Weekly News & Updates
Caring for Older Adults Since 1907
LEADING AGE
By Jo Strausz Rosen
We are told leaders flourish in times of crisis. Sitting in front of my computer, attending The Leading Age national leadership conference this week, I realize JSL was built for these times. I eagerly watched and listened to inspiring speakers like the effervescent Brene Brown, research professor at the University of Houston who holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair, and has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. She is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of ImperfectionDaring GreatlyRising StrongBraving the Wilderness, and Dare to Lead. Brown suggested we rumble with vulnerability as we live our values, building trust in the knowledge that we can protect ourselves, each other, and our residents as we reset time and time again. Find her books here:
American activist and VP of Inclusion Strategy at Netflix, the magnificent Verna Myers, is a cultural change catalyst, influencer, thought leader, social commentator, and author. She’s known for her high-energy keynotes, her captivating insights, and her ability to help people bridge differences and connect more meaningfully. A Harvard-trained lawyer and founder of The Vernā Myers Company, she leads her team in devising and implementing strategies that integrate cultural diversity, inclusion and equity into all aspects of Netflix’s operations worldwide.

Verna blew me away with her honest presentation on Implicit Bias and asks each of us to test ourselves and recognize and disrupt racial biases. Watch her inspiring Ted Talk: 
JSL staff are exploring our own social attitudes using Harvard’s Project Implicit :
The President and CEO of LeadingAge, Katie Smith Sloan, also the Executive Director of The Global Ageing Network, inspired thousands of us who tuned in to hear her keynote address from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. She asked “What if we hit pause and take stock and retell our place in history?” She said we must consider our mission driven communities where we work and become catalysts for change, increasing access to affordable care, through elder justice. Bad things happen but how we respond to these defines our character and the quality of the lives we live. We can choose to feel about the gravity of our current situation, or we can choose to rise from the gloom and concentrate on what is most important – the gift of our lives. We can take our former bucket lists and turn them into ‘What I miss most lists’ to be shared with our families, friends and colleagues as a springboard to deeper conversations that reveal who we really are. Let’s dedicate our present to a commitment of service enriching the lives of others and wake up every day to make a difference. She then stood in front of Abraham Lincoln and quoted from his second Inaugural Address, “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which is has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease… Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.”

Sloan asks us to seek our reservoir of stamina and rejoice in daily victories as we witness the older adults in our lives defeat this pandemic with grace and strength. 
I’m inspired! I hope you will be too as you think of all the people in the world who are just trying to live their best lives, hindered by this pandemic, but not willing to give up. 
KEEPING OUR COMMUNITY CONNECTED
A safe place to live, sunny days, and caring friends are just a few of the many things Fleischman residents said they are thankful for despite this difficult year. Find the complete list by visiting "Keeping Our Community Connected: Stories From Residents, Staff and Volunteers" on our website.
SHOP JSL'S ONLINE BOUTIQUE
Just because it's getting colder doesn't mean you can't look stylish! Shop our fabulous selection of gloves to keep you looking sharp this fall and winter. Find this look at:

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR OATMEAL
By Jo Strausz Rosen

I am so happy to eat oatmeal every morning, made weekly on Sunday mornings in my Instantpot. Cooked with almond milk, it lasts for the week in my refrigerator and all I have to do in the morning is cut off a small piece, add a little water and microwave covered for 1 minute 10 seconds. Depending on how I’m feeling, I add a tablespoon of chopped walnuts, almonds, a few blueberries or strawberries and now that it’s autumn, I chop up half an apple, enjoying all the crunch knowing I’m keeping the doctor away! I love my breakfast with coffee and it stays with me.

If you’re like me, you might want to read up on your bowl of oatmeal to see if you are getting the most from your daily serving.
JSL LIVES WELL LIVED FEATURED IN JN
By Alan Muskovitz

On Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. I’m inviting you to go nowhere — except to your computer — to be inspired by amazing people in our community who will lift your spirits. In turn, you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives as we head into what could be a challenging winter.

At 11 a.m. on Nov. 22, Jewish Senior Life (JSL) will unveil a special video featuring inspiring interviews by FRIENDS of JSL director Leslie Katz with residents describing what they believe is a life well lived.
BAGELS, SCHMEAR, AND VOLUNTEERS
We have held our first two Volunteer Zoom events and it has been so great to see you! Are you a JSL volunteer who wants to reconnect? Please join us on our weekly zoom call, or simply call in so we can catch up. We can discuss the latest JSL news, crockpot recipes, interesting ways to exercise at home, or what good movies you've seen on Netflix! If you have some great ideas for the group, send them to us.

