya Rabinowitz and they have two children, Eliyahu Etan and Danya Ronit.