Dr. Lynn Hellerstein of Vision Beyond Sight speaks with Rabbi Rick Brody, the Baskin Jewish Community Chaplain at Jewish Family Service of Colorado, to talk about his life as a rabbi and chaplain, providing spiritual care to people at their moments of greatest vulnerability. Listen to an easy conversation on Rabbi Rick’s life and how he took on different roles before he found his calling. Find out how a day looks like for Rabbi Rick as a chaplain, and how he provided support not only to Jewish patients in nearby hospitals who requested him but also to those who he happened to sit on their bedside. Discover how he even became an “undercover chaplain” as a part-time rideshare driver, and learn that there is always more than one way to provide comforting, nonjudgmental presence in people’s lives.

🔊 Click here and tune in to the show now to explore:

• What led Rabbi Rick to being a rabbi and a chaplain?
• Being an actor then eventually engaging the role of the rabbi
• What a day looks like for Rabbi Rick as a chaplain
• Making rounds at nearby hospitals
• Finding more meaning and surprises from patients who he gets to talk to on the spot compared to those who requested him
• Providing comfort and support to both patients and their families
• Training on being a chaplain from his experiences as a rideshare driver and after being diagnosed with ADHD
• Being present in people’s lives as a driver (“undercover chaplain” role) and a chaplain
• How to reach Rabbi Rick

About Rabbi Rick Brody:

Rabbi Rick Brody has been the Baskin Jewish Community Chaplain at Jewish Family Service of Colorado since 2018. In this role, he provides spiritual care, comfort, and guidance to anyone Jewish in the greater Denver area who needs a rabbi at their time of distress and doesn’t have one of their own. He meets patients and clients in hospitals, nursing homes, retirement communities, mental health institutions, correctional facilities, hospices, or in their homes. Individuals can also connect with Rabbi Rick virtually, at the JFS office, or at a coffee shop or other location of their choice. Rabbi Rick also oversees JFS’s para-chaplain program, which places volunteers in older-adult facilities to lead Shabbat and holiday services and build community and personal relationship with Jewish residents.

As a spiritual leader, educator, writer, and activist, Rabbi Rick has served congregations, schools, and various other institutions in Los Angeles, Austin, the greater Delaware Valley, and Denver. He has spoken at numerous seminaries, universities, interfaith gatherings, legislative sessions, and social justice rallies; was a guest teacher at Limmud UK; and has led multiple trips to Israel, where he also lived for two years. 

An alumnus of the Bronfman Fellowship, Rabbi Rick received a B.A. in History from Yale in 1995 and was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002. In 2024, he completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education through the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is a former actor, a lover of the arts and baseball, and a vegan. He has a daughter in college and an 11th-grade son at home.

Connect with Rabbi Rick Brody and Jewish Family Service of Colorado (JFSC):

Websites: JFSC | JFSC Chaplaincy

Facebook: JFSC | Rabbi Rick Brody

LinkedIn: JFSC | Rabbi Rick Brody

Instagram: JFSC | Rabbi Rick Brody

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“Sometimes I was literally on my way to a hospital visit but it wasn’t an emergency so I can pick up some rides along the way and do that job, then clock in and get back into my chaplain role once I arrived at the hospital after doing some rides along the way. It was another neat way to be present for people in their lives and give them a sense of comfort, and sometimes a little bit more depending on what they’re asking for.” - Rabbi Rick Brody

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