The zoom call will take place every Monday at 11:00 AM. Until we can invite you back to do what you do best at JSL, let’s spend some time together and heal our loneliness. See you on Zoom or call in so we can hear your voice!
Meeting ID: 818 1295 6942
Passcode: 635393

Or call in: 312-626-6799 
Meeting ID: 818 1295 6942
Passcode: 635393

Looking forward to reconnecting!

In friendship, 
Leslie Katz
Do you know an outstanding member of the community who is 80 or older? Nominate them for our 2021 Eight Over Eighty celebration! Deadline is Dec 3rd. For requirements and to submit your nominations, visit the link below.
BALLERINA WITH ALZHEIMER'S DANCES TO SWAN LAKE
Research suggests that listening to or singing songs can provide emotional and behavioral benefits for people with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. Musical memories are often preserved in Alzheimer's disease because key brain areas linked to musical memory are relatively undamaged by the disease. Take a moment to watch this powerful video of a ballerina with Alzheimer's listening to Swan Lake.
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Salad
  •  2 acorn squash
  •  1 package Tuscanini Fusilli Pasta or other (tri color) pasta, cooked according to package directions
  •  1 large onion, diced
  •  1/3 cup oil
  •  2 red peppers
  •  1 green pepper
  •  1 yellow pepper
  •  2 small zucchini, unpeeled
  •  2 chicken cutlets

Marinade
  •  1/2 cup oil
  •  1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  •  1 teaspoon Gefen Garlic Powder
  •  1 teaspoon soup consomme
  •  1 teaspoon Gefen Paprika

Prepare the Acorn Bell Squash
  1. Cut each squash to five- and 3/4-inch slices. Remove seeds and stringy fibres.
  2. Dip each slice into oil and sprinkle sugar. Place into baking pan.
  3. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.

Prepare the Vegetables
  1. In a nine-inch frying pan, sautee onions in oil until limp.
  2. Dice all peppers and sautee for five minutes.
  3. Dice zucchini and add to peppers. Sautee for 20 minutes.
  4. Combine vegetables with prepared pasta.

Prepare the Chicken
  1. Cut chicken cutlets to two- and- 3/4-inch strips.
  2. Mix ingredients for marinade. Marinade chicken strips for 20 minutes.
  3. Grill or pan broil for five minutes on each side.

To Serve
  1. Place squash in the center of the plate. Spoon vegetables and pasta over squash. Top with two chicken strips.

This recipe is from kosher.com
FRIDAY FUNNY
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SHABBAT SHALOM
Rabbi Dovid S. Polter, JSL Community Chaplain

Two Notes on Votes
Note 1: During the weeks and months leading up to Election Day, we often heard the expression, “He or she is running for office”. Why the need to run even months before the election?

To run implies - to anticipate, to be excited, to be passionate to become a winner in life and in history. Climbing the spiritual ladder of service to G-d shares a similar idea. We should not suffice with merely standing or even walking. We are to run to attain a more sublime status.

Let us wake up each morning to cherish the warm sunshine, the birds chirping, the fresh dew on our soil and the approaching winter. We will instinctively run to fulfill our responsibility and privilege of serving G-d and spreading love and unity to all those who cross our paths.
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Note 2: Voting and making your voice heard has become increasingly stressful and often temperamental. On the recent Election Day, I received an email concerning my two-year-old granddaughter in California. It was so heartwarming and charming that I wish to share it.

Little Hinda Fayga and each of her classmates were given the opportunity to vote in a mini booth. The choices given to her on her ballot were chocolate chip cookies or sandwich cookies.

Not to make light of the voting process, this exemplifies creative education and the sweetening of that which can be difficult.
We have many choices every day. Let us exercise our ability to view these choices as a gift, allowing us the opportunity to live fully with every decision. And… you win some, you lose some. It’s how you handle the loss that is most important. 
Be inspired. Call Shabbat Shalom by Phone
Dial Toll free: 605-313-4107
Access code: 270368# (Reference number not needed)
Dial # to hear the most recent recorded message

Rabbi Dovid S. Polter Jewish Community Chaplaincy Program
Jewish Senior Life 
248-592-5039 • dpolter@jslmi.org
This newsletter was created by Jo Rosen and Amanda Martlock

We’re human, prone to mistakes, so if we erred in our newsletter, please forgive us!
Shabbat Shalom
Nancy Heinrich, Chief Executive Officer
Jennie Klepinger, Chief Financial Officer
Barbra Giles, Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives
Dianne Azzopardi, Executive Director, Human Resources
Ron Colasanti, Executive Director, Dining Services
Gregg Leshman, Executive Director, Residential Operations
Jo Strausz Rosen, Executive Director, Development
People of all faiths and beliefs are welcome.
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