History
Don Schelew started this committee in Fall, 2005. Since then, this committee has been run under the direction of Haim Moussadji and Mrs. Ayala Abramoff.

Administration
Gershon Pick is the current chairperson. At least three meetings a year are planned to touch base to ensure that the sick needs of the congregation are met as best as possible. The service is mainly intended for Bnai Torah membership, however, services are occasionally extended to outside Bnai Torah.

Scope of Activities
Services include, but are not limited to:
Visiting sick members who are mainly hospital-bound or home-bound
Staying in touch with above people so that they and family gain chizuk
When visiting sick is neither feasible nor appropriate, enquire about their comfort and needs, e.g.; hospital or doctors’ visits, if they are required
Providing comfort and needs to sick wherever possible, e.g.; bringing snacks to hospital patients, shopping for those at home or other errands

Challenges
The information which we receive about cholim is generally through the Rav, some members and in a very few cases, “hearsay” from outside the congregation. However, there are cholim “out there”, but about some of whom nobody knows anything, or at least, very little. Some sick people don’t want visits and some relatives of cholim wont reveal the whereabouts of the latter.

Meeting these Challenges
These challenges must be met by means of a proactive approach. We need to research information about cholim.
We phone or enquire about regular attending members who are not seen for a noticeable period. Such absences could be due to vacation, business and other reasons. However, we need to know whether the absences may be due to illness in order that we may offer our services. In all cases, a sensitive approach is required. We need to make irregular attending members aware of our services.

Further Information
Contact Chairperson, Gershon Pick. Email: gershonpick@gmail.com.