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Older Adult Services

Older Adult Services

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Ethical Wills

Ethical wills–also called legacy letters–are written by men and women of every age, ethnicity, faith tradition, economic circumstance and educational level.

The ethical will process is a different experience, undertaken with a different goal in mind, than developing medical directives and living wills, with which people are typically more familiar. Traditionally, the purpose of an ethical will was to pass on values such as the importance of charity from one generation to the next.

Watch Rabbi Stephanie Aaron share her thoughts about Ethical Wills:
Play Video about Rabbi Stephanie Aaron Ethical Wills Video Cover

JFCS of Southern Arizona established the Ethical Will Project with a generous end-of-life grant from the Shaaron Kent Endowment Fund held at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.

The Ethical Wills Workshop for the Jewish Community is funded by JFCS of Southern Arizona’s Project STAR grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona’s Community Grants Program.

Grants to Jewish organizations through the Community Grants Program are made in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

“Writing an ethical will is an opportunity to examine our lives, to notice what we hold as precious and meaningful at the core of our beings.

● What are the values that we have treasured in our living?
● Who are the people who have shown us the way?
● How have our mistakes shaped and enlivened us? What are the great questions we have asked in our lives?
● What are the answers we have discovered?

Ethical Will Workbook