Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg is a martial arts black belt.
But what he does with his training is far from the violence made popular by movies, TV and video games.
Instead, he helps children deal with their life threatening diseases.
He has taken the spiritual part of this physical training and turned into a blessing for so many young people, who can take their minds off of their pain or refocus the energy of pain into something fun, disciplined and spiritual,
Rabbi Goldberg was for many years the director of Chai Lifeline’s miraculous Camp Simcha, a camp that year in and year out offers fun to their otherwise ill children.
His Kids Kicking Cancer program constantly offers children a way to feel good about themselves.
“Pain is a message one does not have to accept,” is the central message of Kids Kicking Cancer.
As a result of the annual grant of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, the Pearlstone Kallah has sponsored Rabbi Goldberg 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 2, and 4:30 p.m., Saturday, March 3, at Congregation Tiferes Yisroel on Pinkney Road in Upper Park Heights.
Rabbi Goldberg lost his first child to cancer in 1983, so he as well as anyone, he “gets” this subject all too well.
He is a clinical asst. professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Detroit’s Wayne State University. He teaches pediatric cancer patients to see themselves as capable and important “participants in their own healing” rather than view themselves as victims of disease.
KKC not only strengthens children’s physical well being, it also teaches them to “tap into the inner light of their spiritual self – a focus that generates incredible power, energy and internal strength.”
Rabbi Goldberg’s presentations will be something different. It’s not Israel, it’s not what’s happening locally in politics or development. But for the experiences of many families, pediatric cancer is the sum total of their days.
Please, if you are so inclined, or if you know someone who needs to hear Rabbi Goldberg, please check this one out.
The goal of KKC is to help children with serious disease heal, “while empowering them physically, spiritually and emotionally.”