Rachel Naomi Remen: Celebration of Life
October 15, 2026
The Commonweal community gathered together on October 3, 2026, for a beautiful celebration to honor Rachel Naomi Remen's life and legacy. Through medicine, teaching, storytelling, and more, Rachel brought healing to the world. Among a lifetime of achievements, in 1986 she helped to found the Commonweal Cancer Help Program, which remains one of Commonweal's core programs to this day. She remained medical director of the Cancer Help Program until the day she died.
Held as a healing space for the Commonweal community, the celebration was a live event only and will not be released as a podcast. A few highlights are collected below.
Oren Slozberg Reflects on Rachel's Legacy
"Rachel’s voice resonates throughout the Commonweal community. Even now in Healing Circles—a program that has a global reach, which is deeply inspired by her guidance—you can hear echoes of her words in the circle agreements: we treat each other with kindness and respect; we listen with compassion and curiosity; we honor each other’s unique ways of healing and don’t presume to advise, fix, or save one another. Those circles are held in many languages in over 30 countries. They serve not only people with cancer, but younger people experiencing eco-grief, women in Vietnam still holding the trauma of war, elders who are dealing with loneliness, and more. All of this, infused with Rachel’s simple but direct ways of insisting on kindness and care, and her persistent belief that healing is possible."
Read Oren's complete reflection by clicking here.
Michael Lerner Shares Memories of Rachel
"Rachel was, we know, a physician. A pediatrician. Among the first women in her medical school class. We know Rachel ran a pediatric clinic at Stanford. We know Rachel was transformed by an invitation to Esalen for an experimental program for physicians.
We know Rachel moved from running a pediatric clinic at Stanford to being a psychotherapist on a houseboat in Sausalito working with people with end-of-life questions.
That’s when I met Rachel at a coffee shop in the Castro, 42 years ago, at a time when Commonweal’s funding had collapsed, and I had to lay off the entire staff and was moonlighting myself to make a living. I told Rachel about my vision of creating retreats for people with cancer. We sat in the coffee house and began to plan the Cancer Help Program.
Rachel was the medical director of the Cancer Help Program right up until the day she died.
There would be no Cancer Help Program without Rachel. There would be no Healer’s Art in medical schools around the world without Rachel. There would be no ISHI and all those her teachings have touched around the world."
Read Michael's complete reflection by clicking here.
Dr. Vivek Murthy Tells Three Simple Stories About Rachel
In addition to storytelling, live music, memory-sharing, and movement, participants were invited to bring unique items to represent their connection to Rachel. Resembling one of Rachel's cherished Sandtray practices, the act of selecting personally-significant objects and arranging them on the altar contributed powerfully to the healing process of the circle.
To offer your own message of love, a blessing, or a memory about Rachel, please go to her Legacy page. To leave a donation at Commonweal in Rachel's memory, go to her in memoriam page. To explore Rachel’s worldview through her interviews and conversations at Commonweal New School, visit the self-paced course we have set up in her memory.
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Top photo of Rachel's memorial flowers by Isabelle Ellingson. All other photos by Kyra Epstein.
