Rabbi Devorah Jacobson receives the 2025 Chair’s Service Award at JGS Lifecare’s Annual Community Meeting
David and Ruth Katz Honored for their Longstanding Leadership & Support
JGS Lifecare celebrated its 2025 Annual Community Meeting on Thursday, October 9, 2025. The event brought together close to 100 supporters to acknowledge recent accomplishments, discuss future plans, and honor the contributions of longtime Director of Spiritual Life, Rabbi Devorah Jacobson.
Rabbi Jacobson retired in December 2024 after serving the JGS Lifecare community for 26 years. “Rabbi Devorah led Jewish and interfaith programming and chaplaincy services with compassion, wisdom, and a deep commitment to the well-being of residents, staff, families and volunteers,” remarked Stuart Anfang, JGS Lifecare Chair. “Her inclusive approach, deep empathy, and unwavering presence touched countless lives, and earned her recognition as a “Healthcare Hero” by Healthcare News and Business West during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am delighted to honor her this evening with the Chair’s Service Award, as we celebrate her legacy and her profound contributions to the spiritual well-being of our community.”
Also recognized at the meeting were David and Ruth Katz, longtime leaders and supporters of JGS Lifecare, for their extraordinary generosity and support. “David served as president of JNH from 1980-81, helped sponsor the development of Genesis House, chaired the 1996 Regeneration Campaign which raised over $7.5 Million to renovate the nursing home and build Ruth’s House, and served as a voice of candid wisdom on our Board and committees for many years,” remarked Anfang. “He was the recipient of the Chair’s Service award in 2006. David and Ruth have been exceptionally generous and devoted supporters with their time, talent and treasure. JGS and our community seniors have so been blessed by your loving support and we look forward to your friendship for many years to come.”
Ruth’s House is named in honor of Ruth Katz and her sister-in-law, Ruth Webber, who together with their husbands, David and Ralph, were instrumental in creating the vision of Ruth’s House. In 1998 they provided foundational funding to make Ruth’s House a reality. Ruth’s House stands as a lasting legacy to the Katz and Webber families for their leadership support.
Other highlights of the meeting included remarks by Cantor Elise Barber, Director of Spiritual Life at JGS Lifecare; Robert Whitten, President of JGS Lifecare; and Adam Berman, CEO of JGS Lifecare and Legacy Lifecare.
In her acceptance speech, Rabbi Jacobson reflected, “Spirituality is alive and well at moments and places like these. And we do our best to look and listen in a particularly mindful way, so that the resident’s medical needs and care of their physical bodies does not cause us to overlook their spiritual needs, the joys and the sorrows of their soul. Every day, the mysteries of Life and Death surround us here and I believe that we serve our residents best when we stay open and deepen in our reverence for those mysteries.”
She continued with inspiration words from Albert Einstein, words she shared every year with the devoted JGS volunteers at the Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon:
“We are here to do good,” he wrote. “It is the responsibility of every human being to aspire to do something worthwhile, to make this world a better place than the one we found. Life is a gift and if we agree to accept it we must contribute in return. When we fail to contribute, we fail to adequately answer why we are here.”
Rabbi Jacobson concluded with words of gratitude for having been given the opportunity to serve the JGS Lifecare community. “As we make our way in this new year, may the Source of all life bless us and all our dear ones. And despite the unprecedented challenges of this time, may we continue to serve critical organizations like this one, and find ways to offer our world more deeds of kindness and more acts of justice.”
Thank you, Rabbi Devorah, for your dedication, loyalty, passion and guidance. You have had a profound influence on all of us! Thank you, David and Ruth, for your longstanding leadership and support!
