Hanan Balk’s Wisdom from the House of Healing addresses universal themes that every human being must confront on the challenging and complex journey that we call life – be it joy and suffering, discovery and loss, relationships and loneliness, hope and despair, or unending struggle and the search for meaning. Through encounters with patients whose religious beliefs are fundamentally different from his own, a shared spiritual experience is forged that uplifts and endures – reminding us how the diversity that so often tends to separate us can just as easily unite us. Prepare to be moved by unforgettable encounters that will have you both laughing and crying, as the range of human emotion is pushed to its limits, through the spiritual care visits of “Chaplain Andrew.”
HANAN (pronounced Ha-NAHN) BALK was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a graduate of Columbia University where he majored in Ancient Studies and of Columbia’s Teachers College where he received his M.A. in Religion and Education. Ordained as a rabbi by Yeshiva University, whose website, yutorah.org, features many of his lectures and articles, Rabbi Balk served as a congregational rabbi for twenty-eight years, four at the Young Israel of Stamford, CT and the last twenty-four at Congregation Agudas Israel in Cincinnati, OH, where he is now rabbi emeritus. He has been widely recognized for his contributions to the rabbinate both locally and nationally. Rabbi Balk currently serves as a chaplain at The Christ Hospital and Hospice of Cincinnati.