After Nine Years of Serving Jewish Patients at City of Hope, Chabad of Arcadia Expands Its Services
In February 2024, Rabbi Sholom Stiefel received a phone call from a New York number.
“Our daughter has been accepted into a clinical trial at City of Hope,” the father explained. “We’re flying out in a few days.”
Three days later, the family arrived in Southern California.
What they expected to be a brief stay became seven months.
During that time, they moved from one Airbnb to another, trying to stay close to the hospital while caring for their daughter.
For families arriving from across the country, this is often an overlooked part of the cancer journey. Beyond the treatments, appointments, and uncertainty, there is the challenge of finding temporary housing, locating kosher food, navigating Shabbos away from home, and facing it all without the support system they left behind.
For the past nine years, Rabbi Sholom and Simi Stiefel of Chabad of Arcadia have quietly been helping meet those needs.
Located just minutes from City of Hope in Duarte, Chabad of Arcadia has developed an extensive Bikur Cholim program serving Jewish patients and their families throughout treatment. Every week, Rabbi Stiefel visits the hospital, bringing challah before Shabbos, helping patients put on tefillin, delivering Shabbos candles, arranging kosher meals, and often simply sitting with patients or family members who need another Jewish face nearby.
Less well known is that City of Hope itself has deep Jewish roots.
Founded in 1913 as the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Association, the institution began as a Jewish effort to care for tuberculosis patients who had nowhere else to turn. More than a century later, it has become one of the world’s leading cancer centers, serving patients of every faith and background while continuing a legacy that began with acts of Jewish compassion.
Wanting to better care for patients and families facing serious illness, Rabbi Stiefel sought additional guidance through Chabad on Call under the mentorship of Chanie Goldberg. Through Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and a network of fellow shluchim involved in hospital chaplaincy, he gained additional training that has helped strengthen this growing area of Chabad of Arcadia’s work.
Sometimes the impact of that work becomes visible in unexpected ways.
Recently, a fellow California shliach struck up a conversation with a young Jewish man from Arizona. During their conversation, the man mentioned spending three months at City of Hope while undergoing cancer treatment.
Then he smiled.
“Every week, a Chabad rabbi came to visit me. He always brought challah for Shabbos. Those visits really meant a lot.”
Only afterward did they realize he was talking about Rabbi Stiefel.
“Because of patient privacy laws, I usually don’t hear from or keep up with patients after they leave the hospital,” Rabbi Stiefel reflected. “To unexpectedly learn years later that those visits were still remembered was incredibly moving.”
Over the years, experiences like these have shaped a larger vision.
While hospital visits provide spiritual and emotional support, the Stiefels saw another need that kept repeating itself: families spending weeks or months moving from one temporary rental to another while remaining close to a loved one receiving treatment.
That realization inspired Chabad of Arcadia’s newest project.
The organization is currently in escrow on a property just minutes from City of Hope that will allow it to expand both its local community programming and its support for Jewish patients. Among the plans is a dedicated hospitality suite where patients and families can stay comfortably during extended treatment, with a private entrance and patio designed to provide both dignity and independence.
“Our hope is that when a Jewish family comes to California during one of the most difficult times in their lives, they won’t feel like they’re facing it alone,” Rabbi Stiefel said. “We want them to know that they already have family here.”
Chabad of Arcadia is now working toward its closing date of August 5th, while raising the remaining funds needed to complete the purchase and begin the next chapter of this growing shlichus.
To learn more about the project or participate in the campaign, visit:
