Tune in to Experience Talks, our weekly “Radio Magazine for the Experienced Listener,” on Sundays at 5:00 PM PT on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 99.5 China Lake, 93.7 N. San Diego, streaming live online, and now syndicated on up to 100 Pacifica Network stations! Experience Talks is produced by the non-profit EngAGE, Inc.
Miss the show? You can always hear it as a podcast on the Listen Page of our website! You’ll also find an archive-in-progress of all of our previous shows there for you to enjoy. New shows are usually posted within 48 hours after broadcast.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 7 @ 5 PM PT
RABBI LAURA GELLER & DEVORAH SERVI
and
DR. JAN HIVELY
with host
DR. CONNIE CORLEY
CHAI VILLAGE in Los Angeles is one of over 350 Villages which are part of an exciting international movement where people living in community can “age in place” — staying in their homes while connecting with other village members for socializing and social support and, in the case of Chai Village, spiritual nourishment and more. This new social venture engages two synagogues in the Los Angeles area. Guest are Rabbi Laura Geller, one of the inspirational forces in the founding of Chai Village, and its director, Devorah Servi.
RABBI LAURA GELLER is a Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, California. She was among the first women to be selected to lead a major metropolitan synagogue. Prior to being chosen for this position in 1994, she served as the Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress, Pacific Southwest Region. Among her accomplishments at AJCongress was the creation of the AJCongress Feminist Center, which became a model for other Jewish feminist projects around the county. She came to AJCongress in 1990 after fourteen years as the Director of Hillel at the University of Southern California. Rabbi Geller has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including being named one of Newsweek’s 50 Most Influential Rabbis in America and the California State Legislature’s Woman of the Year Award. She was featured in the PBS Documentary called “Jewish Americans.” She is a frequent contributor to the Jewish Journal and the Huffington Post and she served on the Editorial Board of “The Torah: A Woman’s Commentary.” She is a Rabbinic Fellow of the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and an alumna of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality Rabbinic program. She serves as a mentor for the Clergy Leadership Initiative, a project of CLAL. She was ordained by the Hebrew Union College in 1976, the third woman in the Reform Movement to become a rabbi.
DEVORAH SERVI‘s tenure as ChaiVillageLA’s Director began in March, 2016. She previously served in the synagogue world as the Member Engagement Director at Kehillat Israel, Western Regional Director of the Reconstructionist Jewish Federation and Director of Gemilut Hasadim (Acts of Lovingkindness) at Chizuk Amuno Congregation in Baltimore. Devorah also earned a California teaching credential while a DeLeT Day School Teacher Leader Fellow at Hebrew Union College. She taught General Studies for 5 years, including at an ultra-orthodox school. Devorah traveled to India as a 2014-2015 American Jewish World Service Global Justice Fellow to learn about grassroots efforts to end early marriage and violence against women, girls and LGBTs. Devorah enjoys hiking, teaching swimming, creating art and songs, and being the proud great-aunt of Sofia and Isabel. Her work with ChaiVillageLA is dedicated to the blessed memory of her mother.
JAN HIVELY is a social entrepreneur who transforms how communities view aging and lifelong work. She organizes positive aging networks that empower older adults to identify and share their strengths as advocacy leaders for positive aging lifelong. Coming from prior careers in community planning and education, Jan earned her PhD at age 69 in 2001, focusing on productive aging in rural communities. Now 84, she’s co-leading the Pass It On Network, a grassroots network that cultivates and connects advocacy leaders for positive, active aging around the world. One of her latest projects is helping to organize an event called “The Wiser Together Café” at the 8th International Positive Aging Conference in Washington, DC, August 25- 27, hosted by the Society of Certified Senior Advisors. The “Wiser Together Café” is a pioneering World Café-style dialogue among 40 invited older and younger leaders. It is scheduled to take place at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC, on Friday afternoon, August 26 from 2 – 4:30 Eastern. To participate contact kari@silvernest.com or call 860-778-7115. A role model for what she believes in, Jan Hively’s mantra is, “Meaningful work, paid or unpaid, through the last breath.”
