Posted on 07/14/25
Baltimore, MD – July 14, 2025 – Rabbi Avi Sharfman has been appointed as the full-time Rabbi and Chaplain at Levindale as of February 2025. A compassionate spiritual leader and trusted consultant in end-of-life care, Rabbi Avi brings a deep commitment to dignity, faith, and cross-cultural sensitivity to his new role.
Rabbi Avi joined LifeBridge Health in 2021 as a hospice chaplain with BridgingLife, following his earlier role as an interfaith chaplain with Gilchrist Hospice. At BridgingLife, he served patients and families across more than 30 facilities throughout Baltimore City and County, providing home visits, and nursing home facility visits for patients across diverse religious and cultural communities.
In addition to providing bedside spiritual support, Rabbi Avi served as a key liaison between hospice and community funeral homes, working to ensure that every patient received compassionate and respectful afterlife care. He collaborated with funeral homes to ensure proper burial arrangements, support grieving families, and advocate for ritual needs, including coordinating tahara and traditional rites for Jewish patients. His efforts helped ensure that every person, regardless of means or background, was treated with the dignity they deserved.
Rabbi Avi also founded and led the development of the Jewish Hospice Program at BridgingLife, training staff on Jewish medical ethics, end-of-life sensitivities, and halachic perspectives on palliative care. He has presented widely on these topics and continues to consult within the Jewish community on complex medical and ethical decisions at the end of life.
At Levindale, Rabbi Avi works closely with leadership and interdisciplinary teams to provide personalized, spiritually sensitive care to residents. He leads weekly Sabbath services, conducts monthly interactive musical programs, leads multicultural events, oversees holiday observances, and offers daily visits that bring comfort, connection, and meaning to patients and their families.
Rabbi Avi completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education at Johns Hopkins and holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Talmudic Law from Ner Israel Rabbinic College and he is currently completing his Rabbinic Ordination. He also volunteers with Bikur Cholim of Baltimore, continuing his dedication to serving the community.