Modern Loss: A candid conversation about grief at Temple Sholom

Join Rabbi Shoshanah Conover and guest speaker, Rebecca Soffer, for a candid, warm, and even humorous conversation exploring Rebecca’s book, “The Modern Loss Handbook,” and the global movement to destigmatize the universal experience of grief while encouraging people to find meaning and live richly.

“The Modern Loss Handbook” offers a welcoming space in which to grow thoughts and feelings as they evolve and create a personal roadmap toward resilience. With warmth, wit and disarming humor, Rebecca and the rabbis will unpack the wisdom of the book and discuss how the long arc of loss can be woven into our lives in a way that is practical, creative, comforting, provoking, and, finally, hopeful.

This event is intended for all ages (16+)  and will include a conversation with Rebecca Soffer and Rabbi Shoshanah Conover, followed by refreshments and a book signing. Due to the generosity of donors, there is no charge to attend, but registration is required.

Date: Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Time: Doors at 6:30 p.m., program starting promptly at 7:00 p.m.
Location: Temple Sholom, 3480 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60657

SPEAKERS

Rebecca Soffer is the cofounder of Modern Loss, which offers creative, meaningful and encouraging content and community addressing the long arc of grief. She is also the author of the bestselling “The Modern Loss Handbook: An Interactive Guide to Moving Through Grief and Building Your Resilience,” (Running Press, 2022) which Gayle King named a favorite read of the year. Rebecca is also coauthor of the book “Modern Loss: Candid Conversation About Grief. Beginners Welcome,” (Haper Wave, 2018). Her writing has appeared in outlets such as The New York Times, TIME, Glamour and NBC and she has spoken on loss and resilience around the world, including at Capital One, Amazon U.S. and UK, HBO, and SoFi. Rebecca is a Peabody Award-winning former producer for The Colbert Report and a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumna.

Rabbi Shoshanah Conover is the 8th Senior Rabbi of Temple Sholom of Chicago in its 152-year history.  She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dean’s List, Cum Laude. Her love of the Jewish people and Jewish texts, as well as a strong commitment to social justice, led her to rabbinical school. 

Rabbi Conover’s responsibilities at Temple Sholom of Chicago reflect her passions: learning and teaching inspiring (and challenging) texts, leading dynamic and engaging spiritual experiences, serving as pastoral counselor, and finding ways to improve our world through the guidelines of our faith. 

Rabbi Conover is a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute.  She serves on the Steering Committee of the Chicago Status of Women and Girls Working Group and is in the founding cohort of the Aspen Institute’s Powering Pluralism Network, a national network of faith, civic, and academic thought-leaders who seek to weave a stronger fabric of civility in our national dialogue through institutions of faith.

Rabbi Conover was honored to receive AVODAH’s Partner in Tzedek Award and the Chicago Board of Rabbis’ Rabbi Mordecai Simon Memorial Award as well as being a featured speaker at the Women’s March on Chicago 2017.  She enjoys co-hosting a podcast on Jewish and Israeli films called The Chosen Films.  Her poems and essays have been published in numerous collections including A Life of Meaning: Embracing Reform Judaism’s Sacred Path, Seven Days, Many Voices: Insights into the Biblical Story of Creation, and Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority.