CHAPLAINCY

Jewish Chaplaincy Services is a joint project of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County and the San Diego Rabbinical Association.

The position of Jewish Community Chaplain was created so that the Jewish community could address the acute pastoral and spiritual needs of unaffiliated Jews in San Diego County who are ill, at end-of-life or experiencing life crises, including those in hospitals, long-term care facilities, prisons and other institutions.

Rabbi Ralph A. Dalin serves as the Jewish Community Chaplain for San Diego County and can be reached by phone at 858-922-8107 or by email at rabbid@jewishfederationsandiego.org.

The Jewish Community Chaplain:

• Maintains close working relationships with all the hospitals in San Diego County and works with their staff to help assure that the spiritual and religious needs of Jewish patients are met.
• Visits unaffiliated patients as requested by patient, family or hospital staff.
• Offers spiritual support by phone when preferred by patient or when visit is not possible.
• Provides spiritual support for the unaffiliated upon the death of a loved one.
• Assists in making final arrangements (advance planning or at time of need).
• Officiates at funerals, memorial services and unveilings.
• Makes appropriate referral for ongoing bereavement support.
• Offers spiritual support to patients and families who live out of town (and often are affiliated with a synagogue there) but who are hospitalized while on vacation here or who have come here for a specialized procedure.
• Makes pastoral visits upon referral to unaffiliated homebound or those in a long-term care facility.
• Visits and counsels Jewish inmates in local correctional facilities and assists local prison staff in meeting their Jewish religious needs.
• Advises unaffiliated Jews regarding life cycle events such as baby namings, bnai mitzvah, conversion and weddings, referring them to appropriate synagogue rabbis.

Rabbi Ralph A. Dalin was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and studied for two years at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His affiliations include the Rabbinical Assembly, the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and the San Diego Rabbinical Association. Rabbi Dalin serves on the Biomedical Ethics Committee of Sharp Grossmont Hospital and on the C.P.E. Professional Consultation Committees of Sharp Memorial Hospital and Rady Children’s Hospital.

FUNERAL / BURIAL RESOURCES

FUNERAL

Am Israel Mortuary
6316 El Cajon Blvd., San Diego, CA 92115
619.583.8850
(San Diego's only all-Jewish mortuary. Funeral services at any cemetery).

CEMETERIES

Olam Haemes
10785 Pomerado Road, San Diego, CA 92131
858.547.0076 ext. 3056

El Camino Memorial Park**
5600 Carroll Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92121
858.453.2121

Eternal Hills Memorial Park**
1999 El Camino Real, Oceanside, CA 92054
760.754.6600

Greenwood Memorial Park**
4300 Imperial Avenue, San Diego, CA 92113
619.264.3131

**These are not strictly Jewish cemeteries, but they have Jewish sections.