Behind the scenes at a hectic emergency room at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, there’s a new sense of peace when leaving the staff break room.
Tucked into the doorway is the hospital’s first Jewish mezuzah, which community leaders and hospital officials hope will bring a sense of comfort to often overwhelmed, stressed-out caregivers working in one of Orange County’s busiest emergency rooms.
The mezuzah was installed during the early morning shift on Thursday, Sept. 14, the day before Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year and start of the high holiday season. For Jewish people, Rosh Hashanah is considered one of the holiest days of the year.
A mezuzah is a hand-length wooden container that holds a kosher scroll with handwritten words from the Torah. The Hebrew invocation is one of the holiest prayers in Judaism, according to Rabbi Heidi Cohen, who blessed the hospital’s new mezuzah Thursday.
“Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with God’s commandments and commands us to affix a mezuzah,” the prayer reads.
The mezuzah was purchased by one of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and features a tree of life design made by artist Glenn Grubard. On top of the wooden carved tree is the Hebrew letter “Shin,” representing the name of God in Hebrew.
Cohen, who has served in Orange County’s Jewish community for 25 years, said mezuzahs are used as a way of protecting a house or building, helping to “create a sense of protection in God’s presence.”
She also said Rosh Hashanah is a time to reflect on personal goals and things to improve in the new year.
“Placing the mezuzah right before (Rosh Hashanah) is an incredible way to start the new year,” Cohen, who co-founded the Jewish community nonprofit HaNefesh, said.
Dr. Brian Lee, the medical director of the emergency center at St. Joseph’s, started the effort to get the Catholic hospital’s first Jewish mezuzah installed. He approached St. Joseph Hospital Foundation board member Sister Mary Therese Sweeney with the idea of having a more inclusive reprieve for his emergency care staff.
Lee, who is neither Catholic or Jewish, said he likes a more spiritual approach to life, rather than religious. He sees the mezuzah as a symbol of faith that emergency caregivers, already overwhelmed with surges of patients, can “leave their burdens at work” when they go home, Lee said. They can trust that the remaining team on duty will take care of their patients.
“This hospital, and especially the emergency department, went through a lot during COVID. We were probably one of the busiest COVID hospitals,” Lee said. “Ever since then, we never stopped. So the nurses and the doctors really needed some release from that moral injury just not letting up.”
Many attendees who witnessed the blessing Thursday morning say it was a moving experience.
Claudia Monterrosa, a Catholic nurse who has worked at St. Joseph’s for 20 years, said the blessing brought a big crowd of staff to the break room.
“It was so nice to start off the day like that,” Monterrosa said. “It’s a way to be a bit more representative of everybody and I think the message (the Rabbi) sent out was nice as well.”
Attendees participated in the blessing with a few lines of prayer, one being, “Everything we do in love lasts forever.”
