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Melanie Levav

Executive Director, Shomer Collective

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Jun 23, 2026, 5:23 AM

Are we ready “when the time comes?”

Kohler, 1974

My mom died in April. Her name was Nan. She was 75 years old, and her love for a good game of "Jewish Geography" could make you think she hadn't spent her whole life in New York. She'd been living...

Aug 1, 2025, 12:04 AM

Grief These Days

Photo: AntonioGuillem/istockphoto.com

“How is it,” opens the Book of Lamentations, “that she came to sit alone?” Likening the destroyed city of Jerusalem to a widow, the traditional reading on Tisha B’Av reminds us of the loneliness of grief. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler...

Oct 30, 2023, 10:38 PM

No Words? Jewish Wisdom for Talking About Death, Dying, and Grief

unsplash/glen-carrie

‘There are no words’, we’ve heard too often of late. And yet Jewish wisdom, and contemporary psychology, and poetry, and song - offer us plenty of words for times like these. Rabbi Earl Grollman, of blessed memory, a master...

Apr 11, 2023, 9:48 PM

On Aaron’s Silence: Traumatic Death and Mental Health

Leviticus 10:1-3 Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered before God a strange fire, which they had not been commanded to do. And fire came...

Jan 31, 2023, 9:31 PM

From Dust to Dust: A Tu Bishvat Reflection

This coming week, we celebrate Tu Bishvat, the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat. Cited by the rabbis of the mishnah as the new year of the trees, historically, Tu Bishvat marks the day used to calculate...

Oct 19, 2022, 6:54 PM

If Only: Jewish Professionals Talking about End of Life

I talk about death every day. Every day, I get to talk about death. This is not a bad or scary thing. It’s actually a very good thing, in the ways that contemplating our mortality can help us appreciate...

Oct 6, 2022, 6:37 AM

Now What: The Day After Yom Kippur

“On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. …. Who shall live and who shall die. …. But teshuva (repentance, return), tefillah (prayer), and tzedakah (righteousness, charity) may avert the severity of the decree.” The...

Sep 19, 2022, 5:37 PM

Die like a queen

When the time comes – and the time will come – having detailed plans in place and communicating those plans regularly can ease the burden on those closest to us

Sep 1, 2022, 8:09 AM

Finding yourself… at the cemetery

courtesy Levav

A pre-Rosh-Hashanah visit to graves can remind us that our own tomorrow is never guaranteed and help us gain new perspectives on how we want to live

Jun 23, 2022, 8:01 PM

Pride in Planning Ahead: A Personal Reflection

shutterstock/dromara

I was 26 when I made my first advance care plan. It was 2000, and my now-wife and I were preparing for our wedding. Our wedding had no legal recognition, as same-sex marriage would not receive federal recognition for...

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About Me

Rabbi Melanie Levav is a board-certified chaplain, licensed social worker, end-of-life doula, and grief coach living in New York.

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