JEWISH TRADITIONS
Spiritual Life
At Heritage Pointe, we honor our fathers and mothers as Jewish tradition teaches us. Our Rabbi, the Director of Spiritual Life, offers spiritual guidance and pastoral care to all our Residents and communicates with family members when appropriate. She visits all our Residents, especially those who are in the hospital and those on-site who need extra pastoral attention. She teaches weekly Torah/Jewish text study classes and leads a weekly “Shmoozing” group to discuss Jewish issues of the day. As a sacred community, we celebrate Resident simchas (happy occasions) and support each other when we experience tsuris (troubles). We infuse daily life with Jewish tradition.
SYNAGOGUE
In our pluralistic Jewish community, we honor the diversity of backgrounds and traditions of our Residents. By virtue of living at Heritage Pointe, all Residents are members of our congregation, K’hilat Horim (Community of Parents). We welcome family and local community members to join our Residents for worship and celebration.
We celebrate Shabbat with services every Friday night and Saturday morning. We celebrate Holy Days, festivals and other holidays as one community with services and special celebratory meals.
SHABBAT & HOLIDAYS/SERVICES & MEALS
When Public Health guidelines permit, our Shabbat, Holy Day and other holiday services are open to the community. Family and community members who wish to join us for holiday meals must contact our Director of Food Services, Julie Porter, to make reservations. Call the Front Desk or email jporter@heritagepointe.org. Heritage Pointe observes prevailing Jewish Dietary Laws per Orange County Conservative Synagogues.
SPIRITUAL LIFE COMMITTEE
Our Spiritual Life Committee takes care to ensure that we honor our community of parents in Jewish ways. The committee is comprised of Resident representatives and volunteers. David Zarnow, Vice-President of Spiritual Life, chairs the committee, and Rabbi Sherman, our Director of Spiritual Life, serves as staff to the committee. The committee strives to make Heritage Pointe a vibrant and joyous “Jewish Place,” and not just a place for Jewish seniors.
MEMORIAL PLAQUE
Honor your family member with a Yahrzeit Memorial Plaque on the Yizkor Wall of Heritage Pointe’s K’hilat Horim Synagogue and receive annual commemoration notifications. Your contribution of $180 per plaque will help us continue to meet the spiritual and congregational needs of our Residents.
Click here to download the printable Yahrzeit Plaque Request Form.
RABBI KAREN SHERMAN
Contact: ksherman@heritagepointe.org / 949-276-6229
For Rabbi Sherman, coming to Heritage Pointe was like coming home. She grew up right here in Orange County and was a young adult when Heritage Pointe was first founded. With a wealth of experience in the Jewish community as well as in the field of Social Work, she offers our Residents her unique qualities of compassion, commitment, and love of Jewish tradition.
Rabbi Sherman spent her youth as a camper and CIT at Camp Newman in Santa Rosa. While earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Ecology at University of California at Irvine, she worked as the Camp Director and Youth Advisor at her home congregation, Temple Beth Sholom in Santa Ana. She then earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work at University of Southern California and served underserved populations for twelve years as a Social Worker. She was Special Assistant to the CEO and Director of Children’s Services at a Los Angeles-based substance abuse treatment center for women. Later, she worked for a nationally-recognized, non-profit agency as an advocate and public policy analyst. There she coordinated collaborative projects aimed at improving and integrating substance abuse and child welfare services for children and families across California.
Rabbi Sherman followed a calling to the rabbinate as a second career. With a husband, two young daughters, and twelve years as a Social Worker, she entered Rabbinical School and moved with her family to Israel for the first year of the program. In the remaining four years, she served as a Rabbinic Intern at three congregations: Congregation B’nai Israel in Kokomo, Indiana; Congregation Etz Hayim in Merced, California; and Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’a lot in Irvine, California. She also worked as a Rabbinic Chaplain in the Spiritual Care Department at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. Rabbi Sherman was ordained in 2009 at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles.
Before coming to Heritage Pointe, Rabbi Sherman served as the first permanent Rabbi of Temple Etz Rimon in Carlsbad, California for twelve years. There, she led worship services, officiated at life cycle events, taught Torah study and other adult education classes, directed the Religious School, and provided pastoral counseling to congregants and their families.
Here at Heritage Pointe, Rabbi Sherman’s demonstrates her love for people and Jewish Life in everything she does. She loves getting to know our Residents and their families and being part of their lives. She is active in the rabbinic community, as a member of the Orange County Board of Rabbis, the Southern California Board of Rabbis, the Pacific Area Rabbinic Association, the Women’s Rabbinic Network, the National Association for Jewish Chaplains, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Her wide range of academic knowledge and professional experience is augmented by her love of liturgy, her passion for social justice, her integrity, and her compassion. Rabbi Sherman feels honored to serve as Director of Spiritual Life and looks forward to many years with our community.
As an out-of-town daughter, I appreciate all the updates and the care you provide to Residents.